I currently do all my banking with 1 of the major banks who shall remain nameless.
I have a savings account (offset), PPOR loan and 1 residential investment loan.
My salary is paid into my savings account.
I am sick to death of dealing with the incompetence and lack of responsiveness of their "mortgage brokers" who ae in another state to me. I can never get an answer from anybody about anything and were ot not for my vigilance, would have been the one paying for several errors made by them.
Despite the inconvenience I am seriously considering leaving them lock stock and barrel.
My main consideration is that I want a dedicated account relationship manager (as I had when I banked with Natwest when I was in the UK). Do any of the major banks or others provide such facilities and dos naybody have any suggestions?
I think the days of dealing with an individual within a single institution are largely gone. I prefer to deal with a mortgage broker, and spread my business around a bit (partly due to the "all monies" clause). Of course I deal directly with the lender for routine matters, but if I'm experiencing poor customer service, I find that raising the issue with my broker usually results in a swift resolution (as he brings them a lot of business, he has a lot more leverage than an individual trying to take on an institution). He also has the personal relationships with the appropriate business development managers and so forth, who have the power to make things happen.
I agree with trakka. The best way to have one person know all your financial details is to work with a (good) mortgage broker. With over $5mil in property we still have all sorts of problems dealing with banks who continue to refuse us finance based on our lack of servicability (despite having nearly $2mil in equity).
We are just now building a relationship with one person at CBA but that is because we are doing some developments and have gone up to commercial status. But even as recently as 3 months ago we had banks saying "no can do".
Having problems with lending always has and continues to be our single biggest impedement to continuing growth.
We interviewed several banks before settling on the NAB. They had a centralised lending area and gave us a dedicated personal banker who would come to us to get documents signed and would bend over backwards to help. Last year NAB 'improved' there service to us and got rid of these personal bankers. We now have tthe local branch manager as our personal banker. She is too busy running the branch to give us the service we used to receive from our other personal banker.
The moral of this post is that no matter how good your bank is now someone will improve your service and screw it up!! I think you have to share your business around several banks and don't be afraid to take your business elsewhere if you're not happy.
I think what you need is a personal banker who is your only contact point for all inquiries and banking arrangement. They usually require you have lots of money… and I mean lots of it.
Westpac has a program similar to personal banking but for individuals with less money. I don't know what the requirements are but I suspect (mind you, this is just a guess) min $100k annual income, have IP. So if the bank you're talking about is Westpac, I suggest you ask for one regardless of your existing income.
I don't know about the other big4 banks. Given their fierce competition, they may have similar program but they usually do not advertise this. It's always worth asking.
Kind regards, Cattleya
Cattleya
Here to learn the ropes of property investing & share knowledge, not trying to sell anything at all.
The banks don't like you getting too attached to one person because when they leave to startup their BOQ franchise they don't want all the customers following.
The banks don't like you getting too attached to one person because when they leave to startup their BOQ franchise they don't want all the customers following.
Unfortunately for you a broker's commission is not determined by post customer care…that is until you refinance!
My suggestion is that you find a broker that will assist with your loan enquiries, but also provides a personal introduction to a senior person in a local branch. For example we wrote a lot of ST George Portfolio Loans and had a branch manager that we would organise to look after all of our clients post settlement requirements e.g. limit transfers, payment redirections etc. If the branch service failed the client would always contact us and we would deal with the branch.
Find a broker that has the same model, who looks after their clients post settlement and you could be on to a winner.
Unfortuantely it is a sad fact that many good personal bankers, and even managers cannot do their job properly due to the high volume number of brain dead plebes and pressure internally to 'cross sell' that it prevents them form spendign the time that many customers really do deserve. THey do want to, but are often overworked doing 'admin' stuff and returnign calls from people that can't read their bank staements, use internet banking, and generally rob clients like yourself/ves of their services. I have seen and knwo some great bank staff over the years (sadly in the minority) that eventually chuck in the towell for that reason. That said, I think you will find the likes of the ANZ and NAB (St.Gorge to a degree)improving in this regard, however it can be seen as shutting the gate after the horse has bolted for some…..
I have a personal banker who is my one point of contact with my bank.
The wonderful thing is that with the ANZ bank you get your own personal banker when you reach $1M.
The REALLY wonderful thing is that it does not need to be $1M cash in the bank but also, as in my case, when you have $1M in loans. I don't know if their Pro package is compulsory for this setup.
Crazy eh?
I am very happy with my PB-er but have come to the conclusion that for advice and anything a bit complex you're better off with a very competent MB. Having said that it's still nice to have one place to go to for all the hassles that can occur.
Hi all, my nerve ends are all on fire at the mention of Big 4 banks! They just knocked back my request for additional funds with the result that I'm now releasing one property with special conditions. Those following my thread will see it as the Blair Athol property with the sub-division.
The heck of it all is that with the sale, i don't need the loan. Bugger them. Now I have to look at setting up a trust fund so that it can be more tax effective.
I wish this forum allows me to swear! Kum Yin
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