There’s some big shifts in the market at the moment which are affecting all mortgage advisors quite a bit, and one of the biggest trends is the growing movement towards self execution facilitated by comparison websites.

Now I am a fan of the internet and I even support the comparison websites as they do have a valid role to play. But Financial Advice and Mortgage Advice are not defunct because of them and I want to give you some points to consider in my posts this week.

I had a scenario recently of someone looking to buy a second property as an investment and repay a mortgage over a very short term perhaps 10 years. The client was self employed and wanted a product without any tie in.

Now in this scenario he would have very high monthly payments, and it is a tricky market for affordability at the moment. The best rate product for his requirements also had an offset facility so I suggested he could increase the term of the mortgage reducing the payments he had to make and make the loan look more affordable. However as it was offset he could pay as much as he liked extra and this would then reduce the mortgage term back in line with his requirements.

This meant that he wouldn’t have to make the high payments but could do so if he wished, and for a businessman in the credit crunch that is a very useful option to have.

I think this is a prime example of how mortgage advice plays a very different role to a comparison site. In this case it wasn’t about getting a lower cost, but using a products features to improve his chances of getting the loan, and to reduce the financial risk to him and his business without increasing the cost. That’s why a Mortgage Broker is well worth speaking to regardless of how much experience you have of mortgages.