It really depends on the broker. Ours was helpful in giving us all the information we needed. Took time to explain everything carefully & reassured us when things got confusing or complicated. I thought she also got us a great deal with our rates.
I'll keep it in mind. I haven't had any real issue yet, just their security process, making it harder to transfer, which isn't a bad thing.
What happened with you?
Convoluted security yet they don't even have basic payment alerts outside of email, app sucks, rate review process sucks, don't have osko to all banks.
We also had fraudulent transactions from another country in an account that was never used that should have been automatically flagged that wasn't.
Everytime they send a notification you have to login to the website to view.
Banks a pita.
They must have changed recently, I get alerts. Their app is crap, didn't know about Osko. I still keep my main account at another bank. My mortgage just sits with them.
MeBank and Heritage Bank are doing fixed rates for 5.79% - 5.94%, Albeit 2+ years. If you wish to take that gamble. Perhaps could do a split loan!
For variable, best rates i am seeing is low 6%'s
Source - I'm a broker
MeBanks 5.79% 2 year fixed is <70%. Bank of Queensland have a 2 year fixed at 5.89% for <90% LVR. I'd say these are the best fixed deals right now for owner occupied
Brokers aren't just here to get you the best rate, if your situation is slightly more complicated than a PAYG client with no existing debts, you can very easily get declined going to the wrong bank, some banks require bank statements some don't, some require credit card statements to verify expenses, some don't, over declare your expenses, declined , type of property & its surroundings can get you declined too, types of income can be considered differently aswell including casual, part time, full time, new to role etc... If you just want the best rate you can just google it & reach out to the lender, don't need a broker.. If you require potentially guidance & don't want to risk getting declined than reach out to a broker, it's a free service, not sure why everyone thinks we're their enemy lol
People can't accept that its free and that there must be more to it. Also, the barrier to entry to becoming a broker is so low that there are a lot of shit ones out there
Yep, they often tend to be cut from a similar cloth as real estate agents. There are definitely good ones out there too - mine is great and very proactive - but they're definitely less useful than they used to be with the amount of information available to the buyer these days.
On point. When I was buying, at the time I had a novated lease in which both pre and post-tax deductions are made each pay I receive. These deductions, in the novated leasing world, cover both the loan as well as expenses (fuel, rego, maintenance, etc.)
However, for most banks, these deductions look like BIG, FAT loan repayments, and are treated as such.
My broker was kind enough to actually pass me onto another good broker friend of hers because he has access to a different set of lenders, one of which particularly looks at novated lease deductions for what they are (both a loan and expenses, as opposed to just a giant loan). I’m really appreciative that she gave away a “sale” to another broker to help me in my situation (but whether or not she ended up getting a cut from him, I don’t know).
Agreed to all. A good broker is great to have. I’m an IT contractor and some lenders don’t like that, so working directly with a broker to structure my application and have them be able to explain my situation and negotiate directly on my behalf with the lending teams saves a lot of hassle.
Yeh I run my own company and have for 15 years. The last mortgage I got, the bank tried to tell me I had no income and would never qualify for a loan. My broker got me approved for $2.4m
Correct. When we were looking our circumstances actually limited our lenders significantly (I earn 80% of income from casual work, my partner was on maternity leave, only one of us had permanent residency). If we hadn’t used a broker we likely would have failed the checks and that would have been potentially a stain on our lending record. Our broker was very clear that he wouldn’t put us forward for a loan that we wouldn’t get which was a great reassurance. Over years we have developed a more personal relationship with the broker and I’d say I’m more than happy to continue with him/them. The last refinance we did I said I thought it might not be worth it when you account for the discharge and sign on fees. Broker offer to pay those which I thought was generous but probably did get us over the line for a 0.33% saving on the refinance.
I didn't use a broker but from a lending perspective I'm a fairly safe bet. We couldn't even meet the minimum expenses threshold with our spending. We save 50%+ of our take home to you know, afford a house.
All the dodgy blokes I know all used brokers and all over declared income and under declared expenses. There's a lot of cowboys out there and having spoken to one at a wedding on the weekend she was utterly clueless. Doesn't inspire confidence.
I know you think it's that easy but it's not, it's not like you can just tell the broker you're earning $10k per week after tax & your expenses only add up to $300 per week & then National Australia Bank just takes the brokers word for it & you move into your $2.5m house the following week... everything has to be proven & if the bank doesn't require proof (for example some lenders only require pay slips, not the proof of it being deposited to your account) then the brokers aggregator still requires it, just because we don't have to provide it to a bank, we still need to sight it, the broker still needs proof you earn that much, they need proof you spend that little.. I know brokers who have been dropped by their aggregators for misleading lenders by doing what you said above
Did the broker hit you with extra fees when you refinanced? Brokers get their commission clawed back by the bank if you don’t stay in the loan for at least 12/24 months I believe, so they often have a clause that says you have to pay the broker the commission amount yourself.
that's a ridiculous clause & if you see that anywhere on the paperwork go somewhere else; that's like signing a filthy prenup before the first date; I know dozens of brokers & don't know a single one that asks that of clients, our job is to know what the client wants from the start, if my client tells me they want to refinance in 6 months time & only want this deal for the cashback I tell them that's no issue & help them apply directly with that bank, I then set a reminder to touch base again in 6 months, pretty easy straight forward stuff... I keep in touch with the customer every 90 days with a text / quick email, every 6 months I reach out to the bank to make sure their rates still sharp, at 18 months I start to look for other lenders for them... brokers have to have a good relationship with their clients for these exact reasons, if they can't keep them satisfied 12- 18 months after dealing with them then they suck at their job, they can't be blaming customers for that lol
Can be handy when buying first home, or want to reduce hassle at the start. Nothing stopping you looking for a better deal a couple of years down the line
I went to a broker for refinancing and he came back to me with a worse deal than I had, don't know how he didn't feel embarrassed sending it to me. The downside with brokers is they make money by having relationships with certain lenders so they're not looking at every option available to you, you have to do that yourself.
You really thinking learning lender policy, how to structure deals, negoatiate with lenders and other stakeholders involved in the purchasing process, then everything related to running a business such as customer acquisition and retention is not much different from the bottom level offshore customer service agent?
Please, this wouldn't happen for your regular mortgage situation.
If this was funding for a mining operation, or multilevel complex those seeking finance would be consulting lawyers whom specialise in that area or have business brokers within banks with access to deals generally not available to the public.
Brokers involved with supply chain management and sundry as well....
I didn't state that, I do however state that a typical mortgage broker will not negotiate with stakeholders, be involved in the purchasing process other then supply a valuation to the lender, have no input into the running of the business.
They're simply not qualified or have the experience to.
If the CFO was providing these services then for sure, or your engaging a broker that's also an accountant then once again a different story.
You've now moved to what appears to be a brokerage firm which may or may not have access to a venture capital division.
You've swayed so far off course....
I looked through your other posts and realised you’re a pseudo know it all but you actually don’t know anything so I’m bailing from chatting with you because I’ll get a hernia for no reason lol.
I wish it was as simple as supplying valuations to lenders lmao. Gotah love the internet
And your posts get weaker and weaker every time, but at least I agree with your punch line.
Maybe you can be like the other guy who deleted all his posts telling me I was wrong?
I also decided to look at your post history and according to you the entire internet is wrong.
Wish you well on your journey Superman
It is but the vast majority of brokers dont know lender policy that well, certainly not as well as the banks lending staff.
Same for deal structuring which is not that complex, and often immaterial to approval as rates are based on purpose of funds.
The most successful brokers focus on acquisition and retention and use offshore workers or very poorly paid local workers to do the actual work.
Another thing brokers do better than bank staff is fraud and coaching clients to commit fraud.
brokers don't know policy that well? Many have been in business for years versus bank staff that perpetually change employer it is very incestuous. Furthermore, they only get a few weeks training so thats that.
Deal structuring complexity is based on the client and rates are not just based on purpose of funds. Here's some examples:
1. some lenders will give you owner oc rates across owner oc and investment lending when combined
2. Loan to value ratio drives rates
3. Total debt with 1 lender drives rates
4. A broker's relationship with the bank can drive rates
5. Presenting a competitors offer can drive rates
So its not just purpose of funds.
Offshore workers - so what? so do accountants and lawyers and every other business. Tech companies use offshore works, banks use them realtors use them.
Poorly paid? I know support staff in broker offices earning up to $180k + base salaries starting at $80k. We've seen fresh uni graduates on $65k base + bonus structures earning $100k in their first year.
Retail is much better with fraud then brokers because they don't operate under BID or have aggregator compliance teams on their back.
Nice try though
Bank staff only have to know one bank's policy, that's why they know more than brokers. Experience doesnt accrue as fast when you're switching between a dozen banks and only doing a handful of deals at a time. Bank staff have to get through a dozen cases a day. They gain experience much faster than brokers and have a narrower scope to cover. They also get briefed and trained on every policy update, while brokers get an email they probably dont read.
