Top ten Mortgage Companies

Over the past few weeks, at least 10 creditors have increased mortgage interest rates - to include the Nationwide and Halifax financial groups - as the Bank of England's expectation of a rise in interest levels rises. Mortgage transactions are affected, where new borrower register for "fixed interest rates" - whereby the interest paid by them is blocked for a certain time, usually two or five years.

Every clear indication that they are on the move will trigger new demands for an extremely low interest while they still can. Throughout the country, the largest home loan and savings association, increased the ratio on its lowest two-year firm business from 1.19 to 1.44 units. Bank of England's key interest line is the benchmark against which most households' saving and lending interest rises and falls.

Two- and five-year loan swing interest rate swaps have roughly halved in the last 12 month, suggesting that mortgage rate levels will also rise. Halifax has raised certain interest rate cuts by 0.2% in line with Nationwide's rise. Another three creditors raised interest by 0.1 to 0.25 percent yesterday:

The Monmouthshire Building Society, Newcastle Building Society und spezialisierter Kreditgeber Aldermore.

Unit 1 - Be where your customers are and make it easier for them.

At LIFT, I came as an intern in the Customer Finance Assistance group, and after graduating from NVQ in Business Administration, I switched to the Mortgage group. And I also felt that I could learnt a great deal from the folks who were already doing the work I was working towards - becoming a mortgage advisor.

After 18 month of working in mortgage management, on the telephones that handle customer cases on my colleagues' front lines, I was excited to see the other side - meet customers in person in the first phase of the proces. First thing I saw was how early everything begins in the city, and since our prospective customers start their working days at 7.30 a.m., we had to be available at that as well.

Unit 1 - Be where your customers are and make it easier for them. It was a meeting that was almost every meeting. As Dave has a large number of customers working in finance companies in the city, most of the daily work has been done in and around these bureaus.

I was impressed by the diversity of the individuals we encountered, each with their own needs. Initial purchasers - they needed much more guidance, hold more ( not literally!) and explain the mortgage making processes; customers who had previously taken out mortgage loans through LIFT and wanted a re-mortgage - they were hopeful that they were in good hands as they had already seen our services so they were interested in the detail of what business would best fit their present circumstances; A buy to let customer - a much rarer phenomenon these few days since the changes in taxation regulations and stamping taxes, but still a practical choice for some as well.

In the case of some first-time purchasers, the mortgage advisor must clarify the different kinds of mortgage available and may have to clarify things such as repayment before assisting them in the process of applying themselves.

Unit 2 - Communication must be tailor-made for each customer. Usually I deal with real estates brokers and mortgage providers, follow papers and update customers. I was impressed by Dave's understanding of the business on my customer interview days. He had rate, expressions and more in his mind so that he could immediately tell clients which lending institutions might be a good fit for them.

Our relationship with many tailor-made creditors will look at every single use, making this understanding of the business much more important. Unit 3 - Keep abreast of all mortgage offerings available to customers and make sure you know the details behind each one.

When I shadowed Dave in his meeting, I realized how important it is to reassure customers. Of course, everyone has a different way of doing things, but establishing a relationship with someone can make the big deal whether you first get a customer and then keep that customer with you for the long being.

During one of our encounters, someone who has been a customer for over five years was on his third re-mortgage. Dave was very grateful for his openness and competence. He has gained his allegiance through his many years of working with Dave and the remainder of the group.

Unit 4 - Customers are not just numbers on one page. Spend your spare moments building a relationship and a sense of purpose and you will be awarded with your allegiance. After seeing each customer personally, I have a much better grasp of 1. The entire mortgage cycle and 2. The value we can add to human beings by calming them down and reducing the stresses of mortgage-application.