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Trussle Vs Habito: What’s the Best Online Mortgage Broker (and Why?)

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Habito and Trussle are two of the best-known online mortgage brokers. As a first-time buyer with little knowledge of the process, earlier this year I decided I would certainly benefit from just such a mortgage broker.

I liked the idea of someone working on my behalf to find the best possible deal for my circumstances. In the end I used both Habito and Trussle.

In this article I’ll discuss my personal experiences of both mortgage brokers.

I’ll reveal why I ended up using both Trussle and Habito. And hopefully by the end you’ll feel rather better informed. If you’re currently trying to decide between these two titans of the mortgage market then read on for my detailed Habito versus Trussle comparison.

Applying for a Mortgage with an Online Broker

I’m an introvert with a busy professional life. That has two knock-on effects.

Firstly, I’m not a fan of face-to-face chats with people. I’d rather communicate online. I’ll avoid a telephone call too if I can.

Also, being so busy, applying for a mortgage online makes a lot of sense because the process can be fitted around the rest of your life; no needing to book time off work to go and see a professional advisor.

An online mortgage broker was therefore the perfect solution.

In response to a lot of positive comments from other personal finance bloggers I actually started out with Habito. I submitted all the details they requested, and in response received their mortgage recommendations.

After mulling over the options I made my decision, and here things started to come unstuck

I’ve gone into detail about this in my full Habito review, but briefly the mortgage lender I chose (a) didn’t work with my conveyancer (who know some lenders only work with certain solicitors? Certainly not me!), and (b) wanted a ridiculous amount of additional information not requested by other lenders. This really stopped me in my tracks.

Choosing a mortgage is a pretty nerve-racking experience, especially for a first-time buyer, so when you’ve finally made a decision, then you find there are things you haven’t been told, it causes you to re-evaluate everything. It’s quite a pain. 

The unpleasant taste this left in my mouth then encouraged me to look at other options, which is when I stumbled across Trussle. Fortunately, I already had pretty much all the information needed for Trussle to consider my application, as it was a near-duplicate of Habito’s with just a few minor differences here and there. 

Trussle responded very swiftly, and filled me with confidence in their abilities.

In the end I opted for Trussle’s recommendation and am now the proud owner of a detached three bedroom property. 

Let’s try to break down the similarities and differences as much as possible by considering a number of important factors.

Please remember, however, that these are just my personal experiences of using both companies, so other people may have had alternative experiences. In other words, don’t treat any of this as “gospel”…

Simplicity of Application

Applying for a mortgage online is quite a simple process. You’ll need to submit a fair amount of information initially, so expect to put aside a couple of hours.

The more financial stuff you do online, the easier things will be for you. For example if you have online banking and receive your payslips electronically then this will make your life a lot easier. 

Generally the process was very similar between the two, and while it may take you a while to gather and submit all the facts and figures you need, it is far from difficult. 

If I was being picky here I would say that the Habito application felt more “guided”. Once you’ve signed up for a free account there is a clear order of steps that you pass through, answering questions and uploading documents in a neat and tidy order.

This is quite pleasing as it allows you to see the application process as a “journey” that you’re travelling through. It’s easy to see your progress, and it feels quite nice as you tick off one step after another. 

The Trussle process, in contrast, felt less guided. I was essentially presented with a list of documents and forms that were required and then uploaded all of these in one big session. 

I don’t think that either of these processes is necessarily “better” than the other – it really depends on your personality. Some will find Trussle’s simpler application process to be a smoother and more efficient experience.

Personally, I quite liked the way Habito took me through the process in little baby steps, as it seemed to make everything feel far less intimidating.

Hand Holding

Its irrational I know, but the idea of applying for a mortgage was a stressful experience for me. I guess it was the fear of the unknown, having never gone through the process before.

What road-bump would appear next?

Would there suddenly be a dead-end on the road? 

I therefore believe that hand holding – at least for first time buyers – is important part of the service. You want someone to gently guide you through the process, offering advice when necessary and smoothing the way for you. 

Both companies offer this. With Habito I was allocated my own personal advisor, and we communicated extensively via their online chat service. The “chat” functionality at Habito is quite nice, in that it is automatically saved, and next time you log in you can resume your conversation just where you left off.

It also means not having to speak to anyone in person or over the phone – perfect for nervous house buyers (or introverts like me). The service I received here was polite and professional – a really good experience. 

Where things did perhaps fall down a little bit was that messages could actually take some time to receive a response because you never knew when your broker was actually around. After all, people have days off or vacations, so you can sometimes wait for some time for a response, or suddenly find someone else jumps in if they’re away. For me, this made the communication process a little stop-and-start.

