While the internet can offer facts and figures for mortgage comparison, that is really all it can offer and the literature available from banks, building societies and supermarkets can only serve to confuse matters. In these times, a mortgage broker who has a wide working knowledge of the mortgage industry and is able to adapt the search to your requirements is invaluable.

Consumers are using mortgages for many different reasons, including providing themselves with a safe, financial future – perhaps in the form of an investment property or buying property for letting purposes. This, of course, is a specialist area of the mortgage market and requires the skills of an experienced mortgage broker.

Those with sufficient equity in their home can simply apply to re-mortgage it and, hopefully, release enough funds to buy the investment property outright. However, those who cannot release the necessary capital can use a mortgage broker to source a buy- to-let mortgage. In this case, the amount an applicant can potentially borrow is dependant on the projected income of the rental property, although having a deposit increases the level of competitive deals that can then be sourced.

If the second property is a holiday home bought for part-time use by the buyer, the mortgage company will then require proof that the mortgage repayments on the holiday home and the first property will be covered by the applicant's income. Should the property be abroad, there is the added complication of finding a UK lender who is willing to lend on foreign property or a lender in the chosen country must be approached.

This is where an experienced mortgage broker can really make the difference to a new or inexperienced buyer. ‘Whole of Market' mortgage brokers have unlimited access to the thousands of mortgage deals and products that make the current market so competitive.

Independent mortgage brokers can find a mortgage to suit any purpose and do it with the client's best interests at heart, as they are not beholden to particular mortgage companies. ‘Whole of Market' mortgage brokers, such as the aptly-named The Mortgage Broker Ltd, garner a wealth of experience from dealing with the numerous lenders vying for custom. By dealing with a wide and varied range of products, their skills and expertise are developed and their understanding deepened, allowing them to apply their knowledge to other aspects of mortgage procurement, such as self-certification or adverse credit mortgages.

The quality of a mortgage broker can often be assessed by the quality of the mortgage they offer; mortgage comparison is an essential part of their trade and the greater the selection they have to choose from, the more likely it is they will be able to source a mortgage to suit a borrower's needs.