If you want to find a mortgage broker when you’re looking for a home loan, then here are some tips to choosing a broker, especially if you do not have an existing working relationship with a mortgage broker already.
1. Establish Trust
Firstly, you need to find a mortgage broker you can trust. If you don’t already use a broker, ask around, ask people you know who have used a broker before, and get a recommendation.
Getting a recommendation from someone you know is one of the best “trust” measurement tools you can use, after all, you wouldn’t recommend anyone to them if you did not trust them.
Next, check their website out and any social media to get a better level of comfort before you make contact. The more you can find out about the broker, the more you will know whether you can trust them or not.
Most advisers these days have a high level of professionalism and reputation is everything, but you need to trust them.
2. Personality Compatibility
Find a mortgage broker where you are compatible in personality and that you feel you can work together.
Personalities are important and if you clash with your broker, or if you seem to rub each other up the wrong way, the relationship will deteriorate pretty quickly.
Sometimes, two personalities just clash or just don’t get on. So make sure you can relate and get on with each other.
3. Broker Experience
Getting your finance secured in a timely manner will come down to how experienced is the broker you are going to select. If you want to find a mortgage broker, you should choose someone who has at least a few years under their belt, or they are working with a senior broker who has.
An experienced broker will prepare you properly, set the correct expectations, and you will know exactly what you need to do, what they are doing, and when.
4. Multiple Lenders
One of the greatest advantages of finding the right mortgage broker is that they will have access to a wide range of lenders. Make sure they have access to mainstream lenders as well as non bank lenders.
Ask for a disclosure document from the broker/adviser which should outline the lenders they use.
Using a broker who has access to multiple lenders does not mean the broker will send to all these lenders or multiple lenders at once, but it will ensure that should their recommended lender decline the loan application.
The broker already has everything they need to then send to the next recommended lender.
5. Registered Financial Adviser
You should check their status as an adviser and are the a registered financial adviser which you can check the Financial Services Provider Registry here
Under the Financial Services Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008, everyone who provides, or offers to provide, a financial service in New Zealand or from New Zealand to other countries must register as an FSP, so you should check the Government database.
If the broker you are looking to use is not on that database, my recommendation is to find one who is.
Find The Right Mortgage Broker
If you follow these 5 basic criteria you and your mortgage broker should have a good long term relationship. Remember, this is is about helping you finding the right mortgage broker for you and not about the process a broker uses once you have decided to use them
If you would like to chat with a mortgage broker, please contact us and we would be happy to provide you with a disclosure document outlining our experience and the lenders we use.
