I was just thinking of perhaps being able to sell you my run. [grrr]

Pisces

Welcome to sunny Sydney. Too much rain in Melbourne, Del.

Leigh, if there is anything I can assist with please feel free to contact me.

Pisces

Del, Kay, anyone,

Over the years I have run into several downs as well as ups.

I am now more and more convinced that, the moment one is able to, one ought to starrt thinking of how to play defense, defense, defense.

Whether that should include having spare funds (or access to them) or progressing a bit slower and getting a bit more equity in the properties one holds, it doesn’t matter.

Don’t think for a moment that it isn’t necessary to prepare for situations which may cause financial problems. it is (necessary).

Regards,

Pisces

>>Do mortgage brokers have to have any qualifications or belong to a professional body?
<<

In principle they do not have to have any qualifications nor membership of a professional body in order to work as a broker that I am aware of.

In practice I think that you will find that more and more brokers are joining one of the two professional bodies which exist because of many lenders’ requirement for brokers to be members in order to obtain accreditation from the lender.

Most lenders also insist that the broker carries Professional Indemnity insurance.

These professional bodies also have requirements for people who want to join (including a police check) and a requirement to have passed some examinations dealing with ethics and regulations.

You will find that as time goes by the lenders will require more and more education whilst the institutional education organisations are catering for these.

Organisations like the S.I.A. (Securities Institute of Australia), Tafe, the University of Western Sydney (I think) (and there may be others as well)] do run courses which prepare would be brokers for their job.

The larger broking companies also run in house training.

Most lenders also regularly run training sessions relating to product knowledge.

If you are thinking of becoming a broker Kay think again. Their are easier jobs around. Part of a broker’s gigantic task to to keep abreast of constantly changing product details.

You are ultimately working for yourself, need to pay your overhead expenses, and you don’t have a regular stream of clients (borrowers) unless you yourself generate these somehow.

If you are actually seriously thinking of changing jobs email me and I will be able to assist you with some further information.

Regards, always your friend [inlove],

Pisces

>>Commercial properties have some great benefits, especially if you can get long term leases.<<

David, you are talking as if you’ve got something to sell.

What about the downside ?

All, please be aware that one’s security doesn’t lie in a lease as the tenant can go broke. Or if they don’t and they walk away from the premises at the end of the lease because it is a shit location you are the loser, the sucker.

The only security lies in the location. The knowledge that if the place was empty you CAN get a replacement tenant.

I like retail shops because the tenant will stay in place a long time, they will pay the rent on time as they have a business to protect, and generally. when the time comes they want out they usually provide a replacement tenant whom they sell their business to.

As I said before, commercial is fine provided the location is O.K. and provided you have more than one such property so as to spread the risks

(And, should I add, as long as your loan isn’t that big that you have to rely solely on the rent to pay the interest – but that is me. By all means play Russian Roullete. It is a free world after all.)

Pisces

Elvis, my suggestion is that that property isn’t any good.

The return doesn’t look good enough, you haven’t mentioned any potential to improve the return, haven’t mentioned whether the location is very good, and having to rely on just the one property is risky.

If you must buy just the one commercial property look for something that you can use for your business. Otherwise stay out unless you have more money to play around with.

What to look for ? A commercial property which you can improve upon, in a prime location.

Country town is quite O.K. as long as the population is say 25,000 +

Pisces

>>Hey Pisces you got some spare cash…hmmmmn i’ll share it with you<<

Single Elves ? If so, too bad.

Married ? Perhaps. A married woman may not be quite as demanding as a single one.

Anyway I don’t think it would work for two good reasons.

Firstly, it isn’t that you are too young for me so much as that I am too old for you.

Secondly, it is my wife’s money, not mine. [wink]

Pisces

Wallflower, you are paying say $ 200 per week
instead of say $ 150-00.

The difference is partly paying a higher interest rate and partly a bit of repaying the principle.

If I were you I would be more concerned about myself. Is it worth it, what difference does it make to YOU if you stay put or if you make an arrangement to eventually own your own home.

It may be a bit hard to see as the debt is a lot of money and therefore takes a considerable time (20-30 years ?) to repay.

All I know is that if the rent continues to increase over the years you would soon be paying $ 200 per week anyway in rent.

It doesn’t put any money into my pocket whichever way you jump but it is certainly worthwhile to give it some serious consideration.

Pisces

Stuart said : ‘I agree with Julian. Brokers should not be allowed to use the words “independent” and “unbiased”.’

The word ‘independent’ means in my book ‘not tied down to the one lender (or a small number of lenders if you like).

The word ‘unbiased’ has got nothing to do with
being independent and merely means that the broker is using his best judgement in selecting the right kind of lender irrespective of whether or not some football tickets are being waved in front of his nose.

I am actually wrong there as a loan office working for a bank is under pressure to bring in particular type of loans (the ones which the bank thinks are the most profitable) and therefore not being independent (as in a loans officer employed by a bank) often means that the loans officer is likely to be biased.

In practice it comes down to the broker selecting (or suggesting) the lender whose criteria will fit the borrower’s circumstances.

Often the broker (or one of his clients) has experienced problems with the lender (who may be slow in giving an approval or hard to satisfy or slow to settle or who may have a myriad of other problems.

Anyone who thinks rates are everything better think again.

Generally there is very little between the mainstream lenders as far as rates are concerned.

I cannot speak for other brokers how they act as most of my loans are loans with a problem somewhere but my priority and sole aim is to match the borrower with a suitable lender at a reasonable rate (football tickets nothwithstanding (I have never received any).

I imagine that brokers who solely select a lender based on the brokerage they pay are few and far between.

The only exception I can think of is the NAB who until recently didn’t pay a brokerage fee to the broker (and since then have adopted a fee system which in my opinion is laughable).

Therefore a broker would likely be charging the borrower a fee in that case.

However, most brokers would instead channel any NAB loans through their subsidiary HomeSide (who do pay normal type of brokerage).

Pisces

Lozza, if you are concerned about the insurance plop a mattress in the house and stay overnight for at least one or two days.

Does anyone disagree with the above ?

Aslo one can have a light switched on (and off) by a timer so anyone passing by will think the house is occupied.

Pisces