What a mortgage broker or adviser actually does for you

A mortgage broker gathers a full picture of your finances, matches you to lenders whose criteria you actually meet, recommends a specific product and explains why, packages and submits the application with your documents, then chases the lender, valuer and solicitor until the mortgage completes. On a typical purchase that spans roughly eight to twelve weeks, most of which is spent waiting on other people, and a large part of the broker's job is making sure that waiting does not stall.

The first proper conversation is a fact find, usually 45 to 90 minutes. It is not small talk. The adviser is collecting the inputs that decide which lenders can be approached at all.

Expect questions on gross and net income and how it is structured, bonus and overtime history, employment type and length of service, all credit commitments including car finance and buy now pay later arrangements, childcare costs, dependants, current and future outgoings, credit history including anything you think might be on your file, deposit amount and where it came from, your target property type and location, and your plans over the next few years.

Answer honestly, especially about credit history. Advisers are not shocked by a default from four years ago. They are extremely inconvenienced by discovering it at underwriting, because by then the case has been submitted to a lender that will not accept it and you have lost three weeks.

At this stage the firm must tell you what it charges and how it is paid.

The adviser now filters the market twice. First on criteria, which decides who can lend to you. Second on cost, which decides which of those is best.

A competent adviser is not just looking at the rate. They are weighing the arrangement fee, whether it can be added to the loan, early repayment charges, the length of the fixed period against your plans, whether the product allows overpayments, whether it is portable if you might move, and how the lender's own processing speed fits your deadline.

You should receive a recommendation with reasoning, and an ESIS illustration for the recommended product. The ESIS sets out the monthly payment, the fees, what happens when the fixed period ends and the total amount payable. Read it. If anything in it surprises you, ask before you proceed.

A decision in principle, sometimes called an agreement in principle, is a lender's indicative confirmation that it would lend you a stated amount subject to full checks. Estate agents commonly ask to see one before they will put your offer forward.

Many lenders run this on a soft credit search, which does not affect how other lenders see you. Some use a hard search. Your broker should know which and should tell you before you consent.

A decision in principle is not a mortgage offer. It is based on what you have declared, not on what has been verified, and it can still fall away at underwriting. Treat it as a green light to make offers on property, not as a guarantee.

Once your offer on a property is accepted, the adviser assembles the full application. This is the least visible part of the job and one of the most valuable.

Packaging means collecting your payslips, bank statements, tax calculations, tax year overviews, identity documents, proof of deposit and gift letters, checking them against the lender's specific requirements, and submitting them together in the format that lender wants. It also means writing a covering note where the case needs explanation, for example a dip in trading profit in one year or a large one-off credit into your account.

A well packaged case gets to an underwriter with nothing missing. A badly packaged one triggers a series of requests, each of which costs several days.

The lender instructs a valuation. This might be an automated valuation completed in hours, a drive-by, or a full physical inspection booked a week or more out. The valuation protects the lender, not you, which is why buyers often commission their own survey alongside it.

Underwriting runs in parallel or just after. The underwriter checks the documents, the affordability calculation, the credit file and the property. They may raise queries. Your broker answers them, usually without needing to disturb you, unless a new document is required.

Common causes of delay at this stage are a valuation coming in below the agreed purchase price, an undisclosed credit commitment appearing on the file, unexplained large transactions on bank statements, and gifted deposits without a signed letter from the donor.

The offer is the formal document confirming the lender will lend, on stated terms, on that property. It goes to you and to your conveyancer.

Offers commonly last three to six months from issue. That window matters. On a new build with a long build programme, or a chain with a slow link, expiry is a genuine risk and your broker should be tracking the date and raising an extension or a re-offer in good time rather than in the last week.

From offer to completion, most of the work sits with the conveyancers: searches, enquiries, contract, exchange, then completion. Your broker's role becomes liaison and pressure. A good one will contact the solicitor periodically, spot when the file has gone quiet, and flag anything that could jeopardise the offer.

Two things you should do in this window. Do not take out new credit, change jobs or make unusual large transfers, because some lenders re-check before release of funds. And do sort out buildings insurance, which must normally be in place from exchange.

Your adviser should also have raised protection: life cover, critical illness and income protection. You are not obliged to buy any of it, and you can arrange it elsewhere, but a mortgage adviser who never mentions what happens if you cannot work is not doing the whole job.

• You chase nobody if the broker is doing their job, but you do respond to document requests quickly. That is your main contribution to speed.
• The broker chases the lender for underwriting progress and the valuation booking.
• The broker or you chase the estate agent for chain updates.
• Your conveyancer chases the seller's conveyancer for enquiries and searches.
• The lender chases nobody. Lenders wait to be prompted.

That last point explains a lot about why cases stall. Almost nothing in the process moves on its own.

For a straightforward employed purchase with no chain, offer to mortgage offer in two to four weeks is common, with completion eight to twelve weeks after your offer on the property was accepted. A longer chain, a self-employed application, or a new build can stretch that considerably. A remortgage to a new lender often runs four to eight weeks, and a product transfer with your existing lender can complete in days.

The single biggest thing that shortens the timeline is having your documents ready before you need them.

They do not conveyance, they do not survey the property, they do not guarantee an offer, and they cannot make a lender change its criteria. They also cannot rescue a case built on inaccurate information. Be straight with them and they can work with almost anything.

If you want someone running that process for you, the MortgageMatch directory lets you find FCA-authorised brokers and see how each firm works before you get in touch.