So how are you marking Valentine’s Day? For some it’s all about finding a new connection, for others it’s celebrating an existing relationship.
Emily Smith is head of intermediary sales and distribution at Harpenden Building Society
So how are you marking Valentine’s Day? For some it’s all about finding a new connection, for others it’s celebrating an existing relationship.
Whether it’s in our personal lives, like the Valentine’s reference, or in a business context, finding the right partner is key to making any collaboration work.
Help is often needed to develop the perfect partnership. In a mortgage scenario, brokers have an important role to play as matchmaker between lender and customer. So what should be considered?
Choosing the right lender
There are myriads of lenders and mortgage products that brokers and their customers can choose from, but what are the attributes of the perfect partner?
Not all lenders will provide a personal touch. Mass market lenders will often employ an automated algorithm when considering a mortgage application and an unnecessary number of applications may be rejected as the full financial scenario isn’t considered.
In contrast a specialist lender, like Harpenden, will take an individual approach to your customers’ circumstances. Manual underwriting will provide an individually assessed, deep dive, common sense approach using good judgement accompanied by sound lending practice.
As a specialist lender, we take a flexible view on the merits of each case with a focus on making it work. We don’t impose upper age restrictions, there can be up to four borrowers per application and our loan-to-income (LTI) is generous.
We, like other specialists, look at many types of income when assessing affordability including all employed and self-employment income, pension drawings and incomes from rentals, investments, trusts and maintenance payments. We want to get that mortgage application over the line with our broker partners, however complex it may appear.
Choosing the right product
As well as finding a lender that best understands your customers’ needs, the mortgage product, of course, has to be the perfect match too. First impressions may seem fine but once you dig a little deeper a product’s attributes may not be as appropriate as initially thought.
Property funding comes in all shapes and sizes and a vanilla product, the mainstay of many large high street lenders, may not meet the exacting needs of your customer.
A specialist lender can, however, provide a range of more tailored mortgage options, whether it be for self-build, holiday-lets or other niche areas, with a much greater level of experience and expertise, enabling the right fit between the lender, broker and customer.
Making it work
Relationships are important so finding the right mortgage lender for your customer is key. As a broker you’re in the business of match making – a specialist lender will show the love your customers need, giving them time, attention and options to make it work. Happy Valentines Day.
