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CEE mortgage survey - satisfaction ratings revealed!
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The process of getting a mortgage in central and Eastern Europe always attracts lots of questions and documents, either on our forums or directed to our customer support team.
And it's one of those area in which there tends to be a lot of varied experiences flying around.
It's difficult, then, to get an impartial handle on the experiences investors have when going through the hoops that are often involved when applying for finance in CEE markets.
That's why the Property Secrets team set out some time ago to compile investors' experiences, collate them, analyse them and work to identify the areas that were weakest and we felt we could have an effect on improving.
The results are now in.
PS chief operating officer, Peter Bennett, commented: 'This is an on-going project and these are simply the first tranche of results. What we find useful is that they help focus our attention on the areas that irritate most and hold up the application process.
'We certainly can't put everything right at a stroke - but we can talk to partners, mortgage brokers and banks and draw their attention to areas in which they need to improve. And that's what we're doing on an on-going basis.'
Things to note:
Only one in five respondents rated banks or lenders as 'poor'; in the documentation rating - which amounts to the amount of paperwork involved - only a small number of people selected the 'good' rating - but most were firmly in the 'OK' area.
'Personally, I found this quite reassuring, ' said Peter. 'Because this is the area we hear most complaints about - the red tape factor. The reality is that most people reckon it's - quite literally - 'not bad'.
'What really shows up is the communication rating, because there's a significant 'poor' rating and it is also something that should be the easiest to improve - that is one aspect of service we are actively pressing mortgage brokers and lenders on. I hope by the next time these results are released, we'll see a significant improvement.
'The bottom line is that we've found, quite clearly, that communication is very polarised. If you fit the bill from the lender's perspective, then communication is OK, even good. But when they don't have a ready answer, there is a tendency not to answer emails and other inquiries - so, when it's going well, the comms tend to be OK, but a 'don't know' can often spell silence.
'This, to our customers and to us, is not acceptable and we've been communicating that and will continue to do so. I believe we're already seeing improvements.
'Many of the comments we've received, we've already acted on and had results, which is heartening and shows this project is worthwhile.
'And, to be frank, when the criticism of an outfit has been overwhelming (and justified), we've actually ceased to deal with them.
'The great thing is that more people are emerging from this process with a positive experience.
'So, please come and rate the mortgage providing services you encounter. Let us have your feedback!'
Click image to enlarge
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POSTED BY
ROBIN BOWMAN
ON
THU 8TH NOVEMBER
AT
10:17 GMT
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[ Back To Blog Home ]
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CEE MORTGAGE SURVEY - SATISFACTION RATINGS REVEALED!
"But when they don't have a ready answer, there is a tendency not to answer emails and other inquiries - so, when it's going well, the comms tend to be OK, but a 'don't know' can often spell silence."
For what it's worth, this has been exactly my experience with Star Capital Finance. Quite frustrating. I would much prefer feedback on why they can't help me, or how I could improve my suitability.
Sure, I can phone, but then they won't have my details to hand, so it's not ideal.
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POSTED BY
MINSK
ON
THU 8TH NOVEMBER
AT
23:10
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MORTGAGES
I wholeheartedly encourage PS to collate this data as it's one of the biggest frustrations in buying property in CEE. Let's all support the pooling of info as much as we can.
However, having complemented Neil earlier on the blogs which I think are excellent, this article is the other extreme. It's more like a press release - come on you can do better.
Huw
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POSTED BY
HUW
ON
THU 8TH NOVEMBER
AT
23:30
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MORTGAGES
Hi Huw
Sorry you think it's more of a press release, but the idea is to genuinely explain what is being done and to encourage people to respond and share their experiences.
It's also fair to say that when we think some progress has been made we're not going to hide it away for fear of sounding immodest or 'like a press release'.
cheers
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POSTED BY
ROBIN BOWMAN
ON
FRI 9TH NOVEMBER
AT
07:48
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STAR CAPITAL
I agree - I have been very frustrated trying to make contact and get feedback from them on my first potential mortgage application. They do not respond to e-mails and phone calls are hopeles because the right person is never in the office. Property Secrets really needs to do something about this - it could easily put less determined people off the whole process. I think PS should appoint an IFA or get FSA registered so that they can give mortgage advice, at least in principle, from in-house.
Tom
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POSTED BY
TOM M
ON
THU 22ND NOVEMBER
AT
15:38
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FSA
Tom, you've obviously never had dealings with the FSA!
Huw
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POSTED BY
HUW
ON
THU 22ND NOVEMBER
AT
19:52
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CZECH BROKERS
Star Finance are not the only brokers in town. I have used Hyposervis (also recommended by PS on previous deal) and they were just excellent. More recently I have used an independent broker based in Prague (ex Hyposervis) who is fantastic. Better service than UK brokers
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POSTED BY
NICK
ON
THU 22ND NOVEMBER
AT
20:05
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