Introduction

The importance of finding the best mortgage advice cannot be over stated for the simple reason that taking on a mortgage is likely to be the largest debt that you will ever have. Finding the best mortgage advice can save you tens of thousands of pounds in the long term as well as ensuring that you can adequately meet your monthly mortgage repayments. We have meticulously researched the most effective ways in which you can find the best mortgage advice available.

1. Independent Financial Advisors (IFA’s)

Independent financial advisors are a frequently under used resource but are a very effective means of finding the best mortgage advice. Many Independent financial advisors will have worked within the mortgage sector for many years and will have built up a wealth of knowledge about mortgage products and mortgage lenders and have access to some of the best places to find competitive mortgage rates to save you money in the long term. Independent financial advisors will normally charge you a fee for their services which puts many customers off, but this should be seen in the context of the potential savings that can be generated. If you knew you could save £10,000 overall on your mortgage it may be worth spending £200 - 500 in upfront fees for a good Independent financial advisor.

We obtained a previous mortgage deal after being provided with some excellent mortgage advice and ended up getting a highly competitive mortgage rate which was not available in the open market place. A further benefit of Independent financial advisors is that their mortgage advice is likely to extend to every aspect of your mortgage including how to legally get around Loan to Value ratio’s (LTV’s) as well as negotiating down mortgage arrangement fees with lenders on your behalf. Usually an Independent financial advisor will have a good working relationship with various lenders meaning that you can exploit this to your benefit by pushing the Independent financial advisor to negotiate firmly on your behalf enabling you to get the best mortgage deal. In our opinion Independent financial advisors are one of the best mortgage advice sources.

To find an Independent financial advisor in your local area visit www.unbiased.co.uk.

2. Mortgage Brokers

Mortgage brokers should not be mistaken for Independent financial advisors, although some mortgage brokers may also be an Independent financial advisor. A mortgage broker is a term used by anyone acting as an agent between a borrower and mortgage lender. Unlike Independent financial advisors, mortgage brokers are usually tied to specific mortgage products and are unlikely to compare the whole mortgage market. Whilst many mortgage brokers are affiliated to a particular mortgage lender or cluster of mortgage lenders this doesn’t preclude them from offering some of the best mortgage advice. Whilst mortgage brokers rarely compare the whole mortgage market, they may be able to offer you the best mortgage advice on their specific products, which would be difficult to obtain from elsewhere. This is because mortgage brokers often know their mortgage lenders incredibly well because they deal with them frequently and may also have more influence over the lender because of this relationship. This insider information may be used to the advantage of a potential borrower by negotiating the best mortgage deal or talking down arrangement fees, or getting access to free legal fees as a sweetener. Providing that you do your own research and understand who a mortgage broker is affiliated to there is no reason why you will not get the best mortgage advice on the specific mortgage products that they are permitted to advise upon.

Top tip: When looking at a mortgage broker website, read the small print to discover who they are affiliated to. Look for the following phrase “is an appointed representative of Alliance & Leicester.”

The Mortgage Advice Bureau - is a national mortgage broker operating in a number of high streets around the country.

3. Specialist Mortgage Websites

A third way to find the best mortgage advice is through specialist financial related websites like Moneysupermarket , www.fool.co.uk, www.moneynet.co.uk.

These websites are often packed with mortgage product information, mortgage reviews and helpful mortgage related hints and tips which provide some of the best mortgage advice that you can get for free online. Whilst some or most of these may be affiliated to particular mortgage lenders we have found them a rich source of information on the latest mortgage products available and provide the best mortgage advice on current interest rates. You can also use them to compare various mortgage products before making your decision on the most suitable, by reading the experiences of other borrowers. Our advice is to do a mortgage comparison through 3 or 4 of these and then see how the results match up against each other.

There are also dedicated websites that only deal with mortgage related information such as www.mortgages.co.uk. These are a superb free resource and really do provide some of the best mortgage advice and information online. They have a dedicated lender page with frequent news updates and press release about the latest mortgage products available.

4. Newspapers & Best Buy Tables

If you are reluctant to use a mortgage broker or independent financial advisor because of the cost implications then our experience is that newspaper best buy tables frequently provide some of the best mortgage advice, that is both impartial and easy to understand. Many newspapers will have dedicated money sections within them and frequently feature detailed independent articles of mortgage related issues faced by readers. The reason that they can provide some of the best mortgage advice is that they have access to knowledgeable experts and will often provide links to other specialist websites or reputable companies that you can use, saving you time and effort searching for information yourself. Newspapers also provide the best mortgage advice because of the access they have to best buy tables. These are detailed tables of the latest mortgage products which are compared side by side using various criteria and allow you to compare some or all of the following; mortgage interest rates, arrangement fees, the name of the mortgage lender, type of mortgage and approximate monthly repayment estimate. Our opinion is that newspapers are frequently the first place to look for the best mortgage advice before moving onto consider other sources.

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