LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Im about to make a rant here because I am fed up of having to fork out hard earned cash for pathetic fees/bills/things in which the cost surely can not be justified.

I am trying my absolute best to watch where my money goes and Im a very cautious person when it comes to money. In early december I bought a house and the fees are absoutly outrageous and Im sure this applies to a lot of other things. A "buy-to-let" mortgage arragment fee is £2000 when a "residental" mortgage is no way near this. Why?

I've had to pay admin fees of £350 when I'm sure it's a matter of 5 minutes work on a computer clicking and typing in a few things.

I've had solicitor fees of almost £1000 with things such as a Land Registry fee of £150. Even the bank handleing fees are £30.

I had to pay a fee of £135 for a valutation for the mortgage or some boll*cks and then a valuation arrangment fee of £130???? Seriously, what the fu**.

I'm just angry because I got billed another £299 for admin fees to do with the completion date on my property which I totally forgot about and rang up to check to ask.

I know that people are out there to make money and companies charge "standard rates" but all these fees and rates arn't fair. It seems that no matter what you purchase, you always have to pay more with added things on top. I am 21 years old and I know that I am fortunate but it's so tough and hard and it brings me to ask myself; why is life so god damn expensive?

jh1-2009

Well when buying to let, if you allways have tennants your lucky as they,re in effect are buying the house for you hence the steep charges. So all the fees though painfull they may be will be worthwhile in the long run.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Yes but what's that got to do with charging a lot for all the fees?

Also Im sure this applies to any other company or bills/fees or whatever. They all seem too expensive for what they are.

Dingdongler

Yes it's strange that everything that anybody charges for seems expensive and whatever you charge for your time is cheap

Anyway, btl (and other mortgages) have huge charges now to make up for the low interest rates and perceived risk.

If you take out another one make sure you know what ALL the fees are so that you can make a correct comparison of the costs of different products

jonc

For a fee, I'll tell you everything you need to know.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

I agree with Ding - high arrangement fees will deter scammers and freeloaders from what was an easy market.

jh1-2009

Did you use a mortgage advisor? When i took out my mortgage i was made aware of all the charges before i made a commitment. If you were not made aware of these charges then i would complain to whoever sorted the mortgage for you.

john banks

I rather stupidly added a £1000 arrangement fee to my 2 year discount mortgage when if I calculated it better I could have perhaps gone for a slightly higher interest rate with lower fees. However, I did want a lender that would accept a home report instead of me needing another survey (but had to fight to get them to accept it), wanted a lender that could move quickly and didn't have a reputation for pulling out at the last minute.

So that £1000 arrangement fee, based on the average balance I'm likely to have over that 2 year period effectively makes it a somewhat less attractive 3%.

Then, planning building work, the fees all start again. It gets tiresome, and some you can't fight, mostly those to statutory authorities, but you can fight for value for other professional services.

I don't think many professionals are worth their fees. I expect I'm not their easiest customer, but when their communications are poor, they don't impress you in any way, and you end up doing their job for them because of their incompetence, and then they just want to skim fees off you, then I'll find someone else that does do a good job and then stick with them. A few professionals are bad apples, rather more are a bit mundane, and a minority are actually worth their fees IMHO. This applies more in some industries than others, and seem to be mainly parasitic.

As a professional, I'd be devastated if I was thought to be in the mundane, bent or incompetent classes, and strive all the time to do better, with surveys and feedback supporting this. So I expect no less from anyone else.

If I can pre-empt and mitigate, and when a patient/client thinks I've made a mistake it is often a deliberate and justifiable decision because of something they've not considered, but more importantly if there is a shortfall/mistake I work double hard to shine thereafter, then I expect the same from other professionals. It is simple things like preparing well before a patient arrives so that you know their history, results, previous concerns, you've done some advance work before hand to help, you listen to them carefully and summarise what they've told you in a way that makes it obvious you've listened and seen the wood from the trees, and then communicate and act very clearly, giving clear advice and checking it is understood. It is unexpected communications later that comfort them that you're interested and taking the initiative. It is called attention to detail and service, and it should be an absolute pleasure for any real professional to deliver.

hodgy0_2

life isn't fair -- move on

CLSII

Don't forget the fact that you are already taxed on the money you spend before you spend it then taxed again when you do.

Income tax
Petrol tax
VAT

etc etc etc

Then all those other little taxes that you get hit with for buying a new car, going on holiday, buying stones to decorate your garden (Quarry tax - I'm not joking) Gordon Brown introduced more than 176 new taxes apparently in the Bliar years

There are only two sure things in life......death and taxes

skoobidude

Just write your own invoice inventing a new fee to charge back to those you have a problem with.

davegtt

Money makes the world go round, if it didnt then we'd all be happy individuals.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

You have pie, and they want a piece of it.


Everyone loves pie.



Mmmmmm.....



Pie.

nizmo80

iTrader: (2)

When me and my wife got a mortgage I think we paid just under 4k
in fees to brokers and people like that and that was with a 100% mortgage when the banks were still doing them.

The end of the day how else are the bank managers going to turn a massive greedy profit and give themselfs huge unjustified bonuses lol.

in my opinion banks and mortgage companys are going to try and
get every penny out of you that they can its just buisness to them

I also think they are just trying to rip people off all you got to do is look
at the ppi insurance they sold people without telling them but that one
came back to bite them

The uk has went mental with the price of everything going up
it really tighten's the screw on the UK familys budgets.

I am very lucky that I landed in a very good job
I feel very sorry for the familys on low incomes and oap's that are struggling to get through into the next week.

Leslie

Everybody is at it!

This is the land of the great rip off and it is getting worse in all sorts of "clever" ways!

Les

Ellie*

I justg had to pay a £200 fee to be allowed to do my job ffs!

Turbohot

LSherratt, you are so upset about paying fee for everything because you are so young, mate. When you get to my age, you will realise that even the oxygen you breathe is on loan, and you will have to pay every penny back one day. Easy, it's all go.

Turbohot

Very true, Platogtt. Hope you are well.

SRSport

Estate agents are by far the worst, well up here anyway. I even have to pay an administration fee when I pay them my fees, just for taking the fee!

davegtt

Haha, Im great thanks Swati, like wise as always