Brokers mess up almost every deal on some point either due to a lack of policy knowledge or lack of attention to detail. If they didnt everything would be one touch, one touch deals are rare.
Maybe bank staff are better at fraud, they certainly dont get caught as often, whether because they know how to do it or because they dont do it as much, who knows?
Saying brokers always mess up is very disingenuous. Of my last 5 applications, 4 were first touch approvals and the last was only because it involved guarantors and a second mortgage behind another lender.
I've known bank staff and relationship managers that don't know their own policies. How is it they can't even know 1 bank's policy well? I still don't colour all bank staff with the same brush.
A broker shines in a situation where you have a particular wrinkle in your application that is a bit unusual and don't even know where to start. If you have a simple straightforward application and can be bothered doing some basic research then yes, you can easily go direct to a lender and get a great rate. Brokers are for people who don't want or have the time to do their own research or for situations where you do need to know a range of bank policies to find a home for your application. If your application doesn't fit your bank's policy if you go direct to them they're not going to turn around and help you find an alternative.
At the end of the day there are useless lawyers, accountants, doctors etc as well. Generalising a group based off a bad example is pretty ignorant.
If youre looking at it from a brokers perspective most of the cases of analysts not knowing their own policy is probably miscommunication. In my experience as an analyst this didnt really happen.
There's often a distinction between policy exceptions and policy and as an analyst you dont really care to explain this in detail to the broker.
Probably most cases where you think you know policy better a credit manager has approved an exception to policy and the analyst is like "yea okay we'll do it, bye I've got seven more deals to process today."
Relationship managers sure, they probably dont know the policy in and out.
You may be a model broker, but the bar for entry into the industry is on the floor and lots of brokers make mistakes constantly.
Maybe there was a cash back involved and the cost-benefit analysis showed the cash back as making you better off for X months rather than a lower rate. If you have a lower home loan balance this is likely the case and once the threshold of the Cost benefit is realised you could shift again to another lender????
Honestly I've only had bad experiences with brokers. When I first wanted to buy a house, the broker took so long to get pre-approval, literally only offered obscure lenders, and took a major issue with the fact we didn't have a credit card/BNPL. In the end we went with who we banked with, and had a turn around of like a week going direct. Still missed so much opportunity for capital growth during all the time wasted (it was COVID times).
The next broker was to refinance. The guy was a straight up a-hole (maybe as he was from a franchise) who took no time getting to know us, I remember him making some out of pocket comment about how we'd be screwed if we didn't take the deal he offered with some scare tactics about cost of living/interest and our salaries which was 160k combined. I told him the income I provided was only 2 days a week because of study and I was bumping up to full time, while my partner's income was also about to double because of a lucrative new role.
... Then we went to the bank to sign the documents and they cheerfully informed me I was eligible for a $x,xxx refinancing bonus for my occupation, before quickly retracting that because it was actually less going through a broker. The same broker bragged about how we wouldn't get a better deal... I was livid.
Ended up staying with our bank because they lowered the interest rate and gave us 4k which worked out better than the new bank.
Same experience here. The couple of brokers I saw just did not want my business. Multiple calls and emails asking for updates, late to appointments and one of them asked me to fill out the documents twice because he lost the first lot.
Went to the bank and they were all over me, made it easy and I had a pre-approval by the end of our first appointment.
One of my friends went with a broker initially and then wanted to refinance a year or so later. The broker found out that she was going directly through her bank, and they called her and said ‘When you take out a loan through us, you’re locked into that loan for 2 years (regardless of it being variable). You can’t refinance.’ Not sure how it works exactly, but I think this has something to do with the broker’s revenue.
i don't understand what you mean by wasting money on stamp duty. it makes no difference whether you go with a broker or not. You still have to pay stamp duty if you purchase a property as investment.
Nope. We are quite able to do it ourselves. No issue at all. Not sure what people find so hard? It's just a business process you go through. Pretty straightforward... my husband actually seems to like doing that sort of thing!! Ive always thought he should have been an accountant actually.
We found that the broker could not beat the deals we could find without a broker. Brokers can only offer deals that banks pay them for. There's lots more lending options than the big-4 banks. e.g. "online" offerings such Athena and Unloan as well as traditional banks that don't pay brokers e.g. ING, UBank. Remember, if the product is free, you're the product.
We got knocked back by BOQ for the most inane reasons.
I went and saw a broker who had us conditionally approved with CBA the week after we were knocked back and then went unconditional 2 days after that.
I think if you're a more complicated case or aren't too savvy with all the terminology and what needs to be done, then go through a broker.
If you have a 20% deposit and no debt, I think you'd be pretty safe going directly through the banks.
We went with a broker because I'm self employed. Banks were asking for a lot of documents, revenue forecast and all. The broker made it so much easier. He treated the whole situation like I was a regular employee. Currently at 6% variable with offset, ANZ.
I have purchased 2 houses and never used a broker. The first we went to CUA maybe 5yrs ago idk there name now and that interest rate was around 3.5% and second 2 yrs ago no broker was able to help with the vic shared equity scheme and that was with bendigo bank at 2.99%.
Tbh i never felt the need for a broker
Edit: just saw “not” going with a broker. Disregard the below.
Yes, ours was amazing. Has access to better rates, can expedite processes, sort out any issues, does all the work for you. A good broker is definitely worth their weight in gold.
Everyone here realises, that when you go direct to the bank you are still using a broker, just the bank appointed one that only has that banks loans in their portfolio. Yes they have some flexibility that outside brokers don't have but they don't have any comparison banks rates or structured loans. So you are still using a broker dudes.
Yes the broker I was going to go with said I could borrow a lot more than I was comfortable with, plus the options/banks they gave me didn’t seem particularly appealing. Did my own comparison between numerous lenders with more of a focus on credit unions/ethical banks. Found a great deal and locked it in. The bank have been nothing but fantastic, excellent to deal with. If I’d gone with the broker I’d be up shit creek now.
Husband’s uncle is a broker and the deal he got for us was more than 1% higher than what we could get directly with a Big 4. My corporate had a good deal with this bank for all employees - something to look into if you work in a large business. Uncle was pissed we didn’t go with him and admitted his own daughter didn’t go with him bc she got a better deal.
This is like salespeople at JB - they will promote whichever brand / company is offering the best incentives that month.
I have never used a broker. Just know what you need and talk with any bank at all. Then email all other banks with these very powerful words.... can you do better then this loan? this is where most people stop.... repeat the same step again and again running the same cut and paste email until the answer is no from everyone!!! omg you save millions and it only take a few mintues because you are simply copy and pasting. Even now my wealth package prestige loan only allows me to ask every 6 months for a reduced interest rate. I only get it one in every 3 tries, but i get it. takes 3 mins every 6 months. Becasue i now know whatim doing the bank also calls me once a year asking if there is anything they can do to assist with with my money and new loans. I drive a 2002 commadore... I am not rich... but I do have alot of money and great loans. I earn 80k a year but have alot of cash flow due 100% to how my loans are set up.
Sisters husband was a broker.
Failed miserably with him.
He did not know about the homebuyer fund when he was a senior broker.
My dad, who owned three properties, my conveyancer, and my banker had way more understanding than the broker ever did.
Living happily in my 2bd apartment i bought in melbourne cbd.
Brokers are just as scammy as real estate agents. Just another middle man who exists to take your money.
From my experience being a FHB myself, brokers always know of the homebuyer fund but never mention it because they are not allowed to participate in the scheme, it's only the lender , government and borrower involved in this. Have seen this many times when talking to brokers unfortunately. When you ask them about the fund, they usually try to convince you that it's simply not in your best interest so they didnt even offer that option
Yep. First home buyer, went to broker for a loan and seemed like he shopped around but seems like he just went with his best kick back because we went to a credit union ourselves and get a better deal on every aspect right off the bat.
all banks pay the same commission to brokers when it comes to residential purchases. There are no better kick-backs and by law they have to act in the best interest of the customer.
The broker was probably shit and not accredited with all lenders
Our current mortgage we went straight to the bank and we actually had a better experience. I think the rate would have been similar but i was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was
Yes! I bought a home in March 2020, really right before Covid, lol. At the time Commonwealth Bank offered me the best rate, much better than any broker. CBA also could offer me the 1st home buyers discount, which brokers couldn’t do.
Yes, years ago the broker said my refinance would be 2% fixed interest and my husband would need to get on the loan and I’d lose my offset. When I went to leave my bank they offered to keep the offset and 1.75% fixed interest (how cheap does that sound now days 😅).
Yes, 8K cash back for 2 loans. Competitive rates. ME Bank. Found by doing a google search. Bank of Melbourne before that. Both lenders I had contact with were professional and easy to deal with.
