Have to agree with all Brady's posts in this thread. I've had some level of dealings with a number of brokers over the years, some from here and some from the real world. I don't have anyone to recommend from this world.
Choosing a Broker - a thread for the newbies
- Thread starter Jess Peletier
- Start date
Have to agree with all Brady's posts in this thread. I've had some level of dealings with a number of brokers over the years, some from here and some from the real world. I don't have anyone to recommend from this world.
It all turned a bit cynical on this thread. Lighten up peeps.
Regards,
Worlds best broker (much better than worlds best banker)
Regards,
Worlds best broker (much better than worlds best banker)
One thing that this thread has highlighted for me is that setting up a good loan (which is what actually prompted the thread) is only a part of what makes a broker worth choosing. It's important, but only part of the equation.
No one here has complained that their loan was set up poorly, but that they weren't given the attention they deserved. ALL the brokers here can take something from that.
It's been great to hear the feedback, thanks all
No one here has complained that their loan was set up poorly, but that they weren't given the attention they deserved. ALL the brokers here can take something from that.
It's been great to hear the feedback, thanks all
Damn on the iPhone trying to attach a picture of a friendly troll for DT but techno fail.
Brady, you overlooked another scenario that pops up now and then; the 'Broker Recommendation Thread" syndrome. What is that you say? Well, a forum member recommends a broker in a new thread which goes something along the lines of "oh my broker is the best. I couldn't get a loan and then my broker worked wonders and got me the loan and very quickly. I am sooooooo happy, he/she is the best, they can have my newborn blah blah blah". Probably some merit to it but what this leads to is that broker getting so inundated with enquiries/new work to the point that their previous good service is not there any more and basic things get missed. The service was the very thing that attracted new clients. I had this with a couple of brokers here. In fact the second broker paused the application for 2 months (long story) to then tell me XYZ bank wont lend to a Trust. Ahhhh, but you knew there was a trust involved day 1. I've heard the same story from a few other members too.
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Fair enough from a clients point of view. I can see why itd be incredibly frustrating.
As a broker (and any small business owner), i do sympathise with that situation though. Its typically difficult to 'scale up' to respond to temporary surges in demand in a short time period, and definitely in this industry. Training someone up to be reliable and have the same service acumen is generally a medium term investment, very difficult to do overnight. What the broker should do is say no and focus on existing clients, but that also can be difficult to do.
Cheers,
Redom
Well I can honestly say I don't have a problem saying no to new enquiries when I hit a busy patch or I don't think we will be compatible or I don't want to invest the energy in a particularly difficult scenario / transaction that I may not believe in 100% etc etc.
I also don't post all day on here if I'm busy for obvious reasons . Check the post count per day!! Just saying
I also don't post all day on here if I'm busy for obvious reasons . Check the post count per day!! Just saying
I think thats a good way to operate a service business Marty, or to expand capacity (more qualified people).
Im not sure you can qualify post count v busyness. Plenty of the brokers here have teams of staff working for them and the infrastructure in place to post/be travelling etc. and still provide a great service.
Cheers,
Redom
I was more talking about a young broker who is no longer with us.
Ah, forgive my ignorance. I suspect many of the frustrations laid out on this thread are from said broker.
What Im busy doing ^^^^^ so I can say yes with a clear conscience knowing I will provide good service to everyone.
When Im busy I be upfront with new clients and give a time frame that I can reasonably respond to. If you can wait then all good, if not their are plenty of other brokers that can help you. Just a matter of finding someone who you gel with and has the acumen to meet your requirements.
Reputation is everything in business and not worth destroying due to greed, cherrypicking, mismanagement and ego.
I don't think so Redom, see above.
Also, shifting the blame onto that broker isn't the right thing to do either. My example was with another broker from the forum.
I would personally really like to see Somersoft members being able to name brokers and the specific reasons they didn't provide good service - and the threads not being deleted. There may be a range of reasons such as they just happen to miss something, got incredibly busy etc. If this is the case the broker will have the opportunity to respond - people understand even the best broker from time to time may miss something. If they don't respond or go into hiding then I think that's a pretty good filter for getting them off the forum anyway.
What makes it difficult is when negative feedback is deleted or members don't feel comfortable posting names, as it just leads to a situation where the the only feedback is positive back patting. This isn't good for anyone.
Sounds reasonable to me...would need to be controlled to a degree (ie one time posters may pop up slatting business reputations).
From my experience, about a third of people who call me from SS are frustrated with their existing SS broker (i dont know who their talking about). The why seems to always be about responsiveness/slowness. Soon enough, poor client service all gets aired out.
Colins words about reputation are pretty spot on. Once your reputations hurt, it lasts for a very long time. Works both ways too.
Cheers,
Redom
No. This isn't a broker forum its a property forum, though some days you wouldn't know it. A lot of members PM or email one another anyway so the pro active members do work it out.
