The combination of rising interest rates, higher costs of living, and a cooling market means there has never been a more exciting time to be mortgage broker, says Yellow Brick Road Home Loans.
Brokers are poised to play a crucial role in helping clients, which is why YBR Group is recruiting brokers and franchise owners faster than ever before.
“We know that broker-originated settlements for residential home loans are at record highs,” YBR Group Home Loans chief recruitment officer Boban Jurisic (pictured) said.
“I’ve been in this industry for over 20 years, and to see the number of settlements originated through mortgage brokers continue to rise and rise is vindication for all of the fantastic work done to protect the status of mortgage brokers in recent years.”
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Jurisic said the rise in interest rates after a decade of stagnation had worried many homeowners and potential borrowers who have never previously experienced a rate increase, further highlighting the need for more mortgage brokers.
“I know mortgage brokers are going to be critical to Australian households,” he said.
“Many Australian homeowners will likely be experiencing their first-ever rate rise, and while that may be stressful for some, brokers know that their clients have been stress tested when they applied for their home loan originally and they also know how to shop around for a better deal for their clients.”
Dion Villiers is among YBR Home Loans’ most recent franchise owners, who left a senior position at Westpac to set up a franchise in Leppington, Sydney, in 2021 with his business partner Mel Falanga.
Villiers said unlike when he worked for one lender and was only able to offer one suite of products and one lending policy, “the greatest benefit to me personally [being a broker] has been the variety and choice we can provide our customers in finding the right home loan for them”.
When asked what advice he would give to those thinking about making a switch to mortgage broking, Villiers said: ”As long as you’ve got a group of customers, you’re confident that you can get a volume of customers in the door, broking is an amazing place”.
Villiers noted that the referrals eventually “snowball”.
“Once you get a few customers in, they will refer more customers,” Villiers said.
“One thing I can’t believe is the number of customers that refer people like family and friends to a broker. I used to be in charge of all the home loan lenders in Westpac and I can tell you the referral volume and repeat business, it wasn’t as high as what I’m seeing over here as a broker. It’s just crazy.
“Just recently I settled a loan for one customer, I’ve since had four family members come to our branch applying for home loans. That’s four referrals from writing just one loan with one customer. It just snowballs. And we haven’t had to market at all. We had to stop making phone calls originally because we didn’t have the time to handle the volume.”
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Jurisic is optimistic the industry has a lot to offer in the coming months in providing guidance where it is most needed.
“I honestly believe the industry, generally, is poised to play a major role in the coming months, because people are going to need guidance from experienced, trustworthy advisers,” Jurisic said.
“That’s why I believe there’s never been a more exciting moment to join the broker community because the value of being a mortgage broker is undeniable … it’s a career path you can be proud to work in.”
