We’re looking at buying a house, and we’ve so far started talking with pretty much the first mortgage advisor that got back to us, from a recommendation of an estate agent.
He’s part of Countrywide Mortgage Services which in itself is completely fine, and I don’t think there’s anything shady going on, but I feel like we’re being rushed and heavily pressed into moving as quickly as possible into booking viewings, buying into “mortgage protection” (basically life insurance packages with loads of bollocks on top) and it’s giving us a bad taste after our last two meetings with him.
At the same time, he’s shown us the portal he uses for finding mortgage rates and its clear we’d save more than the £700 price for his services, and we definitely do want someone to help handle the process for us, but are they meant to feel as pushy as car salesmen?
Wait for others to chip in, but maybe that’s what they’re all like? They will do what they can to make the process go as smoothly as possible and reduce the risk of the deal falling through - otherwise they won’t get their fee. I’ve only had one experience, and he didn’t feel that pushy, but I perhaps regret agreeing to the mortgage insurance thing since I’m still alive, and I think they steered me towards getting the survey that only values the house rather than the more expensive one that highlights any issues with the house (which would have prevented a couple of surprises). When the valuation came in below the agreed price, he quickly suggested meeting halfway, which in a way saved me quite a big chunk of money, but maybe that’s a standard thing the agent would have advised me of anyway.