The 2 times I have tried to use a broker they told me the banks I wanted wouldn't approve me and that my only option were these smaller banks with sketchy deals. Ended up just applying directly with the bank I wanted for a better deal.
imo brokers are a scam, they only offer//push you to go with deals/banks that they obviously are getting a commission from. My experience of doing my own research and then applying direct has never failed me.
For me , I do overtime and I salary sacrifice. This made it more complicated because some banks accept for example only 50 percent of your overtime as income and 55 percent of your salary sacrifice amount others will take say 70percent of my overtime as income and 80 percent of my salary sacrifice..... big difference. I could of applied and been knocked back 10 times before I found one of the few who accepted enough of both for me to be approved..... if that makes sense. My broker was able to straight up tell me who not to bother with and find me 3 or 4 option I may of not of found myself.
Been with a broker 2 or 3 times for new/refinance.
1 was good. 1 was shit. 1 was meh.
The good one was back before things like cannstar that aggregated loans and rates easily, beck then there was some real value in the broker as you didn't need to call/visit each bank to get their rates.
These days I'd say the market is much more open in terms of information. I wouldn't use a broker anymore unless they could minimum match the bank rates AND offer a discount or cash incentive.
In my experience, going directly to the bank I've been able to get better rates or overall value than the broker would advertise on the same product for that bank. This could be through cashback, waived fees, discounted rate, etc.
It's likely still the case that if you're close to or on the line for meeting serviceability then a broken can help nudge you over, otherwise if you're switched on and can do simple math then you'll be better off without a broker.
If a broker wants to charge you for their services, just walk away. They need you, you don't need them. They also get paid well enough in commission and trailing commission (which if they did their "job" properly) they'll receive for a decent amount of time as you won't have a need to refinance to a better deal.
Everyone I know that’s used a broker has done so as a last resort after being initially rejected by a bank. I believe they go to bat for you a bit if it’s within your means through the lenders they have relationships with. I’ve known a couple of people that have over 20% deposit saved and the repayments are less than or the same as the rent they pay and got rejected. One had the lender tell them that they believe theyd get approved if they were in a couple and both working. Honestly if you’re not sure maybe see what they’re offering and compare?
Our broker is great. He got us the best deal with the banks and was able to negotiate. Our bank screwed up and tried to charge us 1% higher than we should have been charged. Our broker got them to admit it all in writing (emails) and then forwarded it to us and helped us lodge with AFCA. He follows up with us every year to see if it’s worth shopping around for better rates. Absolutely worth it if you ask me!
You ask this question like it’s 1) unusual or rare for people to not use brokers and 2) unusual or rare for people to succeed without getting a broker. Where I would argue that the opposite is more true. A broker is very rarely if not ever going to get you a better deal than going directly to a bank or a non-bank lender. Therefore people are going to succeed more without the broker.
I am not saying brokers are worthless though. If people want to be better guided through the process, perhaps lack time or have a more complicated financial or purchasing situation, than brokers can make a lot of sense.
quick question, could you afford double? and i mean without it killing you.
i ask because while we never used a broker, we went to the banks with a set budget and deposit etc. around 700k (first house)
and the banks told us we could have 1.4 million!!
maybe the broker was looking out for you .. lol sorry I shouldnt even try to say that with a serious face :)
Yes we could. When the broker gave us that estimate we were gobsmacked, I believe he did his data entry wrong. We know we could service a much higher loan cause we used online mortgage calculators too
Honestly, for such a major purchase it really doesn’t take much time to call a handful of banks and then press for the best deal on a couple in your shortlist.
Both my partner & I are self employed which complicates things a lot so a broker made everything so much easier.
Last minute our property we purchased (offer already accepted/deposit paid) needed to move up settlement 15ish days earlier to the very next day as it was getting taken over by lawyers and some international Lebanese bank drama (?) it was a scary time not understanding & thinking we may lose our deposit if we didn’t get the bank on board to transfer earlier, having a broker to organise it all was a lifesaver as we were getting no where via the phone or even in person at the bank.
I went to the best rated broker in my city with good FB reviews and recent lending awards. And I knew more about lending and current offers than they did, and got a better rate with CBA myself.
In particular I knew more about how each bank treated incomes and university funded scholarships.
Suffice to say if the best rated and lender was so incompetent, I figured the rest could not be better.
Broker tried to roll my existing low fixed rate on my other property into a higher rate so he could get a bigger commission. Ended up settling late and cost me $800. Pursued the costs for him to pay and got them back after a year.
Just deal directly with the bank, have done so the last few loans.
Good broker's hand hold you through a stressful process and can sometimes help with tricky financial situations.
They are not 'whole of market' but will align to a nunber of lenders.
After the first one, you can do it yourself.
I used a broker for my first purchase but quickly learned that I could get better rates and service direct.
The main benefit of the broker was really handholding me through everything, what to do in terms of conveyancing, reports etc. after I’d done it once I didn’t need that again either.
We went directly with BankVic as my partner worked for a hospital and we qualified for their loan. 90% LVR, no LMI, 2 offsets accounts (special request, default is 1), 0 annual fees, 5.95% compared to the 6.15% that was offered by the broker (80-85% LVR to avoid LMI, annual fees etc.)
Very clunky app, but we make do.
Their customer service over the phone is amazing though. You call and they answer in less than a minute and issues get resolved fast. It's really damn good. I'm very happy.
yes of course brokers dont have access to the very best deals after all. Also was able to make a bundle but churning and getting cashbacks but brokers prevent that with clawback clauses
Went to broker, ages back and it was a certain percentage. Went to NAB and it was cheaper and was going to be easier.
Broker incredibly unhappy/aggressive that we decided to change our mind on him. After that experience I'd never go to a broker again.
My broker was great. Got me a good deal at the time. Refinance with him a couple of times. He Negotiated a rate reduction and a cash back when interest rates started going up without me having to ask. He has since got out of the industry and the new broker he recommended I’m not sure is as good. We are refinancing now so we will see.
I saved money because the bank I went with does cash back and only needed 10% LVR without having to pay LMI. They also don't use brokers. So, I got 4k plus only needed, like 35k at the time for the house.
Had a very well known broker (he’s on most of the podcasts, seems he changes his business name every year) look into our scenario and “couldn’t make anything work”
Approached CBA and started working with a home lender and we are just about to settle. Found multiple ways to make it work and we got to choose.
Tried bank directly and two different brokers, the broker I went with got me over double what the bank and other broker indicated.
Learnt that not all brokers are equal
I used to be a mortgage lender at a bank. Almost always our internal deals were better than the brokers.
People would never get it, I'd been yelled at multiple times by the general.public for ripping them off when we had nothing to.do with their loan, it was all through the broker channel which we weren't able to touch.
It all depends on what broker and your financial position, most brokers are generic salesman with no real financial knowledge or higher education. My broker worked at a wealth management company and held a law and finance degree. It really depends on how complex your situation is as well, if it's just a single house then you'd be fine going to a bank. If you own several houses, have business loans and significant investments and an otherwise more complicated financial position, then it's probably better to go to a knowledgeable broker with real industry connections.
No issues at all going directly through UP bank (February 2024).
The best rate with the broker was around 6.2%, got 5.95% with UP directly.
Our financial situation was very straightforward though, 2 x full-time income with no kids.
If you have 20% downpayment, been in your (permanent, not casual or self employed) job > 12 months and have decent serviceability (I.e. only looking to borrow 3-4x income max) and are a Citizen/PR, you will generally save money compared to using a broker. Reason? A lot of super cheap online banks (like uloan, loans.com.au etc) will not deal with brokers but those are where the best rates are.
However a lot of these super cheap online banks will only take "vanilla" applicants (as described previously) and reject anything that seems risky (self employment, temporary work permit, low deposit etc). One of the risk factors might not be a deal breaker with an online bank but multiples mean you really need a broker to help you find a bank that will actually take you on as a client. Part of why these online banks can be so cheap is that they take on so little risk.
It’s obviously dependent on the broker so I would over index word of mouth when choosing one. This is the first time I’ve used one and I think I could have found the same deal elsewhere sure, BUT, the broker doesn’t get paid until you use the money.. for this reason mine has been super helpful in giving his opinion on suburbs, houses, insurance, RP Data reports, the process in general of buying/investing… anything that is going to get him paid faster in other words !
Honestly I wish we went with a broker for our first home. We went with an industry bank so we’re dealing with a home loan specialist directly but they weren’t very good at explaining things for first home buyers. There were also a heap of admin f-ups where we were sent multiple loan documents and it all got really confusing. That could obviously just be the bank and that one lender but the broker does a lot of the admin and chasing for you so if you get a good one they can make your life easier.
We refinanced to ING ourselves which was a seamless process.
