What is a Mortgage Broker?

Seeking approval on a home loan can be a scary time for any applicant and with so many individual reasons for rejection to consider; it can be quite stressful to approach a bank and hope for the best. In the past, applicants were restricted to a single process that required a formal submission of documents, followed by financial options and then either a rejection or approval, based on whether the lender believed that the person applying could repay their loan.

Over the past couple of decades, mortgage brokers have introduced their services to those hoping to obtain a loan from a bank or lender – and the biggest benefit is that they can often help with improving the chances of being approved, by understanding the processes involved. But what exactly is a home loan broker and what can they do that you might not be able to?

What a mortgage broker does

Acting as the ‘middle-man’ between applicant and financial institution, it will be the responsibility of a broker to evaluate their client’s financial situation, approach a variety of potential lenders and then source the best deal. They should then present these options to the original applicant and allow them to choose the most ideal one for their needs.

How can a broker benefit an applicant?

As briefly mentioned above, it will be the role of the broker to approach lenders and source the best options on behalf of their client (the applicant). This might seem like a fairly straight forward process, but it’s also worth considering that applying for a home loan can be a very stressful time and a broker will aid by minimising these stresses and concerns.

As they will be dealing directly with the bank, all that the applicant will need to do is to give their nod of approval, sign on the dotted line and then meet their repayments. The broker will take care of the negotiations, the contracts and the terms – all but eliminating these worries for the applicant and allowing them a much smoother transition onto the property ladder.