Applying for a mortgage is much simpler than it used to be and once you’ve found out about interest rates, costs and stamp duty unless you’re very wealthy you’ll need a mortgage. The trouble is, there are hundreds if not thousands of mortgages on the market at any one time.

With so many mortgage options, comparing mortgages/home loans can be a real minefield. As a result of home owners requiring more complex products to fit in with a modern lifestyle, mortgage lenders have introduced hundreds of variations in their products and criteria. In recent years the proportion of home owners turning to mortgage brokers and the proportion of financing placed through brokers has grown rapidly to accommodate the need to shop around.

Since mortgage brokers have access to comparison software that is not available to the public, mortgage brokers should nearly always be able to find you a better deal than you shopping around yourself. What’s more, mortgage brokers often are privy to deals that the general public never hear about, so you could save a fortune in money and time.

Since practically every mortgage lender pays a commission, it’s obviously worth trying to find one that doesn’t charge you a fee and gets its commission from the lenders. Funds Focus has set up affiliations with mortgage brokers looking across the whole of market to offer you a no-fee, comprehensive mortgage advice service.

Before getting in touch with a mortgage broker, make sure you have as much information as possible at your fingertips. This means exact salary details for you and your partner, when bonuses are paid, details of any loans/mortgages already held etc. as it will be required for their searches.

Mortgage brokers working from a panel

By definition, individual mortgage brokers working in Australia, can only work from a panel of lenders they are accredited with. Where mortgage brokers differ, is in the mortgage broking company’s overall panel of lenders they allow their brokers to use. Many “mortgage broking” companies negotiate enhanced commission rates on the basis that they limit their panel and whilst it can be argued that they have performed the beauty parade on your behalf, it can also be argued that a broker limiting themselves to 5, 10 or even 30 lenders is still limiting their overall service to you. A good mortgage broker is not limited in the lenders they can use. If they feel a product is suitable to you as a client, they should be able to go and get accredited with that lender.

Mortgage lender representatives

Mortgage lender representatives are tied to the company they work for and can’t look outside their own companies products unless you specifically ask for it. Whilst, there is nothing wrong with dealing with these companies directly or the products they offer, you just need to be aware of how the service they offer is limited. They are not able to broker outside of their own products or suggest that they are acting as a mortgage broker unless you specifically ask for them to. As a result they work under a different code of conduct and do not have to disclose things such as commission to you.

At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong for getting paid for the work you do, so why hide it. A good mortgage broker is obliged to, and will always disclose his commission and fee payments to you. However, some brokers look to charge fees in excess of this, unless you have an extremely complicated case or a very small home loan where the time spent working on your home loan just simply doesn’t cover the time spent, you shouldn’t need to pay additional fees.

Mortgage Broking Advice

Please complete the following brief enquiry form. Upon submission you will be allocated a non-affiliated mortgage adviser.

Fill in our 3 step enquiry form to be contacted by a non-affiliated mortgage broker.