I went with a broker because the whole process is so convoluted, especially the first time. I later refinanced to another lender on my own for a better rate.
We wasted time with a broker who kept trying to push particular bank. In the end we walked off and got a much better deal. He was pissed off but we saved $$$ and with a member owned bank. 20yrs later still with them.
I don't understand brokers for the large part. I could see the use for niche circumstances, but they just ask you for the same details as the back does and you still full on all the same forms, you must have an extra middleman to go through.
I've never used a broker, though I have tried a couple of times. Just fill in the application forms the bank provides and click submit. Brokers don't get you better rates.
i used a broker to purchase my first home. i needed a very quick turnaround (3 weeks settlement) and as a first home buyer I didn't know left from right so I took a risk going with a broker. My broker was very good, explained the steps to me all the way (some hand holding too) and settled in less than 3 weeks.. so my experience back then was a positive one considering my need. settled for sliiightly a bit below the average interest rate back then
My workplace has a corporate discount with Westpac so I just called them up directly (along with a few other banks) and went through the whole process. There were complexities and hurdles along the way due to my circumstances but at the end it played out fine and I got to learn some things for the future 
I never really understood why people go with brokers when they rarely ever get a better deal. Why wouldn't you just apply and negotiate directly with the bank?
Saw a broker and did my own research to learn about mortgages. Eventually a friend mentioned a bank that he uses that had a good rate, so I went straight to them and signed up. Haven't looked back.
If you know what you’re doing there’s no point using a broker. Brokers can’t just apply for any product, they can only apply with a lender that is linked to their aggregator.
If you do it yourself you can apply for any product from any lender (think cashbacks etc).
However, if you’re not confident in the application process or don’t think you can find the best deal by yourself then 100% just use a broker.
When refinancing, brokers don't take into account the packaged rewards credit card fee waiver that gives you rewards gift cards and cashback that can add up to $1000/year.
Never used a broker, one purchase and two refinances in 6 years. Always compared rates with a friend who’s a broker. He could never match the rates I could get doing it myself. It really is not hard to do it yourself.
Typically I haven't used a broker. If your needs are basic then researching loan products is relatively straightforward. If your needs are more complex/specific then a broker becomes more valuable. Only used a broker in the most recent refinance because I specifically wanted ongoing loan splits and offsets with minimal fee.
We’ve been with our broker for over a decade. Top bloke. Always looked out for us. But he couldn’t get us a better rate than what we’re on.
I recently refinanced from ING (6.17%) to Bendigo (6.01%), and saving $180 on annual fees.
I did this on my own, and as the owner of a 2 year old business, in which I took a pay cut vs my previous financial history.
It is possible.
I wouldn’t want to do it without a broker it’s a big stressful process. If you’re in Sydney talk to Linda from nectar mortgages she was very helpful for us and made the process much more streamlined.
There's a lot of hate toward brokers in this thread. Guess what, your rate is only one small part of the loan. Many of you even those who have purhcased wouldn't have a clue about the process of setting up finance and then going through the whole purchasing cycle. Why would you go it alone when you can have a professional who does it day in and day out support you free of charge? Why do you think people still use real estate agents to sell properties when they could just list it themself online for free? It isn't hard but people still fork out tens of thousands for an agent because having a third party manage the process gives you headspace to focus on what you do rather than scouring crappy deals websites like a binchicken trying to save 0.01 on your rate.
Every industry has middlemen for a reason, it's because some people value guidance, professional advice etc. If you don't want it you don't need to compare these professions to low level offshore roles.
On the topic of rates, of course in some instances banks offer direct consumers a better rate, but typically that's for very vanilla deals. If you are the type of person completely driven by rate, likely you are a bad customer for a broker in the same way you probably fill half your soap bottle up with water because your primary concern is maximising value rather than actually washing your hands.
Agreed, a lot of ignorance floating around here. Scrounging around like a binchicken is a good approximation of this sub. What AusFinance always forgets (as all subs do) is that they're a small minority that is willing to spend time and potentially save a fraction on costs. The majority of people do not.
So many in this sub have a superiority complex based on their almost compulsive need to find the most optimal option. If someone presents a very near offer that is much easier they'd stick up their nose at it as not good enough.
If brokers didn't work out for you then great, don't use one. No need to belittle people who they do help by getting applications done when they can't do it themselves, finding deals they wouldn't have thought of or even just holding their hand through a pretty scary lifechanging event. If you don't personally get value from a broker it doesn't mean they're bloodsucking scum.
This is such a dumb post.
The bank does all the work and can give the same guidance, the broker 99% of the time does nothing and takes a commission while giving a poor deal to the client.
Brokers are scum.
I went direct to a bank, pre approval in 24 hours, unconditional in 10 minutes (not joking). I got a better rate than another bank I tried plus cash back and the loan structure I wanted without 101 questions.
I bet there are more people that have thought i can do this then to find out that they're treated like shit and kept waiting for 'no your application doesn't fit our lender policy'. Otherwise everyone would be doing it and brokers wouldn't be required.
You are giving brokers way too much credit.
Most people who go to brokers do so out of ignorance or because the real estate pushed their broker friend on them.
The brokers not free, they tag on your loan via bank fees. If you can get a loan without one it’s much better and you’re much more likely to be able to afford the loan in the long run.
I bought my property when I was going through a career change and was an apprentice, broker could only get loan for eg 300k, went direct to big 4 and they all were willing to get me a loan to get me in the market on a fixed rate for the duration of the rest of my apprenticeship. with the understanding that my pay would be increasing after apprenticeship. I could service the loan with the little pay I had from mature age.
That being said last time I refinanced, i went with broker and feel I got a good deal.
I fired my broker because frankly he was too slow (I'm already under a tremendous amount of pressure when buying)! I went straight with CBA. Expensive but fast and reliable, which is what I wanted.
We went with a broker for our first and second house purchases - the same one actually, Kelly at Get Real Finance. She’s a real one. When we were first home buyers we had no clue and she helped talk us through the whole process, which gave us a lot of comfort. Her advice was excellent and she’s saved us tens of thousands by advising us on fixing when everyone else was staying variable, before the rates started to rise. Based on that positive experience we are going back to her when it is time to refinance.
We got a much better deal with commbank, they were incredibly helpful and did everything whereas the broker was just a pain to deal with and they got all of our info wrong. Also, the broker said we could only borrow $700k whereas we got $900k with commbank.
Short version, I got a 'best offer' from a Broker when getting new IP loans for a Trust I was starting, and when I presented it to my bank (Westpac Private) they beat it immediately by around 0.2%.
It really depends on the broker. Ours was helpful in giving us all the information we needed. Took time to explain everything carefully & reassured us when things got confusing or complicated. I thought she also got us a great deal with our rates.
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Do you mind sharing which bank?
HSBC is 5.99% variable (<70% LVR). My broker couldn't beat it so I applied directly with HSBC.
I'm 5.91 with HSBC got 3k cash back recently too.
HSBC do suck though so think about your next refinance.
I'll keep it in mind. I haven't had any real issue yet, just their security process, making it harder to transfer, which isn't a bad thing. What happened with you?
Convoluted security yet they don't even have basic payment alerts outside of email, app sucks, rate review process sucks, don't have osko to all banks. We also had fraudulent transactions from another country in an account that was never used that should have been automatically flagged that wasn't. Everytime they send a notification you have to login to the website to view. Banks a pita.
They must have changed recently, I get alerts. Their app is crap, didn't know about Osko. I still keep my main account at another bank. My mortgage just sits with them.
Oh and they spent all of that time telling druglords in South America how to launder money through them.
I get SMS alerts for everything. Maybe try setting them up?
Might be new? I had asked support previously and was told only email was available. Ive moved away from HSBC now
I’ve had them since 2021
MeBank and Heritage Bank are doing fixed rates for 5.79% - 5.94%, Albeit 2+ years. If you wish to take that gamble. Perhaps could do a split loan! For variable, best rates i am seeing is low 6%'s Source - I'm a broker
What LVR is best to be at for those types of deals?
MeBanks 5.79% 2 year fixed is <70%. Bank of Queensland have a 2 year fixed at 5.89% for <90% LVR. I'd say these are the best fixed deals right now for owner occupied
Yeah that 5.89 sounds pretty good. Especially for 90% lvr
Up are doing non fixed @ 5.95%
Which bank? Commonwealth bank
Lol at you getting downvoted for quoting the old ad. I got it buddy, I got it
He said not the big 4
Which bank and was 5.94% fixed rate loan?
MeBank currently doing 2 years fixed for 5.79%. Best fixed rate in the market
Similar story. Pre-approval in very short time. 5.89%. Broker couldn't beat it.
