"MortgageChoice"

[D.T.]

Has anyone here had any experience with dealing with the mortage brokerage company "Mortgage Choice"?

Any good comments of them? Any bad comments of them?

Also, it seems like they are a franchise company, which makes me a little wary because there might be good and bad ppl who 'paid for their jobs'.

 

[fredo]

I have dealt with Mortgage Choice in thepast and have since moved on to Westpac

Can I suggest you get your requirements together and approach westpac and ask for their deal on the professional package

Then sit down with the mortgage choice man and ask him to detail how he can better them with demonstrated examples eg monthly fees. discounted interested rates etc

I am not pushing their barrow but they suit me

Fredo

 

[D.T.]

Simply put, Im not borrowing enough to qualify for the prof package.

 

[geoffw]

Originally posted by dtraeger2k
Simply put, Im not borrowing enough to qualify for the prof package.

Peter Spann says that antone can qualify for the package. "Anyone" is a professional.

But I suspect it's a long time since he was on a low borrowing.

 

[Rolf Latham]

Hi All

Mortgage Choice is a Franchise System.

Its only as good or as bad as the individual you are dealing with.

I would be looking real hard for a personal recommendation from someone.

Ta

Rolf

 

[D.T.]

Seems I was taken the wrong way, I am already using a broker that was recommended to me by a friend.

I just couldnt help but notice some of the publicity they have been getting lately, and was wondering if anyone here used them. The fact that they are a franchise combined with some information I read on their website leads me to believe that their level of advice wouldnt be much above "generic".

 

[Lissy]

I used Mortgage Choice back when I first started. At that time I found them very good. But then again, once I had 2 IP and wanted more, the advice was that I needed to sell one to get another one.
A more specialised broker later told me that I shouldn't have sold, but at the time I followed the MC broker's advice.
Again, as a franchise each broker is going to be different, but my experience was that they're a good "mums and dads" broker, but perhaps the more complicated stuff is out of their league.

 

[Sunstone]

Dear dtraeger2k,

Has anyone here had any experience with dealing with the mortage brokerage company "Mortgage Choice"? Any good comments of them? Any bad comments of them?

My broker is a Mortgage Choice broker and I am pleased with his service. I originally lined up two other local brokers/franchisees and he was the one who performed and delivered the best deal.

A franchise system can be good to make things systemised and attempt to provide a standardised service. However as Rolf says it is dependent on the individual who has the franchise and not all franchisees are created equal.

How hungry are they? How much experience do they have? What are they like at cutting through red tape to massage requirements and meet deadlines? Do they have any IP's themselves?

Would suggest that you do try and get a recommendation. If you can't get one that you are happy with, I would recommend that you approach them but also ask them to give you some references of existing customers. (Preferably customers that fit a similar type of investing method. Not just a PPOR purchaser.)

Some people feel that they need a local broker. In this age it is no longer a requirement as fax, e-mail and phone provide the necessary communication streams.

Again it is important to help those who help us. Look at the amount of assistance that Rolf gives on the forum. If I wasn't happy with my current broker then I would seriously consider using Rolf or Simon even though they weren't local.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

 

[Jerry Maguire]

if you got a loan with westpac you can just tell them that you want a professional choice package if they NO
you just demand it that you want to see the manager

some of my friends through investing that i know who is on a mere 35K per yr income is on that package
like they always say if you don't ask you don't get

i've been on the package myself for more than 5 yrs now so its up to you weather if you want to take action or just sit there and wait.........

Regards
Jerry

 

[loner]

mortgage "your choice"

I called in the man fom Aussie. He went through all my details and he software came up with St G closely followed by ANZ. I am with ANZ and discovered I was not getting the deal the broker pointed out I should be. He sugested that I get back to ANZ and point out where they were going wrong. (which I have since done) He also suggested that I should not refinance unless the savings I could make in one year were great enough to cover the cost of the refinance. Perhaps I was lucky to get such a good bloke but it was interesting that they found other lenders who were better than Aussie for my situation.

 

[XBenX]

Originally posted by Rolf Latham
Hi All

Mortgage Choice is a Franchise System.

Its only as good or as bad as the individual you are dealing with.

I would be looking real hard for a personal recommendation from someone.

Ta

Rolf

For a real hard personal recommendation - try that Rolf Latham guy he has been outstanding compared to all other brokers I have dealt with (and im not even a paying customer yet)

 

[Kevin Hockey]

In my experience I would just suggest making sure your broker is experienced. With some franchises all that matters is you have the money to buy in to it. A little training and they set you free, but there is nothing like experience.

I knew a broker, not mortgage choice, who had come from Northern NSW and had a bait and tackle shop. Now he was doing home loans. Great bloke but...... Compared to Jeff the Broker I use who has inside contacts and knows the system there was no comparison.

Kev

www.nundahrealestate.com.au

 

[Rakky]

I used MG for my last deal and felt that the broker was very nice but very lazy. His info was vague at times and he just didn't seem to want to go the distance for me.

I felt even more justified in my disappointment when I later learned the amount the bank had paid him for my business.

