Finance / Mortgage Brokers help people achieve their dreams, by seeking out appropriate finance solutions to purchase property, support their business or ease their cashflow. Brokers act as the conduit between the client and a chosen lender, negotiating with a lender on a client’s behalf to match the situation with the right combination of product features, interest rates and fees. Working with a Broker allows you more choice and saves you time, whilst someone else does the heavy lifting.

Finance / Mortgage Brokers operating in Australia, are heavily regulated with their activities bound by Australian Government legislation. Brokers are required to be registered with the following authorities- An industry association such as the Mortgage Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) or Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), ASIC (Australian Securities & Investment Commission), AFCA (Australian Financial Complaints Authority). In terms of educational requirements, as a minimum brokers are required to be diploma qualified and undergo at least two years mentoring by an industry senior. Chances are, you may find that the broker you deal with, is tertiary qualified in a related discipline and/or has years of diverse industry experience. Many Australian banks and lenders who deal with Finance / Mortgage Brokers require them to be representatives of a formal broking aggregator group, which in turn assists with management of quality control, compliance with legislation and audit requirements. In summary, dealing with Broker is very safe and transparent.

We do not deal with every single lender or bank. There are many different types of lenders in the marketplace. Some are more traditional, offering many different products and services along with a physical branch infrastructure, others are smaller lenders, whose products can only be accessed via a broker and whose dealings with are completely online. And then there are other lenders, whose products are not available through a broker at all. Whilst we don’t have access to every single bank or lender in the Australian market, we have access to over 30 different lending providers, a panel which ranges from the more traditional bank or lender, right through to the more trendy, digital offerings. The lenders we have chosen to partner with provide our clients with a great selection in terms of price, product and options, with this group continually being reviewed and expanded.

Finance / Mortgage Brokers are paid a commission from the lender who settles your transaction, as a cost of doing business. That means, this commission payment is not passed on to you as a client either through a separate charge or via any additional interest rate loading applied to your loan. Brokers have access to the same lending products available through your local bank branch – same fees, same headline interest rates. In lots of cases, Brokers are able to secure additional interest rate discounts off published interest rates, just by comparing these rates against other competing lenders in the market - and it doesn’t cost you any extra. As part of the loan process lenders, government agencies, conveyancers and other parties involved, may charge their own fees, but these are paid directly to the issuer of the fee. Therefore, for the average home loan, engaging the services of a Broker may cost you nothing but your time. There are some instances where you may be asked to pay a fee to your Finance / Mortgage Broker for engaging their services, their time and expertise, eg., where the complexity or size of your transaction may not necessarily attract a reasonable remuneration from the lender to reflect the commensurate time and effort to process your finance application. However, should that be the case, your Broker will disclose this to you upfront, before proceeding with any services.

If you’re actively looking at purchasing a property in the short term, there are some lenders that will provide a fully assessed finance pre-approval. This requires a formal finance application to be submitted to your lender of choice, who will then fully assess your request to potentially provide a finance approval, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions (eg., executed / accepted Contract of Sale, property valuation). Obtaining a fully assessed pre-approval, can provide certainty and ‘peace of mind’, in respect to capacity to lend, budgetary constraints and negotiating power. Alternatively, if your goals are more medium to longer term, a Broker may “pre-assess” your lending capacity before you put in an offer to purchase. This pre-assessment process allows a review of your situation & requirements in order to assess what you are likely to be able to borrow. Particularly useful if you’re not quite ready to make a move, this process also allows you to keep your options open, as lender interest rates, fees and policies can change at any time.

Most lenders will generally look for these main things; Deposit or Equity available (ie, your contribution towards the transaction), Regular, reliable & consistent employment (ie, your capacity to make repayments), Quality of the security being offered (ie, property, vehicle, guarantee etc.), A regular savings history, Good credit history. Sometimes though, not everyone has these things, for whatever reason. So if you find yourself lacking in any of these areas, don’t despair – we may still be able to find you a solution because different lenders have different policies about what they will or won’t consider. Talk to us about your situation and we’ll let you know what other items will be required at or after an initial interview.

Often asked, this question is a bit like asking, “how long is a piece of string?” Everyone’s situation is different and a lender’s interest rates and lending policies change constantly. Put simply, while a particular lender or product might be good for your neighbour, it may not be the right fit for you. Although most lenders have a defined set of rules they operate by, sometimes individual situations are assessed on ‘case by case’ bases. This can impact on the type of product you take, the fees you pay and also the interest rate. There is no straight forward answer, but to summarise, the ‘best’ interest rate, is a combination of an appropriate product for your situation and a competitive pricing solution as compared with the available market choices.