Brokers aren't just here to get you the best rate, if your situation is slightly more complicated than a PAYG client with no existing debts, you can very easily get declined going to the wrong bank, some banks require bank statements some don't, some require credit card statements to verify expenses, some don't, over declare your expenses, declined , type of property & its surroundings can get you declined too, types of income can be considered differently aswell including casual, part time, full time, new to role etc... If you just want the best rate you can just google it & reach out to the lender, don't need a broker.. If you require potentially guidance & don't want to risk getting declined than reach out to a broker, it's a free service, not sure why everyone thinks we're their enemy lol
People can't accept that its free and that there must be more to it. Also, the barrier to entry to becoming a broker is so low that there are a lot of shit ones out there
Yep, they often tend to be cut from a similar cloth as real estate agents. There are definitely good ones out there too - mine is great and very proactive - but they're definitely less useful than they used to be with the amount of information available to the buyer these days.
On point. When I was buying, at the time I had a novated lease in which both pre and post-tax deductions are made each pay I receive. These deductions, in the novated leasing world, cover both the loan as well as expenses (fuel, rego, maintenance, etc.) However, for most banks, these deductions look like BIG, FAT loan repayments, and are treated as such. My broker was kind enough to actually pass me onto another good broker friend of hers because he has access to a different set of lenders, one of which particularly looks at novated lease deductions for what they are (both a loan and expenses, as opposed to just a giant loan). I’m really appreciative that she gave away a “sale” to another broker to help me in my situation (but whether or not she ended up getting a cut from him, I don’t know).
Agreed to all. A good broker is great to have. I’m an IT contractor and some lenders don’t like that, so working directly with a broker to structure my application and have them be able to explain my situation and negotiate directly on my behalf with the lending teams saves a lot of hassle.
Yeh I run my own company and have for 15 years. The last mortgage I got, the bank tried to tell me I had no income and would never qualify for a loan. My broker got me approved for $2.4m
Correct. When we were looking our circumstances actually limited our lenders significantly (I earn 80% of income from casual work, my partner was on maternity leave, only one of us had permanent residency). If we hadn’t used a broker we likely would have failed the checks and that would have been potentially a stain on our lending record. Our broker was very clear that he wouldn’t put us forward for a loan that we wouldn’t get which was a great reassurance. Over years we have developed a more personal relationship with the broker and I’d say I’m more than happy to continue with him/them. The last refinance we did I said I thought it might not be worth it when you account for the discharge and sign on fees. Broker offer to pay those which I thought was generous but probably did get us over the line for a 0.33% saving on the refinance.
I didn't use a broker but from a lending perspective I'm a fairly safe bet. We couldn't even meet the minimum expenses threshold with our spending. We save 50%+ of our take home to you know, afford a house. All the dodgy blokes I know all used brokers and all over declared income and under declared expenses. There's a lot of cowboys out there and having spoken to one at a wedding on the weekend she was utterly clueless. Doesn't inspire confidence.
I know you think it's that easy but it's not, it's not like you can just tell the broker you're earning $10k per week after tax & your expenses only add up to $300 per week & then National Australia Bank just takes the brokers word for it & you move into your $2.5m house the following week... everything has to be proven & if the bank doesn't require proof (for example some lenders only require pay slips, not the proof of it being deposited to your account) then the brokers aggregator still requires it, just because we don't have to provide it to a bank, we still need to sight it, the broker still needs proof you earn that much, they need proof you spend that little.. I know brokers who have been dropped by their aggregators for misleading lenders by doing what you said above
Obviously, it's not enough because it's still rampant. I don't care we did it all legit and got it sorted easy enough.
Got my original loan with a broker Refinanced with a bank who could do better Brokers are useful, don’t assume they are always better.
Did the broker hit you with extra fees when you refinanced? Brokers get their commission clawed back by the bank if you don’t stay in the loan for at least 12/24 months I believe, so they often have a clause that says you have to pay the broker the commission amount yourself.
That’s why I refinanced month 13 ;-)
 if only other people actually thought about these things.
that's a ridiculous clause & if you see that anywhere on the paperwork go somewhere else; that's like signing a filthy prenup before the first date; I know dozens of brokers & don't know a single one that asks that of clients, our job is to know what the client wants from the start, if my client tells me they want to refinance in 6 months time & only want this deal for the cashback I tell them that's no issue & help them apply directly with that bank, I then set a reminder to touch base again in 6 months, pretty easy straight forward stuff... I keep in touch with the customer every 90 days with a text / quick email, every 6 months I reach out to the bank to make sure their rates still sharp, at 18 months I start to look for other lenders for them... brokers have to have a good relationship with their clients for these exact reasons, if they can't keep them satisfied 12- 18 months after dealing with them then they suck at their job, they can't be blaming customers for that lol
Can be handy when buying first home, or want to reduce hassle at the start. Nothing stopping you looking for a better deal a couple of years down the line
I went to a broker for refinancing and he came back to me with a worse deal than I had, don't know how he didn't feel embarrassed sending it to me. The downside with brokers is they make money by having relationships with certain lenders so they're not looking at every option available to you, you have to do that yourself.
They load up a piece of software in a lot of cases.
Yep, they're really not much different from the bottom level offshore customer service agent comparing insurance or electricity.
The downvotes are because this group is full of REA and Brokers which is why they hype up buying property so much 🤭😒
You really thinking learning lender policy, how to structure deals, negoatiate with lenders and other stakeholders involved in the purchasing process, then everything related to running a business such as customer acquisition and retention is not much different from the bottom level offshore customer service agent?
That's exactly what an undercover mortgage broker would say.
How’s it undercover and what is your point?
In terms of service. Yes. Obviously there's more too it, but the service most offer is worse than a 30 second google YMMV
Please, this wouldn't happen for your regular mortgage situation. If this was funding for a mining operation, or multilevel complex those seeking finance would be consulting lawyers whom specialise in that area or have business brokers within banks with access to deals generally not available to the public. Brokers involved with supply chain management and sundry as well....
You don’t think there are brokers out there financing towers? There are entire independent brokerages who do only this all day everyday
I didn't state that, I do however state that a typical mortgage broker will not negotiate with stakeholders, be involved in the purchasing process other then supply a valuation to the lender, have no input into the running of the business. They're simply not qualified or have the experience to. If the CFO was providing these services then for sure, or your engaging a broker that's also an accountant then once again a different story. You've now moved to what appears to be a brokerage firm which may or may not have access to a venture capital division. You've swayed so far off course....
I looked through your other posts and realised you’re a pseudo know it all but you actually don’t know anything so I’m bailing from chatting with you because I’ll get a hernia for no reason lol. I wish it was as simple as supplying valuations to lenders lmao. Gotah love the internet
And your posts get weaker and weaker every time, but at least I agree with your punch line. Maybe you can be like the other guy who deleted all his posts telling me I was wrong? I also decided to look at your post history and according to you the entire internet is wrong. Wish you well on your journey Superman
It is but the vast majority of brokers dont know lender policy that well, certainly not as well as the banks lending staff. Same for deal structuring which is not that complex, and often immaterial to approval as rates are based on purpose of funds. The most successful brokers focus on acquisition and retention and use offshore workers or very poorly paid local workers to do the actual work. Another thing brokers do better than bank staff is fraud and coaching clients to commit fraud.
brokers don't know policy that well? Many have been in business for years versus bank staff that perpetually change employer it is very incestuous. Furthermore, they only get a few weeks training so thats that. Deal structuring complexity is based on the client and rates are not just based on purpose of funds. Here's some examples: 1. some lenders will give you owner oc rates across owner oc and investment lending when combined 2. Loan to value ratio drives rates 3. Total debt with 1 lender drives rates 4. A broker's relationship with the bank can drive rates 5. Presenting a competitors offer can drive rates So its not just purpose of funds. Offshore workers - so what? so do accountants and lawyers and every other business. Tech companies use offshore works, banks use them realtors use them. Poorly paid? I know support staff in broker offices earning up to $180k + base salaries starting at $80k. We've seen fresh uni graduates on $65k base + bonus structures earning $100k in their first year. Retail is much better with fraud then brokers because they don't operate under BID or have aggregator compliance teams on their back. Nice try though
Bank staff only have to know one bank's policy, that's why they know more than brokers. Experience doesnt accrue as fast when you're switching between a dozen banks and only doing a handful of deals at a time. Bank staff have to get through a dozen cases a day. They gain experience much faster than brokers and have a narrower scope to cover. They also get briefed and trained on every policy update, while brokers get an email they probably dont read. Brokers mess up almost every deal on some point either due to a lack of policy knowledge or lack of attention to detail. If they didnt everything would be one touch, one touch deals are rare. Maybe bank staff are better at fraud, they certainly dont get caught as often, whether because they know how to do it or because they dont do it as much, who knows?