I am cynical of brokers in general now but would not rule them out completely.

 

[Kevmeister]

At least one positive from mortgage brokers is that the banks pay them out of their own funds, not necessarily yours. The point being that if you approach the bank directly you will get the same rates that the broker gets for you - no better and no worse (that I know of). Just more of your own time wasted, and more hassle.

So, yes, a bad broker may have earned money that you didn't feel they earned, but it hasn't really cost you money, has it?

On the other hand a good broker gives you good non-nonsense advice, cuts through the crap, makes their recommendation and gets things happening, and they deserve their payment, which again you haven't really paid for anyway.

Contrast this to the Financial Planning industry where the "planner" recommends a fund to you, you deposit your hard-earned $, the fund manager takes 3, 4, 5% of your investment monies and gives a good proportion of that back to the planner. No, not every planner works this way (I use a discount broker that rebates all up-front commissions), but it is still an interesting contrast.

 

[Ian (WA)]

Good Evening All

I have been utilising the services of MC (S.A) to rejig existing loans over last month or so. Found the rep concerned to be extremely helpful and knowledgeable....not to mention, professional.

Application right through to settlement went without a hitch. Her suggestions and creativity have seen me continue to deal with MC in my latest acquisitions (x3). This is going to be more complex, so I will post details of the experience once all properties are settled.

If anyone is interested in MC rep details, please e-mail me.

Cheers Ian

 

[framedoc]

i have been looking around for help with my mortgage situation for the past few weeks and someone put me on to mortgage choice. i called them out of interest and they did come up with a plan to try and help me. in fact many of their ideas were in line with some of the suggestions people from this board were giving me.

having said that i think i would agree with an earlier post...it's a franchise and it will only be as good as the people running it. the people running the one i was dealing with seemed to be good and helpfull. at the very least you may get some different ideas that may lead you to solving your problem a different way.

i will also say that someone also told me that ROLF from this board is a mortgage broker so maybe you could send him a personal message?

good luck!

 

[phm]

Mortgage Choice

Hi there.

We have just purchased an IP using a Mortgage Choice broker. I contacted 3 different brokers and told them what I wanted. Neil (MC) came back with what I wanted. I only ever met him once and that was when he was in our town and called in. Everything else was done over the phone and the computer. Very good service. He appears to work 24/7 but! He was very knowledgeable and very quick with the paperwork.

 

[IanF]

mortgage choice

Hi all,

A long time ago, even before I found this forum and all the wonderful people in it - groan, I did two things for IPs.

1. Wander round all the major banks looking at different packages, options etc. Very sore on legs, confusing.
2. Talk to a whole range of mortgage brokers, probably about 9. Most knew less than I did which wasn't much - they were OK for mum & dad PPOR but beyond that it varied from no info to false info.

So I arranged the first few IP's by myself from No 1. All went reasonable well.

Then I found this forum and found Rolf. Although I was sceptical at first (my natural paranoa where money is concerned) Rolf spend a long time going over different options, improvements etc with no hard sell - in fact no sell at all.

Next couple of IP's using Rolf - easy no dramas. Rolf was superb.

Next I wanted to use the equity in my pre-Rolf IP's and went back to that lender. Huge drama, misinformation, disaster but 1 IP eventually settled late.

Again I had to access equity in my pre-Rolf IP's, all went reasonably well until 1 week before settlement - they then pulled out. Panic stations as contract was unconditional but thankfully Rolf to the rescue. The deal came through and settlement was only delayed.

Now when I'm looking for loans, who do I call - Rolf, just Rolf.

Ian

 

[C-mac]

mortgage choice

I am in the thick of engaging MC's services right now.
So I thought; 'I'd better google the phrase 'is mortgage choice good or bad?'' and low-and-behold a good old Somersoft forum comes up!

Ok I am completely on board with them. Working in an ad agency myself, MC is effectively the same line of work; in that the agency works for 'free' for the client (as others on this post have detailed the way they work; I won't elaborate here), so there's no cost to you, just less time wasting.

BUT it all comes down to the account manager/staff servicing you. Being a franchise, my advice is to accept only a rep that's a 'principal', so an actual franchisee owner. Why? Because their reputation is at stake if they do a poor job, and because they own the actual franchise licence - more than just their reputation is at stake!

Their real-time software is brilliant and instantly saved me weeks of faffing about with admin getting approvals and best in-market rates from all the lenders. And their advice is genuine. Yes they get kick-backs from whatever lender you end up with, but really they don't try and sell any 'one' lender, it's not in their interest to do that, it's just in their interest to 'sell' you the idea that you should be in the best mortgage deal suited to your needs - which is what you set out to do as an IP professional yourself!!

I live on the northern beaches of sydney and am looking to invest in this area. If you send me a message or email me @ [email protected] I'd be happy to share my rep's details.

I do agree that you should only deal with a rep that's been personally recommended - and that's how I discovered mine

 

[RealBus]

Simply put, Im not borrowing enough to qualify for the prof package.

I would recommend Westp over MC at times I find them driven by the greatest trailer! The competition is healthy enough to get the banks to work for you.