Refund Homeloans - any feedback/experience

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for a change of employment and feel its time to branch out from the world of PAYE. I went to a Refund Homeloan information day today and I'm trying to weigh it up as a franchise opportunity. The arrival of kids has slowed our property expansion plans slightly but as the right loan/s is such an important part of the venture I figure I should build knowledge in that area. A franchise should also 'hopefully' ease my entry into the business owner game.

Has anyone had dealings with them as a customer? Do the other brokers in the forums have an opinion about them (good or bad) as part of the industry?

Thanks for your consideration and input.
 
Hiya Mick

The concept of giving away part of ones commission sounds like a good marketing idea, and Wayne is a clever marketer and has some good runs on the board.

From a straight business risk perspective though,I believe its not a smart thing . If you spend money and time building up a model based on something that can change tommorow..................comms were reduced by around 30 % 15 mths ago, and there is no real reason why the lenders may not want to reduce them to a fixed $ 500 bucks a deal or the like. Its a major elephant, and many brokers, and much of the industry are quite fearful I suspect.

If anything, I can see fee for service becoming more and more common.

I have seen quite a few broker business models being bandied about where they talk about nice earnings on a part time basis.........possible yes, likely though probably not, just the learnings and compliance will become more and more of an issue. Rebate brokers have been around for a looong time and have had a variety of levels of success. Their target market is more the mum and dad PPOR loan, OR the investor that knows what structure they need, what loan when and how .

ta
rolf
 
I suspect "Wayne" is behind the particular brokerage in question. How can a broker alienate a bank? Now this I would like to hear ! (hypothetically of course).
 
Qlds007, can you elaborate anymore about why they are seeking their money back? I'm not here to promote the business but I'm of the understanding that they are still placing loans through all the major banks (35 lender panel etc).

Wayne obviously has a certain style to his operation. John Symond was there first I guess.

PT Bear, 20% of the upfront commission and 25% of the trail commission is paid to the company. A variable percentage of the remaining upfront commission is paid to the customer. I don't know enough about the industry to say if that is the aggregator split. I'm more than happy if you want to explain the term though.

Thanks for any and all input.
 
For anyone reading this please be assured that the following comment isn't being made on the basis that Refund Home Loans are a competitor.

I see Wayne Ormond doing his little marketing promo most mornings on one of the morning shows. I find it hard to believe that such a "marketing guru" would advertise the fact that his company employ MB's with "little or no experience". Each time I hear him advertising for new fanchisees I wonder what potential clients must be thinking. Do I call refund Home Loans so I can get some of the commission rebated to me and deal with someone with "little or no experience" or do I want to deal with an experienced MB?

I appreciate that many of the aggregators out there have some of their MB's how have minimal experience BUT advertising the fact that as an aggregator you are targeting such individuals? :confused::confused:

Regards
Steve


As for joining them well this maybe an option for someone who doesn't mind losing a fair chunk of their commission in return of leads provided. I would be looking at the entry fee to get in and any minimum periods that may apply. Also historical franchise fees would be something to look at to see if they have held their value/increased. Then weigh up the risk of them decreasing significantly should lenders further reduce commsions payable.

We have seen recently that lenders such as Homeside (NAB Broker), CBA & Westpac bringing in minimum quotas for ongoing accreditations. traditional when one lender moves others seem to follow. Once this phase has completed will lenders re-assess commissions again?
 
Steve, Kudos to you, becasue that was well said and my thoughts exactly.

Mick,

I looked at Refund myself but didn't get as far as the seminar.

What put me off?

The advertisement on Ch7 Morning Show - exactly as bradsdad says.

That is merely my opinion and I decided it just wasn't for me.

Regards JO
 
I have had no experience with refund home loans, I had never heard it before,

however, when I turn the tv on in the morning, just to get a bit of news, seeing and hearing Wayne from Refund Home Loans every morning, is a massive turnoff, I feel that if you need to advertise your professional services amongst the steam mops, non stick pans, and cleaning agents, then not much credibility in my eyes whatsoever.
 
PT Bear, 20% of the upfront commission and 25% of the trail commission is paid to the company. A variable percentage of the remaining upfront commission is paid to the customer. I don't know enough about the industry to say if that is the aggregator split. I'm more than happy if you want to explain the term though.

As a guideline the industry standard is 20/20, so what Refund is offering isn't bad. I'd also be on the lookout for franchise and training fees. I'd expect there might be a fee per lead as well. There are better commissions splits available, but they're not really accessible for completely new entrants to the industry.
 
are these morning refund homeloans advertisment, recorded every day or are they just rerunning something they recorded ages ago.....

surely it must be years old when it was recorded,

evey morning, Wayne from Refund Home loans is there..so annoying
 
I hope you stayed away from them

I can tell you why people are looking for their money back.
If you decide to go thru and get a disclosure document make sure you ring everyperson who has exited. listen carefully to their story. do not go with the people wayne or his staff suggests.
ask around and see if you can compare an old document with a new one and see how many have really gone. (you may ave to ask old ex like me who has a coupole of coipes you can compare....I compared documents less than 2 yrs apart and 40% were gone) They do not have to tell you who has left if they get permission from that person not to.
They asked many ex franchisees I know if they could omit their details.
Mine is in the document , they never approached me , I suppose they knew I would say NO... I hate how they are building castles in the clouds and letting people suffer.

Be warned, I get phone call after phone call hearing the same thing........they havent written loans in the 8 or mnths they have been there.... how did I get out . the coversation then ends with damn I wish I had have called you before I enterd the contract.
 
are these morning refund homeloans advertisment, recorded every day or are they just rerunning something they recorded ages ago.....

surely it must be years old when it was recorded,

evey morning, Wayne from Refund Home loans is there..so annoying
yes you are right the are prerecorded.... and many of the so clled clients are brokers in the ads
 
As a guideline the industry standard is 20/20, so what Refund is offering isn't bad. I'd also be on the lookout for franchise and training fees. I'd expect there might be a fee per lead as well. There are better commissions splits available, but they're not really accessible for completely new entrants to the industry.
lots of fees, advertising contributions,monthly meetings paid for by you, conference fees whether you are profitable or not. oh and yo never actually own the trail.
 
I have had no experience with refund home loans, I had never heard it before,

however, when I turn the tv on in the morning, just to get a bit of news, seeing and hearing Wayne from Refund Home Loans every morning, is a massive turnoff, I feel that if you need to advertise your professional services amongst the steam mops, non stick pans, and cleaning agents, then not much credibility in my eyes whatsoever.
not only do they have little to no experince, we were encouraged to write loans with lender we were not accredied with and place the loans under another brokers ID, the commsions would then be sotered in the back office
 
I wonder how many lenders wont deal with Wayne these days given his track record.

I am aware of one of the big 4 that was locked in a legal battle against him but i guess he just doesnt have them on his panel.
lol:) like ANZ. He says he cant get accredited with them becaue he gives refund.....thats not the case, and all the refund cheques used to come out from the ANZ.
 
Yes Wayne was the founder principal after his Suncorp days and is good at promoting himself.

I now a few franchisees who are after their original money back as things werent quite as promised.
many people go for months without writing a loan and the leads they get are few and far between, they still ahve to pay all the fees though
 
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