Money talks! And when it comes to buying a home, having a mortgage adviser in your corner can pay off big time. Say goodbye to stressful negotiations and hello to the keys to your dream home with the help of an expert.

The thought of using a mortgage adviser can feel like an unnecessary expense. Why pay out when you can speak to your bank for free?

I get it. You probably feel like you are paying out enough as it is with legal fees, removal costs, stamp duty etc … and that’s before you think about any refurbishments you may face in your new home. So if you can save, let’s say £500-£750, on using an adviser, it can only help, right?

Well if you are employed with a proven track record of reliable income and you have a clean credit record, there is a very good chance that your bank will welcome you with open arms. And if your bank is one from the High Street – such as HSBC, NatWest, the Halifax etc – then you ‘may’ be getting the best deal anyway … so why would you want to pay for an adviser?

But given that your mortgage is likely to last 20, 30 or even 40 years, would you not prefer to be sure that you are getting the best deal?

To give you a very quick example based on today’s rates (May 15, 2023), if we looked at a 5-year fixed deal on a 75% Loan-To-Value mortgage of £225,000.

Lowest Rate – Danske Bank – 3.78% – £1,159pm

Followed by…:

HSBC – 4.03% – £1,189pm … = £1,800pm more expensive than Danske Bank over 5 years (based on repayments alone).

Monmouthshire Building Society – 4.10% – £1,198pm … = £2,340pm more expensive over 5 years.

NatWest – 4.12% – £1,202pm … = £2,580pm more expensive over 5 years.

Santander – 4.13% – £1,202pm … = £2,580pm more expensive over 5 years.

Barclays – 4.14% – £1,205 … = £2,760 more expensive over 5 years.

So if you had simply decided to stick with Barclays simply because you banked with them, you could be doing yourself out of quite a sum of money by failing to shop around.

And be honest, how many of you even knew that Danske Bank or Monmouthshire Building Society even existed?? Yet they have great products available.

Now, you may not qualify for some of these deals as they all have certain criteria that has to be met. The Danske Bank deal, for example, is only for homes with an Energy Performance Rating of A-C.

And I should add at this point that the lowest interest rate is not always the cheapest overall deal – there are other factors to consider such as Product Fees, Valuation Fees, Legal Fees, Cashback etc.

But this is another good reason to use an adviser because they will factor all of these costs in to make sure you really are getting the best value for money on the biggest debt of your life.

And they can also make sure that you have adequate protection in place to ensure that – having worked so hard to buy your home in the first place – you can afford to keep it should life take a turn for the worse.

So don’t be too quick to dismiss the idea of talking to a mortgage broker … it is usually a far smarter move than you realise.