Becoming a mortgage broker

Chris

No your 2 cents are more like a dollar of input.

99 % of MB's have no idea (By the way this does not refer to anyone else on this forum here) but the industry in general) about customer service or ways to structure a portfolio. They want round pegs to put in round holes and then go home at 5pm.

Let me tell you it doesnt work like that in the real world.

I'd be very wary of becoming a mortgage broker these days.  It's only a matter of time before a client is going to sue a mortage broker for giving bad advice.  Is the professional indemnity insurance going to be enough to cover him/her?  Even if it does ,it's going to mean that skyrocketing premiums for the next year.

As usual, the mortgage broking industry, like most industries, won't act until all hell breaks loose.   

I didn't realise that it only cost A$600 to get cert4 in financial services. Can anyone tell me where to apply for it? and is there any exam/logbook etc… to complete?

Gibbo. did you learn much by doing the course?

Terry,

I didn't learn much, a few things about the UCCC and a couple of other items.  I started a commerce degree many years ago, have had a couple of loans and run my own businesses.  Alot of the content I found was common sense, of information that any borrower SHOULD be aware of if they have had any previous mortgages.  It goes into some of the anti-money launderying and things but this is then repeated in the initial compliance pack (in greater deepth) with the MFAA.  There really is no content on structuring loans for investment purposes.  Aimed more at the straight forward loan applications.

Noobie

I couldnt agree with you more as i have reapeatedly said on numourous ocassions.

Thankfully the recent cuts in commissions and drop off in the overall numbers of property transactions will mean many of the inefficient brokers with absolutely no idea will go back to their normal day jobs.

Only concern with going to the Bank direct is that they will want to try and X collateralise the deal for you and certainly will never tell you if you can do better elsewhere.

If you deal with a MB who is an active investor  he will understand your requirements when it comes to structure, multiple deals and assisting you in your investment goals.

I have had up to 15 brokers at any one time working as contractors under my banner. There is a lot of time and effort that needs to be put into these relationships. The majority of the time I have found the investment to bear minimal return as most "brokers" reach a certain level of competancy and decide to go down their own path. The better the mentor the quicker you learn and the faster you leave the nest. I guess it is natural progression.

If you can seriously bring in 2-3 loans a week then that is a great start. Perhaps you can just refer the business to someone you trust until you have met the various educational requirements. Then perhaps you can contract to them until your ready to fly the nest.

visit http://www.brokersite.com.au for details and MB opportunities

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Hi

It doesn't matter what industry, there will always be shonks.  That's life.

The issue is that often there is more than one legislative area that needs to be covered – a mortgage broker should not necessarily be giving advice on property ownership or structuring – unless of course they have extra qualifications.

Often there is a combination of loan structuring, ownership of investments, taxation issues, legal risk, estate planning, personal insurance, general insurance etc that need to be considered when buying a property.  The issue is that in this list there are at least 4 to 5 separate professions – all with various issues to be considered some which can conflict with others.  The best tax strategy may leave you at risk of asset loss to other risks like public liability etc.

Therefore you often need to find a team of people that can work TOGETHER for your best interests.

As regards commissions – if more people were actually prepared to pay a decent fee for quality assistance that helps them generate FUTURE sustainable wealth then period of holding the loan wouldn't be an issue.

Why do you think lenders now have entry and exit fees – because of the tendancy to trade loans like trading shares.

I think the answer is that you have to do a bit of research yourself and find professionals who have a good reputation and can either confirm or challenge your own thoughts with logical strategies that have merit – and be prepared to pay for it.

In the end it will be the investor making their best informed decisions that they can, rarely are strategies perfect on all levels – often there is a trade off.

Getting into the mortgage game just because you haven't found a good broker yet is pretty full on way to solve the issue.

In the end it often comes down the the relationship that the MB has with the loan providers – the MB doesn't approve the loans, the lender does.  Similar to personal insurance good advisers will develop strong relationships with quality product providers so the approval process works well.

My experience with mortgage brokers has been mixed, there are plenty of good ones out there however.