About Mortgage Broking
What is a mortgage broker?
A mortgage broker is a professional financial services provider that helps you get finance.
Mortgage brokers must be licensed to offer financial services which means that you can benefit from dealing with a fully qualified professional.
The broker’s role is to conduct a full needs analysis, research the available options and present these options to the client for their consideration. Brokers are not tied to any one financial institution and have direct access to a diverse range of lenders offering multiple options that fit your needs.
Loan approval is completely at the lender’s discretion and subject to applicant/s meeting their criteria. The mortgage broking service offered takes a diligent approach to help applicants meet this criteria but cannot guarantee that an approval will be obtained.
Why use a mortgage broker?
Using a mortgage broker allows you to take the hassle out of the loan application process and find the best possible outcome without incurring any additional cost.
A mortgage broker will:
- take the time to fully understand your needs and objectives;
- research and identify available solutions;
- discuss those solutions with you;
- gather all required information and submit the loan application on your behalf;
- liaise with other parties on your behalf, such as real estate agents, legal representatives and the lender; to ensure the process goes smoothly and the money is there when you need it.
What does it cost to use a mortgage broker?
Ever wanted an expert to work with you and for you, at no cost to you? Read on.
The chosen lender pays the broker commission once the loan funds have been made available to the borrower. All commission payments must be fully disclosed throughout the loan application process.
This commission payment compensates the broker for:
- introducing the borrower as a customer of the lender;
- the work and cost involved in gathering and verifying required information and submitting a fully completed loan application; and
- customer service in managing most of the customer’s requirements; relating to the loan, after the loan has been made available.
For most loans, the commission payment is not added to the finance cost that is paid by the borrower. Rather, it is essentially the cost incurred by the lender to expand their loan distribution network without incurring the expense of adding branches or hiring full time staff. If there is a commission payment or a fee that is added to the finance cost it will be discussed with you at the initial meeting. For example, a service fee may be payable when arranging business loans where there are complex requirements and/ or to cover upfront costs incurred by the broker.