Comparison Sites vs Brokers – Why it pays to talk to your Broker.

Comparison websites are readily available and it’s tempting to think that in only a few online clicks they can help you find your perfect home loan. But from experience we can confirm not all loans are created equal.

These days, it seems there are endless options when it comes to home loans but not all of them will be right for your needs. You may see a loan and get your hopes up only to discover you don’t qualify for the advertised rate: there are many reasons why the various loan products you find online aren’t right for you, but it’s hard to know without talking to an expert.

There have been many scenarios in which lender limitations have excluded home buyers from being eligible for certain loans. Each lender usually has a long list of conditions they apply before they approve a home loan application. These can include borrowing capacity (the amount you can borrow and therefore the size of a deposit you need), loan to value ratio (the proportion of money the lender is prepared to give you compared to the value of the property), whether you’re buying a home, an apartment or a commercial property, whether you’ll be building a new home from scratch, whether you’re an owner-occupier or an investor, and many other conditions and circumstances.

It can also depend on postcode or the type of development you are buying into. Some lenders don’t like small units, for example, so you may find it hard to find a loan.

To complicate things further, lenders are constantly changing or tightening the rules, which can make it hard to keep up.

Mortgage professionals have access to many lenders and hundreds of different loans. Another huge advantage of using a Broker is that they are constantly examining the different loans on the market, taking into account the various fees, initial and ongoing charges, mortgage insurance, flexibility, genuinely useful loan features versus expensive but unnecessary extras, as well as ‘honeymoon rates’ that look attractive online but revert to something much higher within two or three years.

We will look at your entire situation – including short-term, medium-term and long-term goals – and help you assess all the options available to you.

Have a plan for the future you need to discuss? Let’s meet up!