WHO DOES YOUR MORTGAGE CONSULTANT REALLY WORK FOR?
When arranging financing for the biggest purchase of your life, you’d think a mortgage consultant would hunt down the most appropriate home loan deal possible for their clients. After all, isn’t that what they’re paid to do?
The answer may surprise you.
While most mortgage consultants do work to find the best financing for their customers, some have a hidden agenda.
Did you know, for example, that big banks own the majority of mortgage consultants?
This leads you to wonder, who really owns your mortgage consultant? Are they truly giving you the best possible deal, or are they actually being swayed by their big brother?
Tom Uhlich, a successful consultant of Boss Money with 25 years finance experience, 12 as a mortgage consultant, believes in being loyal and transparent to all of his clients. Since Tom is not tied to a bank (but was once via his Aussie franchise), he is free to expose one of the best-kept secrets in the finance industry.
Big banks own a large portion of mortgage consultants.
Aussie Home Loans, for example, is 80 percent owned by the Commonwealth Bank (CBA), who also have a 21 percent share in Mortgage Choice. As a result, Aussie & Mortgage Choice have a large share of the consultant market. Is it surprising then that these consultants sell a large portion of CBA loans?
Did you also know Aussie only has 20 lenders on its panel? Likewise, Mortgage Choice has only 25 lenders to choose from. Why wouldn’t they offer a wider choice?
In drastic comparison, Boss Money via its aggregation partner AFG, offers over 40.
The shocking statistics don’t end there. For example, the NAB outright owns 100 percent of Choice, Plan and Fast Mortgage Consultants together, which is more than 30 percent of all consultants. To add to this, Mortgage consultant RAMS is 100% owned by Westpac.
These numbers are eye-opening.
If you are considering seeing a mortgage consultant in the future, it is imperative to beware of this ownership and ask yourself whether the consultant could potentially be biased and not have your best interest at heart.
Boss Money is 100% privately owned and isn’t controlled by any bank. This helps ensure there isn’t any pressure to send your loan to certain lenders. We only want our clients to get the best deal possible, as individual needs require individual finance solutions.