Unless you’ve been off with the fairies over the last few years, you will know that the mortgage market isn’t great at the moment. Generally, lenders are lending less, and when they do tend to target the cream of the crop. They are much more happy to lend money to people who have a large deposit, who have very high income levels, and who have a top credit rating. Of course, not everybody meets this criteria, and if you are in this position then you should be looking for mortgage advice from a qualified and independent whole of market advisor. Here are five main reasons why this is the case:

1) Choice: First off, choice is always important. You should not be actively restricting your choice by going straight to a bank or to a building society. An independent adviser will be in a much better position to filter out all of the deals that are available so that you locate something that fits your criteria perfectly. By having more choice you are much likely to find a better deal.

2) Sales against Advice: By going straight to a bank or to a building society you are going to be sold to. Their job, of course, will be to advise you over the best type of mortgage to get and to help you find something suitable and affordable. At the same time, however, their job is to sell you products and therefore you do need to be aware of this. Historically any bank or building society will have far more complaints than an independent adviser because of this. You may find that there is a conflict between what may be best for you, and what’s best for them to sell you.

3) Working for you: An independent adviser will be working for you. They will look to represent you and your best interests and will, therefore, help you to find a suitable and affordable mortgage. Their aim will be to develop happy clients who will stay with them for years to come, and will tell their friends about them. This is often not the case with building societies and banks.

4) Getting declined can cost: If you are declined for a mortgage or any form of credit, it can leave a negative footprint on your credit file and further effect your chances of being accepted by another lender. It is important, therefore, that you employ the services of a professional mortgage adviser who can help decipher which lender both offers you the best deal and is likely to accept your application. Gone are the days when it pays to shop around. It can now cost to shop around.

5) Not just a single transaction: Always remember, a mortgage is not only a single transaction. Most people will have a mortgage for 25 years or more. As such it is important to look at the long term picture, locate an advisor that you trust, start to build a partnership with them and make sure that you are safe in the knowledge that they will be looking out for your best interests through the entire term of your mortgage and able to offer you mortgage advice whenever you may need it.

If you think you could benefit from whole of market mortgage advice from a qualified mortgage advisor then get in touch with Economic Financial Solutions.