Have you got your finances in order?

Why talking to an independent financial advisor gives independent estate agents greater faith in your lendability.

At Orchards Estates we work with an award-winning Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) to ensure that you not only get a great mortgage but that you receive great investment and financial planning advice too.  This must be costly though?  Well actually, it isn’t.  Many corporate mortgage advisers charge high fees and only have a limited list of lenders they can deal with, in fact if you use a bank or building society they may only be able to offer you the choice of their own products and are often restricted in their contracts to advising you of better options available on the open market.  They also often work on a basic salary and then have targets for products sold each month, meaning that in some cases (and I hasten to say not all cases) their priority is not your financial security but hitting a target set by head office.

By seeing our Independent Financial Adviser, you are under no obligation to use any products he recommends but he will give you a complete picture of all the options available and about your financial position in general which, in turn, helps us when we are trying to secure your dream property.  The relevant section of The Property Ombudsman’s Code of Conduct states that any agent must take all reasonable steps to establish the source and availability of a prospective buyer’s funds - and pass this information to the seller - so if he didn’t, he would actually be in breach of the Code and if the sale subsequently fell through over money matters, his client would have legitimate grounds for complaint.

But what if I don’t want my financial position shared?  You are under no obligation to disclose this information if you don’t want to. However, the agent would then have no choice but to tell his client that your financial position couldn’t be confirmed. Ultimately, it is the seller’s decision whether or not to accept any offer but the agent would be doing less than his duty if he didn’t recommend an appropriate course of action. If the seller wanted to accept your offer, the agent might well suggest for example, that he continues to actively market the property until appropriate reassurance was established.  By working with our IFA we know that we can recommend you as a purchaser with confidence and we know that should you choose to take his advice you are getting the best options on the market, not just for your house purchase, but for your long-term future and security. 

Our IFA can help you sort out any credit issues you may have had, using specialist lenders not available on the high-street, and will also be able to help you with insurances, pensions and savings to make sure your money works properly for you.  And when your sale has gone through and you are settled in your new home, his service doesn’t stop.  If you wish he will continue to work with you on an ongoing basis and help you afford your next car, an extension or whatever your next big investment or purchase might be.

As an independent ourselves, we know the importance of not having to stick to corporate rules and targets and this is why we urge you to have a no-obligation chat before you visit the high-street lenders.