Even when my broker was in the office, it seemed to take time to receive a response. I assume Habito advisors are dealing with multiple chat clients at once, so you may have to wait for them to finish dealing with other customers before your message is responded to. In this way it felt more like communicating by email rather than chat. 

Sometimes I’d sit at my computer after work wanting to discuss something, and it could take anything from minutes, to hours, to days, to get a response to my latest message, only for me to immediately have another question based on their answer.

It certainly didn’t feel like a “quick” way to get the answers I needed, though with patience they did come and the service level felt good.

Trussle was a rather different beast. Here communication was via phone or email. I used both, and found the response rates were always fast.

I would give my broker a quick call in the evening with any queries (they’re there late into the evening) and during my working day we’d fire emails back and forth. They were always responded to very quickly indeed so we were able to progress through the mortgage process very quickly. 

Personally, while I appreciated the online chat function at Habito, it did all feel a bit stop-start. While Trussle doesn’t present that same neat area where all your communication can be re-read in one tidy place, the email/phone combination worked well and I felt I was able to get my questions answered a lot quicker than with Habito. 

Mortgage Lender Variety

When Habito made their initial mortgage recommendation it was a lender I’d never heard of. That, in itself, isn’t an issue as far as I’m concerned.

Maybe for some people it might be – handing over your most intimate personal details to an unknown company.

The fact is, though, that Habito seem to deal with a massive range of lenders, some of whom you might not stumble across with other mortgage brokers. This, in turn, might land you a better deal than with competitors. 

Trussle, in comparison, seem to focus on more well-known “high street” lenders – companies you’ve heard of like Virgin Money or Barclays. This could mean a smaller range of mortgage options overall, and the potential to miss out on a better deal from a more “niche” lender.

Equally, for me there’s something to be said for having a mortgage from the bigger names – an extra degree of trust and security. 

I ended up going with Trussle’s recommendation (and a mortgage with Barclays) and I’m very happy with that decision. 

Habito in a Nutshell

Habito have a very strong reputation and I was very happy with the service I received up until the point of mortgage recommendation.

I know quite a few people who have used Habito and the general consensus seems to be a very positive one. The application process is orderly and streamlined, they work with a huge range of lenders to find you the best deal, and your advisor is available via their handy online chat to answer any questions.

On the flipside, it sometimes felt that answers to questions took longer than expected, even with chat, and that the answers sometimes didn’t fully address the query, resulting in more back-and-forth. Mildly frustrating but hardly a deal breaker. 

Trussle in a Nutshell

Trussle overall felt a little more “traditional”. A less-guided application process, communication via email or phone. Potentially a slightly smaller number of lenders being compared. But the level of service I received here was incredible.

My advisor, who I won’t name here, was incredible. Polite, professional, friendly. Nothing was too much trouble. He accepted my calls late into the evening and with good humour and patience explained everything I needed to know.

There were one or two minor glitches with my mortgage application, but my broker was straight on it with a recommended solution.

Once we’d agreed on the mortgage, a second member of the team was looped in. Their job was to liaise with the bank to push the mortgage through as swiftly and smoothly as possible. So essentially I had my advisor helping me directly, and a second advisor sorting things out behind the scenes.

I received regular emails from both throughout the process, so I knew exactly where we were, what to expect next, how long I’d likely have to wait etc. 

For me, this felt like a very “supportive” experience. My phone would “ping” at work and there’d be another email just letting me know where things were. This feeling of “momentum” and of not being forgotten about was very refreshing. In contrast, with Habito it sometimes felt like I was the one having to do all the pushing. 

Conclusion: Habito vs Trussle – Who Should You Choose?

Let me be clear: having used both services I believe that both Habito and Trussle offer a valuable service. Both should be commended and I wouldn’t have any issue with recommending either based on my experience alone.

However if I was asked who was “better” based on my own recent experience, I’d have to go for Trussle. I just felt that the level of communication, support and customer service was considerably higher than what I received with Habito.

I was made to feel important.

My broker really wanted me to succeed and was personally on hand to make that happen every step of the way. I didn’t feel that same “connection” and didn’t feel as “valued” with Habito.

As one final point, Trussle now keep an eye on remortgages. When my fixed period comes up for renewal Trussle will automatically make recommendations as to the best deal to swap to. I think this has a lot of value.

I would also say that based on my recent experience of dealing with them, I’d be more than happy to work with them again on a remortgage. And that, I suppose, is really the biggest message of all.

Richard

Sun-worshipper and obsessive frugality blogger. For loads more money-saving advice come and join us on Facebook.

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