Hi,

I'm after a bit of advice. I am a first time buyer with a 10% deposit looking to borrow around 4.25 times my salary. I have monthly credit commitments of £225.00 per month. Before the financial crisis hit, banks and building societys were prepared to offer professionals a higher salary multiplier (i am a trainee solicitor) is this still the case now as i appreciate the multiplier i am looking for is higher than most may be prepared to lend.

Also the Britannia Building Society seem to have very good deals - are these too good to be true?

On a final point, there seems to be many independent financial advisors/mortgage brokers specifically targeting professionals - can anybody give me some advice as to what i should be looking for here.

Many Thanks in advance.

Try Bristol and West for a 90% deal.....few and far between.

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Regards

Ian

Hi Suzannah,

Regarding IFA's/mortgage brokers and what to look for.

Mortgage brokers can only advise on mortgages and non-investment based protection (products that have no cash-in value at any time) e.g. they are not authorised or qualified to advise on a course of action regarding an endowment policy. Fine if you want just a mortgage sorted out and some protection. There are some very good ones out there and a few that should go and do something else! Mortgage brokers are either tied (you'll find them in banks and building socities), multi-tied (like John Charcol, and those you often find in estate agencies), and independent (not tied to any single provider). The FSA register does not carry a list of every or even most mortgage brokers, so it's not very easy to find out if they're authorised directly or indirectly by the FSA.

To be an IFA you need to do a whole load more exams than a mortgage broker and will cover the whole remit of financial advice. Surprisingly, to be an IFA you do not have to hold a mortgage qualification. An IFA with mortgage qualifications is more than likely to be able to give you holisitic advice, compared to a mortgage broker or an IFA without a mortgage qualification.

Personally, I've completed and passed all of my IFA exams (just waiting for my final exam result on the 19th!), am also fully mortgage and equity release qualified, should complete a Long Term Care exam in January, and plan to complete the Diploma in Financial Advice next year (followed by a law degree, my mother will be soooo pleased!). The FSA has just released notification of its intention that all IFA's must be at least Diploma qualified by 2012, so I think we're going to see IFA's becoming a rare, hopefully highly valued bunch.

I would suggest that you go to unbiased.co.uk and look for a local IFA with mortgage qualifications. Then sit down and work out a financial road map. Be prepared to pay some fees or fees offset by commission. Financial advice is not free and is there to help you identify, achieve and maintain your future goals in life without the fear of ever running out of money.

Brian

From a mortgage brokers point of view I see it slightly differently. IFA's make a lot more money from pension and investment advice and wouldn't normally touch a mortgage with a barge pole, but since the credit crunch they are touting for mortgage business to allow them to add their own portfolios of products to advice given. I was ony interested in mortgages so felt happy to take the appropriate exams and concentrate souly on these products and be able to be on top of my game. If the client asks about financial issues that I am unqualified to discuss I will pass their details onto an IFA colleague who will in turn pass mortgage clients on to me. If you have Bentley you take it to a Bentley garage not Kwikfit???? :)

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Regards

Ian

I'm more of an Aston Martin man myself (I wish!!!)

LOL....They are depreciating faster than house prices, about the only thing that is.

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Regards

Ian