Page 59 - Smart Money

Smart Money

Who are you working with?

You must understand the importance of enlisting the help of professionals.
The first port of call is the mortgage broker who will look at your current
situation and make sure that you are pointed in the right direction, which
we spoke about before. Alongside that, if you are self-employed, you need
to talk to your accountant to get your financials, so they are probably the
second person you should talk to. From there, you need a real estate
agent to find the right property for you based on how much you can
afford, your budget and what you are looking for in a property.

The deal will be submitted to the bank so they can do their due diligence
and evaluation. Once the loan is approved, you need to send off the
unconditional approval to a conveyancing solicitor or settlement agent.
The settlement agent prepares the settlement documents. At the same
time, you need to talk to an insurance broker or insurance company to
get your new house building covered. If something were to happen and it
burnt down, you wouldn’t be left with just the land; you would be able
to rebuild and have a house to live in.

So that is the process and, obviously, a mortgage broker will see you
through all those processes and hold your hand.

It is important to keep in touch with your mortgage broker even after
you have bought your property to make sure that you are still on a
competitive rate and that you are heading in the right direction, or even
to find out if you have enough equity to buy an investment property. Also,
if you see that fees are being charged and they shouldn’t be, you should be
chatting to your mortgage broker to find out why.
Mortgage brokers have all the up to date information. We know what
is happening in the industry, what we can and can’t do, and the correct
process. We can ensure you are doing the right thing legally. We’ve got
access to products and markets, and we can provide you with information
so that you can read and educate yourself.