I'm in the market for a first home and am considering a mortgage broker. I've heard both great and not so great things about them.
Anyone in Melbourne able to recommend brokers you've had a good experience with?
(Does it matter if I'm in Melbourne and they are not?)
Love you x0x0
I’ve had a few colleagues go through Jo Attard and Co.
One just got mortgage advice, but the rest secured loans and one refinanced too.
I’ve not used them, so I can’t comment personally, but if I ever wanted a broker I’d go to them based on the comments from my colleagues.
@jjjaar which broker did you use?
Aidan (broker)
As I said
I’ve not used them
Not exactly sure who my colleagues used, but I believe it was at least 2 different people. Unfortunately one of the colleagues has since left, but I can find out from the others - may just take me a week as we don’t work in the same team anymore.
Nam at Ascot Mortage Group is fantastic. Ex CBA lender, super knowledgable and switched on.
@footyboy - this guy. Book a free consultation and will take you through process from A to Z for as long as you need and as many questions you got. Really good.
Thanks @Hybroid for the recommendation 👊
Happy to help you @damster
Email me -
[email protected]
Aidan.
FYI.
When searching for a bank I spoke to 3 different Mortgages brokers for a loan. Got 3 different lender/rate/package recommendations.
I then went direct to the bank of the best offer and got offered an ever better deal.
When we got our home loan 4 years ago or so we used a broker, "state broker of the year 5 years running" or some such tosh. They plugged our income into a computer and printed a few sheets of options, which was pretty much the bank who we'd already noticed from advertising seemed to have the most competitive rates at the time. The rate offered was the same as in the ads and the broker made no attempt to get us anything better.
Anyhow, we went through the broker and the only function they offered was to be in the middle of a game of Chinese Whispers where the bank would ask them for something, the broker would pass the request onto us, we would pass it back to the broker who would pass it back to the bank.
There was no real benefit to using the broker, in that we largely had to fill in the same paperwork as if we'd gone direct and, as above, the rates were the same.
Three years later we refinanced. I used mortgage comparison sites and made contact with the cheapest bank myself. We filled in all the paperwork without the middle man and boy was that process so much smoother. I have zero interest in ever using a mortgage broker again.
Regardless of whether or not you go with a broker you're still going to have to submit all the same paperwork, chase up all the same income statements, produce all the same estimates of expenses, answer all the same questions, sign two versions in five places of exactly the same mortgage agreement, and organise all the conveyancing yourself. If you still think that your mortgage broker is going to add value after that in comparison to using a mortgage comparison website, then sure, go crazy.
For super simple applications, you may have a point.
For anything even slightly curly, if nothing else, a good broker will test your application against the lenders calculator and lending policy BEFORE submitting.
I save around 3 applications a week from being declined, as the client wanted to go to the wrong bank who would not have approved their loan, due to them not meeting the criteria or time frame required.
Aidan (broker)
Same here. People kept telling me to use a broker. During the whole process I was thinking I could have done this myself.
Later on I realised the people who were referring me to a broker were those who are crap with money and only had like 5% deposit. I had 30%.
When I refinanced I went directly to the bank. So much less BS.
Brokers are for desperate people who are crap with money. If you have the money and are in a good position, don't use a broker.
That’s a pretty big generalisation to say that brokers are for desperate people who are crap with money. Shows your ignorance of only using your own personal experience and situation to make judgement of the entire population.
My experience and the experience of those around me who are crap with money. The people I know who are good with money just spent a couple of hours deciding on their own which is the best loan to suit them.
I went with Josh from JT Home loans and he really helped me through the purchase. It was my first (and hopefully only) property buy and it was invaluable to have someone familiar with the whole process who I could call up and ask questions. Especially someone on 'our' side (not a bank or REA)
Would I use a broker again if I did have to buy again? Not sure, but only because I married an account who is very knowledgeable with money and banks
I'm also in the market for one so keen to hear responses.
I don't believe a broker needs to be around where you are - everything can be done electronically.