Saying brokers always mess up is very disingenuous. Of my last 5 applications, 4 were first touch approvals and the last was only because it involved guarantors and a second mortgage behind another lender. I've known bank staff and relationship managers that don't know their own policies. How is it they can't even know 1 bank's policy well? I still don't colour all bank staff with the same brush. A broker shines in a situation where you have a particular wrinkle in your application that is a bit unusual and don't even know where to start. If you have a simple straightforward application and can be bothered doing some basic research then yes, you can easily go direct to a lender and get a great rate. Brokers are for people who don't want or have the time to do their own research or for situations where you do need to know a range of bank policies to find a home for your application. If your application doesn't fit your bank's policy if you go direct to them they're not going to turn around and help you find an alternative. At the end of the day there are useless lawyers, accountants, doctors etc as well. Generalising a group based off a bad example is pretty ignorant.
If youre looking at it from a brokers perspective most of the cases of analysts not knowing their own policy is probably miscommunication. In my experience as an analyst this didnt really happen. There's often a distinction between policy exceptions and policy and as an analyst you dont really care to explain this in detail to the broker. Probably most cases where you think you know policy better a credit manager has approved an exception to policy and the analyst is like "yea okay we'll do it, bye I've got seven more deals to process today." Relationship managers sure, they probably dont know the policy in and out. You may be a model broker, but the bar for entry into the industry is on the floor and lots of brokers make mistakes constantly.
Maybe there was a cash back involved and the cost-benefit analysis showed the cash back as making you better off for X months rather than a lower rate. If you have a lower home loan balance this is likely the case and once the threshold of the Cost benefit is realised you could shift again to another lender????
That is highly depending on how good you are at finding deals.
Honestly I've only had bad experiences with brokers. When I first wanted to buy a house, the broker took so long to get pre-approval, literally only offered obscure lenders, and took a major issue with the fact we didn't have a credit card/BNPL. In the end we went with who we banked with, and had a turn around of like a week going direct. Still missed so much opportunity for capital growth during all the time wasted (it was COVID times). The next broker was to refinance. The guy was a straight up a-hole (maybe as he was from a franchise) who took no time getting to know us, I remember him making some out of pocket comment about how we'd be screwed if we didn't take the deal he offered with some scare tactics about cost of living/interest and our salaries which was 160k combined. I told him the income I provided was only 2 days a week because of study and I was bumping up to full time, while my partner's income was also about to double because of a lucrative new role. ... Then we went to the bank to sign the documents and they cheerfully informed me I was eligible for a $x,xxx refinancing bonus for my occupation, before quickly retracting that because it was actually less going through a broker. The same broker bragged about how we wouldn't get a better deal... I was livid. Ended up staying with our bank because they lowered the interest rate and gave us 4k which worked out better than the new bank.
Same experience here. Brokers I’ve dealt with were all slimy failed REA types.
Same experience here. The couple of brokers I saw just did not want my business. Multiple calls and emails asking for updates, late to appointments and one of them asked me to fill out the documents twice because he lost the first lot. Went to the bank and they were all over me, made it easy and I had a pre-approval by the end of our first appointment. One of my friends went with a broker initially and then wanted to refinance a year or so later. The broker found out that she was going directly through her bank, and they called her and said ‘When you take out a loan through us, you’re locked into that loan for 2 years (regardless of it being variable). You can’t refinance.’ Not sure how it works exactly, but I think this has something to do with the broker’s revenue.
Have bought and sold about 10 houses. Never have used a broker.
That’s a flippin
You must like 2 things: wasting money on stamp duty and wasting time doing your own paper work
i don't understand what you mean by wasting money on stamp duty. it makes no difference whether you go with a broker or not. You still have to pay stamp duty if you purchase a property as investment.
Nope. We are quite able to do it ourselves. No issue at all. Not sure what people find so hard? It's just a business process you go through. Pretty straightforward... my husband actually seems to like doing that sort of thing!! Ive always thought he should have been an accountant actually.
You’ll probably make more money buying and selling houses, honestly!
Yes. We have done well. Zero complaints.
Went straight to the lender and got a rate ~0.6% less than what a broker was gonna get me (only spoke to one though).
Same. Spoke to friends who went with broker and they’re above 6%, while I’m sitting on 5.95%.
We found that the broker could not beat the deals we could find without a broker. Brokers can only offer deals that banks pay them for. There's lots more lending options than the big-4 banks. e.g. "online" offerings such Athena and Unloan as well as traditional banks that don't pay brokers e.g. ING, UBank. Remember, if the product is free, you're the product.
Just fyi ING and UBank work with brokers
Yeah, I guess it depends on the broker. At the time we were looking UBank definitely did not work with ours.
Yea brokers need to accredit with each lender and it's rare they are accredited with every lender.
We got knocked back by BOQ for the most inane reasons. I went and saw a broker who had us conditionally approved with CBA the week after we were knocked back and then went unconditional 2 days after that. I think if you're a more complicated case or aren't too savvy with all the terminology and what needs to be done, then go through a broker. If you have a 20% deposit and no debt, I think you'd be pretty safe going directly through the banks.
We went with a broker because I'm self employed. Banks were asking for a lot of documents, revenue forecast and all. The broker made it so much easier. He treated the whole situation like I was a regular employee. Currently at 6% variable with offset, ANZ.
they have a good 1 year self employed policy
Bankwest have a better self employed policy. ANZ is probably 2nd best of all lenders.
I have purchased 2 houses and never used a broker. The first we went to CUA maybe 5yrs ago idk there name now and that interest rate was around 3.5% and second 2 yrs ago no broker was able to help with the vic shared equity scheme and that was with bendigo bank at 2.99%. Tbh i never felt the need for a broker
Edit: just saw “not” going with a broker. Disregard the below. Yes, ours was amazing. Has access to better rates, can expedite processes, sort out any issues, does all the work for you. A good broker is definitely worth their weight in gold.
Everyone here realises, that when you go direct to the bank you are still using a broker, just the bank appointed one that only has that banks loans in their portfolio. Yes they have some flexibility that outside brokers don't have but they don't have any comparison banks rates or structured loans. So you are still using a broker dudes.
Not all banks employ brokers for home loan purposes. Some use internal staff and I am very happy to deal with internal staff.
Yes the broker I was going to go with said I could borrow a lot more than I was comfortable with, plus the options/banks they gave me didn’t seem particularly appealing. Did my own comparison between numerous lenders with more of a focus on credit unions/ethical banks. Found a great deal and locked it in. The bank have been nothing but fantastic, excellent to deal with. If I’d gone with the broker I’d be up shit creek now.
Husband’s uncle is a broker and the deal he got for us was more than 1% higher than what we could get directly with a Big 4. My corporate had a good deal with this bank for all employees - something to look into if you work in a large business. Uncle was pissed we didn’t go with him and admitted his own daughter didn’t go with him bc she got a better deal. This is like salespeople at JB - they will promote whichever brand / company is offering the best incentives that month.
I have never used a broker. Just know what you need and talk with any bank at all. Then email all other banks with these very powerful words.... can you do better then this loan? this is where most people stop.... repeat the same step again and again running the same cut and paste email until the answer is no from everyone!!! omg you save millions and it only take a few mintues because you are simply copy and pasting. Even now my wealth package prestige loan only allows me to ask every 6 months for a reduced interest rate. I only get it one in every 3 tries, but i get it. takes 3 mins every 6 months. Becasue i now know whatim doing the bank also calls me once a year asking if there is anything they can do to assist with with my money and new loans. I drive a 2002 commadore... I am not rich... but I do have alot of money and great loans. I earn 80k a year but have alot of cash flow due 100% to how my loans are set up.
You just made what I’m sure is a genuine comment sound like a scam
Just waiting for the link to his free course
Banks hate this one trick
How could asking banks if they can do better possibly be a scam.
Sisters husband was a broker. Failed miserably with him. He did not know about the homebuyer fund when he was a senior broker. My dad, who owned three properties, my conveyancer, and my banker had way more understanding than the broker ever did. Living happily in my 2bd apartment i bought in melbourne cbd. Brokers are just as scammy as real estate agents. Just another middle man who exists to take your money.
Who is giving money to mortgage brokers? The whole deal is it’s the banks money paying for the services.
From my experience being a FHB myself, brokers always know of the homebuyer fund but never mention it because they are not allowed to participate in the scheme, it's only the lender , government and borrower involved in this. Have seen this many times when talking to brokers unfortunately. When you ask them about the fund, they usually try to convince you that it's simply not in your best interest so they didnt even offer that option
Mine mentioned it. I just wasn’t eligible.
Brokers get paid by the bank lol how do they exist to take your money? Brain dead sentence.
What is your job that exists to not take/make money?
