A mortgage advisor is a customer service professional who specializes in helping a borrower to find the best mortgage options available. He or she can offer a valuable service for anyone buying a house. A mortgage adviser can help you in every stage of the mortgage application process.
He or she advises borrowers on any problems involved in loan qualification, including problems getting a bad credit mortgage. Independent mortgage advisors also help borrowers to select the best loan for their needs, and help them to comparison shop for the best mortgage deals among different lenders.
Apart from general advice when buying your house, mortgage advisor can also offer the following services:
- Help in choosing between different mortgage options
- Special advice on mortgage insurance, repayments, and remortgage loans
- Help in obtaining insurance
Mortgage Advisor vs Mortgage Broker
The primary difference between the mortgage advisor and a mortgage broker or a financial advisor is the amount of training and knowledge required to do each job. Mortgage advisers can offer advice and assistance on many different aspects of the mortgage buying process. However, they don’t need any specialized training or professional qualifications at first. They usually have undertaken a basic training course, but lack specialized and in-depth training on many aspects of mortgages.
In contrast, a mortgage broker has undertaken a much more rigorous training. He or she is licensed by the state in the USA or the government in the UK, and is familiar with a much wider array of lending options and services available in the current marketplace.
Independent Mortgage Advisor
If you are using an advisor to help you obtain a mortgage, stop and consider whether or not he or she is offering unbiased advice. For example, if your bank is providing a mortgage advisor for you to work with, then the advice you are getting pertains to only the services that the bank itself offers, and not general services and products available on the market.
However, if you use a mortgage broker or financial advisor, then you would be offered a wider range of choices and products, including second mortgages, from many different lenders. You should use an independent mortgage adviser or an online mortgage advisor, to ensure the widest selection of available products and services.
Mortgage Advisor Qualifications
In the UK, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) requires a certain level of proficiency from any person giving specialist mortgage advice. A trainee mortgage advisor is required to study for the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Certificate in Mortgage Advice, or else the ifs School of Finance and Mortgage Advise and Practice (CeMAP). Look for these qualifications if you want to use the services of a mortgage advisor.
In the US, mortgage advisors are usually not formally regulated by a state or government agency.
Once a person has passed the necessary exams to become a mortgage advisor, they can begin working on the next step of becoming a financial advisor. In addition to handling your mortgage, a financial adviser can also address other financial details such as pensions, life assurance and investments.
Mortgage Advisor Jobs
Most mortgage advisors start off as a customer service representative in a bank, or else as an administrator in a financial services company. After receiving additional basic training in mortgages and customer relations, the trainee can start working as a specialist mortgage advisor. Mortgage adviser jobs can range from highly qualified to barely qualified. You should always ask your mortgage advisor what level of qualifications he or she has reached.
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