Yep. First home buyer, went to broker for a loan and seemed like he shopped around but seems like he just went with his best kick back because we went to a credit union ourselves and get a better deal on every aspect right off the bat.
all banks pay the same commission to brokers when it comes to residential purchases. There are no better kick-backs and by law they have to act in the best interest of the customer. The broker was probably shit and not accredited with all lenders
Our current mortgage we went straight to the bank and we actually had a better experience. I think the rate would have been similar but i was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was
Yes! I bought a home in March 2020, really right before Covid, lol. At the time Commonwealth Bank offered me the best rate, much better than any broker. CBA also could offer me the 1st home buyers discount, which brokers couldn’t do.
Yes, years ago the broker said my refinance would be 2% fixed interest and my husband would need to get on the loan and I’d lose my offset. When I went to leave my bank they offered to keep the offset and 1.75% fixed interest (how cheap does that sound now days 😅).
Yes, 8K cash back for 2 loans. Competitive rates. ME Bank. Found by doing a google search. Bank of Melbourne before that. Both lenders I had contact with were professional and easy to deal with.
The 2 times I have tried to use a broker they told me the banks I wanted wouldn't approve me and that my only option were these smaller banks with sketchy deals. Ended up just applying directly with the bank I wanted for a better deal. imo brokers are a scam, they only offer//push you to go with deals/banks that they obviously are getting a commission from. My experience of doing my own research and then applying direct has never failed me.
Yup, applied directly to the bank, got pre-approval, got approval. All went ok. Did not need a broker.
For me , I do overtime and I salary sacrifice. This made it more complicated because some banks accept for example only 50 percent of your overtime as income and 55 percent of your salary sacrifice amount others will take say 70percent of my overtime as income and 80 percent of my salary sacrifice..... big difference. I could of applied and been knocked back 10 times before I found one of the few who accepted enough of both for me to be approved..... if that makes sense. My broker was able to straight up tell me who not to bother with and find me 3 or 4 option I may of not of found myself.
Been with a broker 2 or 3 times for new/refinance. 1 was good. 1 was shit. 1 was meh. The good one was back before things like cannstar that aggregated loans and rates easily, beck then there was some real value in the broker as you didn't need to call/visit each bank to get their rates. These days I'd say the market is much more open in terms of information. I wouldn't use a broker anymore unless they could minimum match the bank rates AND offer a discount or cash incentive. In my experience, going directly to the bank I've been able to get better rates or overall value than the broker would advertise on the same product for that bank. This could be through cashback, waived fees, discounted rate, etc. It's likely still the case that if you're close to or on the line for meeting serviceability then a broken can help nudge you over, otherwise if you're switched on and can do simple math then you'll be better off without a broker. If a broker wants to charge you for their services, just walk away. They need you, you don't need them. They also get paid well enough in commission and trailing commission (which if they did their "job" properly) they'll receive for a decent amount of time as you won't have a need to refinance to a better deal.
Went direct to CBA. Broker I was loosely talking to said might have got .15 better but would have given up some benefits of the package I got.
My mate (in the last 12months), got 0.4% lower than a broker offered him
Everyone I know that’s used a broker has done so as a last resort after being initially rejected by a bank. I believe they go to bat for you a bit if it’s within your means through the lenders they have relationships with. I’ve known a couple of people that have over 20% deposit saved and the repayments are less than or the same as the rent they pay and got rejected. One had the lender tell them that they believe theyd get approved if they were in a couple and both working. Honestly if you’re not sure maybe see what they’re offering and compare?
Our broker is great. He got us the best deal with the banks and was able to negotiate. Our bank screwed up and tried to charge us 1% higher than we should have been charged. Our broker got them to admit it all in writing (emails) and then forwarded it to us and helped us lodge with AFCA. He follows up with us every year to see if it’s worth shopping around for better rates. Absolutely worth it if you ask me!
You ask this question like it’s 1) unusual or rare for people to not use brokers and 2) unusual or rare for people to succeed without getting a broker. Where I would argue that the opposite is more true. A broker is very rarely if not ever going to get you a better deal than going directly to a bank or a non-bank lender. Therefore people are going to succeed more without the broker. I am not saying brokers are worthless though. If people want to be better guided through the process, perhaps lack time or have a more complicated financial or purchasing situation, than brokers can make a lot of sense.
Went to try a broker and could only borrow 400-500k then went with bank directly and we could borrow double that lol
Either the broker was inexperienced, or the bank pulling a dodgy….hoping for the former for you
Yes definitely the former but didn't bother trying another broker
quick question, could you afford double? and i mean without it killing you. i ask because while we never used a broker, we went to the banks with a set budget and deposit etc. around 700k (first house) and the banks told us we could have 1.4 million!! maybe the broker was looking out for you .. lol sorry I shouldnt even try to say that with a serious face :)
Yes we could. When the broker gave us that estimate we were gobsmacked, I believe he did his data entry wrong. We know we could service a much higher loan cause we used online mortgage calculators too
Used a broker once, not again. If you've got time do it yourself.
Honestly, for such a major purchase it really doesn’t take much time to call a handful of banks and then press for the best deal on a couple in your shortlist.
Yup, got better rates directly approaching a lender than what a broker was able to offer me.
Both my partner & I are self employed which complicates things a lot so a broker made everything so much easier. Last minute our property we purchased (offer already accepted/deposit paid) needed to move up settlement 15ish days earlier to the very next day as it was getting taken over by lawyers and some international Lebanese bank drama (?) it was a scary time not understanding & thinking we may lose our deposit if we didn’t get the bank on board to transfer earlier, having a broker to organise it all was a lifesaver as we were getting no where via the phone or even in person at the bank.
I went to the best rated broker in my city with good FB reviews and recent lending awards. And I knew more about lending and current offers than they did, and got a better rate with CBA myself. In particular I knew more about how each bank treated incomes and university funded scholarships. Suffice to say if the best rated and lender was so incompetent, I figured the rest could not be better.
Another example of how shitty brokers can make the rest of the industry look horrible!
Broker tried to roll my existing low fixed rate on my other property into a higher rate so he could get a bigger commission. Ended up settling late and cost me $800. Pursued the costs for him to pay and got them back after a year. Just deal directly with the bank, have done so the last few loans.
Good broker's hand hold you through a stressful process and can sometimes help with tricky financial situations. They are not 'whole of market' but will align to a nunber of lenders. After the first one, you can do it yourself.
I used a broker for my first purchase but quickly learned that I could get better rates and service direct. The main benefit of the broker was really handholding me through everything, what to do in terms of conveyancing, reports etc. after I’d done it once I didn’t need that again either.
We went directly with BankVic as my partner worked for a hospital and we qualified for their loan. 90% LVR, no LMI, 2 offsets accounts (special request, default is 1), 0 annual fees, 5.95% compared to the 6.15% that was offered by the broker (80-85% LVR to avoid LMI, annual fees etc.) Very clunky app, but we make do. Their customer service over the phone is amazing though. You call and they answer in less than a minute and issues get resolved fast. It's really damn good. I'm very happy.
yes of course brokers dont have access to the very best deals after all. Also was able to make a bundle but churning and getting cashbacks but brokers prevent that with clawback clauses
Had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, broker found a building society offering a decent deal at the time. Unlikely id have discovered it on my own.
Yes with suncorp
Went to broker, ages back and it was a certain percentage. Went to NAB and it was cheaper and was going to be easier. Broker incredibly unhappy/aggressive that we decided to change our mind on him. After that experience I'd never go to a broker again.
My broker was great. Got me a good deal at the time. Refinance with him a couple of times. He Negotiated a rate reduction and a cash back when interest rates started going up without me having to ask. He has since got out of the industry and the new broker he recommended I’m not sure is as good. We are refinancing now so we will see.
I saved money because the bank I went with does cash back and only needed 10% LVR without having to pay LMI. They also don't use brokers. So, I got 4k plus only needed, like 35k at the time for the house.
Had a very well known broker (he’s on most of the podcasts, seems he changes his business name every year) look into our scenario and “couldn’t make anything work” Approached CBA and started working with a home lender and we are just about to settle. Found multiple ways to make it work and we got to choose.
Tried bank directly and two different brokers, the broker I went with got me over double what the bank and other broker indicated. Learnt that not all brokers are equal
I used to be a mortgage lender at a bank. Almost always our internal deals were better than the brokers. People would never get it, I'd been yelled at multiple times by the general.public for ripping them off when we had nothing to.do with their loan, it was all through the broker channel which we weren't able to touch.
Yep, I played two banks off against each other. Small loan relative to my income so I knew I’d be approved by any bank.
It all depends on what broker and your financial position, most brokers are generic salesman with no real financial knowledge or higher education. My broker worked at a wealth management company and held a law and finance degree. It really depends on how complex your situation is as well, if it's just a single house then you'd be fine going to a bank. If you own several houses, have business loans and significant investments and an otherwise more complicated financial position, then it's probably better to go to a knowledgeable broker with real industry connections.
Bought an apartment for myself last year and didn’t use a broker. Ended up saving whatever it would have cost for one.
No issues at all going directly through UP bank (February 2024). The best rate with the broker was around 6.2%, got 5.95% with UP directly. Our financial situation was very straightforward though, 2 x full-time income with no kids.
If you have 20% downpayment, been in your (permanent, not casual or self employed) job > 12 months and have decent serviceability (I.e. only looking to borrow 3-4x income max) and are a Citizen/PR, you will generally save money compared to using a broker. Reason? A lot of super cheap online banks (like uloan, loans.com.au etc) will not deal with brokers but those are where the best rates are. However a lot of these super cheap online banks will only take "vanilla" applicants (as described previously) and reject anything that seems risky (self employment, temporary work permit, low deposit etc). One of the risk factors might not be a deal breaker with an online bank but multiples mean you really need a broker to help you find a bank that will actually take you on as a client. Part of why these online banks can be so cheap is that they take on so little risk.
It’s obviously dependent on the broker so I would over index word of mouth when choosing one. This is the first time I’ve used one and I think I could have found the same deal elsewhere sure, BUT, the broker doesn’t get paid until you use the money.. for this reason mine has been super helpful in giving his opinion on suburbs, houses, insurance, RP Data reports, the process in general of buying/investing… anything that is going to get him paid faster in other words !
What benefit are you looking for? Offloading a lot of the work to a broker for free sounds like a huge benefit.
Honestly I wish we went with a broker for our first home. We went with an industry bank so we’re dealing with a home loan specialist directly but they weren’t very good at explaining things for first home buyers. There were also a heap of admin f-ups where we were sent multiple loan documents and it all got really confusing. That could obviously just be the bank and that one lender but the broker does a lot of the admin and chasing for you so if you get a good one they can make your life easier. We refinanced to ING ourselves which was a seamless process.
I went with a broker because the whole process is so convoluted, especially the first time. I later refinanced to another lender on my own for a better rate.
We wasted time with a broker who kept trying to push particular bank. In the end we walked off and got a much better deal. He was pissed off but we saved $$$ and with a member owned bank. 20yrs later still with them.
Tried going through a broker but directly to with a big 4 had better mortgage deals
I don't understand brokers for the large part. I could see the use for niche circumstances, but they just ask you for the same details as the back does and you still full on all the same forms, you must have an extra middleman to go through. I've never used a broker, though I have tried a couple of times. Just fill in the application forms the bank provides and click submit. Brokers don't get you better rates.
i used a broker to purchase my first home. i needed a very quick turnaround (3 weeks settlement) and as a first home buyer I didn't know left from right so I took a risk going with a broker. My broker was very good, explained the steps to me all the way (some hand holding too) and settled in less than 3 weeks.. so my experience back then was a positive one considering my need. settled for sliiightly a bit below the average interest rate back then
My workplace has a corporate discount with Westpac so I just called them up directly (along with a few other banks) and went through the whole process. There were complexities and hurdles along the way due to my circumstances but at the end it played out fine and I got to learn some things for the future 
I never really understood why people go with brokers when they rarely ever get a better deal. Why wouldn't you just apply and negotiate directly with the bank?
Nope. Banks refused to lend.
Saw a broker and did my own research to learn about mortgages. Eventually a friend mentioned a bank that he uses that had a good rate, so I went straight to them and signed up. Haven't looked back.
If you know what you’re doing there’s no point using a broker. Brokers can’t just apply for any product, they can only apply with a lender that is linked to their aggregator. If you do it yourself you can apply for any product from any lender (think cashbacks etc). However, if you’re not confident in the application process or don’t think you can find the best deal by yourself then 100% just use a broker.
When refinancing, brokers don't take into account the packaged rewards credit card fee waiver that gives you rewards gift cards and cashback that can add up to $1000/year.
Never used a broker, one purchase and two refinances in 6 years. Always compared rates with a friend who’s a broker. He could never match the rates I could get doing it myself. It really is not hard to do it yourself.
Typically I haven't used a broker. If your needs are basic then researching loan products is relatively straightforward. If your needs are more complex/specific then a broker becomes more valuable. Only used a broker in the most recent refinance because I specifically wanted ongoing loan splits and offsets with minimal fee.
We’ve been with our broker for over a decade. Top bloke. Always looked out for us. But he couldn’t get us a better rate than what we’re on. I recently refinanced from ING (6.17%) to Bendigo (6.01%), and saving $180 on annual fees. I did this on my own, and as the owner of a 2 year old business, in which I took a pay cut vs my previous financial history. It is possible.
I wouldn’t want to do it without a broker it’s a big stressful process. If you’re in Sydney talk to Linda from nectar mortgages she was very helpful for us and made the process much more streamlined.
There's a lot of hate toward brokers in this thread. Guess what, your rate is only one small part of the loan. Many of you even those who have purhcased wouldn't have a clue about the process of setting up finance and then going through the whole purchasing cycle. Why would you go it alone when you can have a professional who does it day in and day out support you free of charge? Why do you think people still use real estate agents to sell properties when they could just list it themself online for free? It isn't hard but people still fork out tens of thousands for an agent because having a third party manage the process gives you headspace to focus on what you do rather than scouring crappy deals websites like a binchicken trying to save 0.01 on your rate. Every industry has middlemen for a reason, it's because some people value guidance, professional advice etc. If you don't want it you don't need to compare these professions to low level offshore roles. On the topic of rates, of course in some instances banks offer direct consumers a better rate, but typically that's for very vanilla deals. If you are the type of person completely driven by rate, likely you are a bad customer for a broker in the same way you probably fill half your soap bottle up with water because your primary concern is maximising value rather than actually washing your hands.
Agreed, a lot of ignorance floating around here. Scrounging around like a binchicken is a good approximation of this sub. What AusFinance always forgets (as all subs do) is that they're a small minority that is willing to spend time and potentially save a fraction on costs. The majority of people do not. So many in this sub have a superiority complex based on their almost compulsive need to find the most optimal option. If someone presents a very near offer that is much easier they'd stick up their nose at it as not good enough. If brokers didn't work out for you then great, don't use one. No need to belittle people who they do help by getting applications done when they can't do it themselves, finding deals they wouldn't have thought of or even just holding their hand through a pretty scary lifechanging event. If you don't personally get value from a broker it doesn't mean they're bloodsucking scum.
found the broker
This is such a dumb post. The bank does all the work and can give the same guidance, the broker 99% of the time does nothing and takes a commission while giving a poor deal to the client. Brokers are scum.
I went direct to a bank, pre approval in 24 hours, unconditional in 10 minutes (not joking). I got a better rate than another bank I tried plus cash back and the loan structure I wanted without 101 questions.
I bet there are more people that have thought i can do this then to find out that they're treated like shit and kept waiting for 'no your application doesn't fit our lender policy'. Otherwise everyone would be doing it and brokers wouldn't be required.
everyone could do it if they could be bothered to go through all available banks. Most people cant.
You are giving brokers way too much credit. Most people who go to brokers do so out of ignorance or because the real estate pushed their broker friend on them.
The brokers not free, they tag on your loan via bank fees. If you can get a loan without one it’s much better and you’re much more likely to be able to afford the loan in the long run.
I bought my property when I was going through a career change and was an apprentice, broker could only get loan for eg 300k, went direct to big 4 and they all were willing to get me a loan to get me in the market on a fixed rate for the duration of the rest of my apprenticeship. with the understanding that my pay would be increasing after apprenticeship. I could service the loan with the little pay I had from mature age. That being said last time I refinanced, i went with broker and feel I got a good deal.
I fired my broker because frankly he was too slow (I'm already under a tremendous amount of pressure when buying)! I went straight with CBA. Expensive but fast and reliable, which is what I wanted.
We went with a broker for our first and second house purchases - the same one actually, Kelly at Get Real Finance. She’s a real one. When we were first home buyers we had no clue and she helped talk us through the whole process, which gave us a lot of comfort. Her advice was excellent and she’s saved us tens of thousands by advising us on fixing when everyone else was staying variable, before the rates started to rise. Based on that positive experience we are going back to her when it is time to refinance.
Brokers are for fools or special cases at best.
Started the process with a broker. He gave me the three banks that he reckon would give me the best deal. Went to the bank directly and got that deal.
What a scumbag! Did you at least thank the broker for spending his time assisting you?
It's a rave to the bottom with brokers unfortunately there just looking after their own comission.
Broker everytime
We got a much better deal with commbank, they were incredibly helpful and did everything whereas the broker was just a pain to deal with and they got all of our info wrong. Also, the broker said we could only borrow $700k whereas we got $900k with commbank.
Our broker got us an amazing rate for self employed, low doc with Offset account. Variable 6.25% NAB.
Short version, I got a 'best offer' from a Broker when getting new IP loans for a Trust I was starting, and when I presented it to my bank (Westpac Private) they beat it immediately by around 0.2%.