Amy Bennett 0:02

Welcome to Beyond the Signboard, where you get the opportunity to learn all there is to know about your real estate journey from professionals who are passionate about property. I'm Amy Bennett, your host, and I look forward to providing you with education, inspiration and a behind-the-scenes look at the world of real estate. Well, today is a very exciting day for me to have Mr Shaun Jones from Mason Finance Group here recording an episode of.

Amy Bennett 0:37

Beyond the Signboard. Hello, how exciting, Shaun. Thank you for having me, absolutely my pleasure. I said I feel a bit of expectation because you are the master of the podcast.

Shaun Jones 0:48

We started about two years ago at Mason Finance Group and I had this idea to go. Everyone leads a busy life right, and you spend quite a bit of time in your car.

Amy Bennett 0:57

Yes.

Shaun Jones 0:57

And what a good way to get a 10-15 minute segment and learn about mortgages. So I was like let's do some podcasting.

Amy Bennett 1:04

It's been amazing, it's evolved.

Shaun Jones 1:05

Oh, it's so good. You know we get people coming up to you're like you do interest rates with mates and like yeah, but we're all about the education piece. Absolutely, and I always say look if somebody's asked a question you know five times or ten times, and it's the right information. You can go Googling for days and try and find the answers yourself.

Amy Bennett 1:26

Whereas if you can hear, it directly from you.

Shaun Jones 1:28

know a broker or real estate agent what you're doing?

Amy Bennett 1:31

Yeah, and I think it's about dispelling. I mean, the whole premise of the podcast series is to really go beyond the signboard, to dispel any myths to you know, remove any mystery in what we do and really just educate our listeners. So I am very grateful, as I said, you kindly lend your equipment, but you also gave me some amazing hints and tips and started my intro and outro.

Shaun Jones 1:53

So forever grateful, most welcome.

Amy Bennett 1:57

Amazing. So today we are going to get to know a little bit more about you, about your business, and one of the key hot topics we're going to discuss is bridging finance.

Shaun Jones 2:08

Very hot topic at the moment.

Amy Bennett 2:10

It is, and you know, I think you know be remiss of me, not to mention your success in that field. You know you've obviously it's become, you know, kind of a passion project of yours. You've definitely become a specialist, not just in your office but at a national level, which is amazing.

Shaun Jones 2:28

So you've recently won yeah, so one of the lenders that we deal with, bridget. They're relatively new, so they specialise in bridging finance. So they came onto our panel probably about a year and a half ago, and so we got to understand the product and how valuable it is, and once we started letting clients know that we've got another option, people started jumping on board.

Amy Bennett 2:54

Absolutely.

Shaun Jones 2:56

And yeah, it was probably January last year that sort of the application started coming through. So yeah, last year for Australia Wide I was the number one broker for Lodgements, which is awesome. And number one in Queensland for Settlements.

Amy Bennett 3:11

Incredible. That's amazing. And look, it certainly takes a special person with it. I know that you kind of get them all handed on to you in the team.

Shaun Jones 3:19

As soon as you say bridging finance, you sort of like quiver and shiver.

Amy Bennett 3:23

Yeah, I know, and I'm hoping that we haven't lost anyone.

Shaun Jones 3:26

No, no, Well we call it relocation. I like it Just to fluff it up a bit.

Amy Bennett 3:31

I like it, and we will delve a little bit into deeper because, yes, certainly people have had horror stories or exorbitant fees and everything like that. So you are a mortgage broker at Mason Finance Group, but let's find out how you got there. So take us back in your career journey.

Shaun Jones 3:48

All right, so originally from New Zealand, if you can tell Out of town. So came here probably about five and a half, nearly six years ago, so been here for a little while, came over here with a wifey, so she's South African. So back in New Zealand I was doing things a little differently. I was a locomotive engineer. Yes, so, driving the train, which is every little boy's dream. But yeah, when I came over, just sort of. You know, shift work is hard.

Amy Bennett 4:16

Yes.

Shaun Jones 4:17

Getting up at 3 o'clock in the morning and sometimes finishing at 3 o'clock in the morning is a bit tough and not the nicest weather, right? No, that's right. So you know my dream. My goal is always to help people, and one way to do that, for me personally, is to help people buy you know, the next property first, home investment properties build their asset portfolio. Amazing it's like finances for me, so it started as a teller believe it or not in Westpac.

Amy Bennett 4:43

I started on reception. It all lends you to who you are.

Shaun Jones 4:47

Yep and thank goodness that I did it gave me the background and understanding of what banks do here in Australia. You know different lending procedures. And then, yeah, I went on to sort of a mobile lender role with Bank of Queensland, Did that for a couple of years and then, thank you to yourself, you introduced me to Colin Mason and then I've been with Colin and the team for about two and a half years.

Amy Bennett 5:15

Yeah, gosh, that's gone quick, hasn't it? It has gone so quick, yeah. And look, you know, as a dear friend, you know, I'm so proud of the growth that you've had.

Shaun Jones 5:22

Thank you.

Amy Bennett 5:23

But also to be in a supportive environment in which you know you're really encouraged, and I can see that you've got a huge team behind you, so you get to sort of be at the pointy end of really helping people which you know, as you said, that's your heart and soul work.

Shaun Jones 5:35

Yeah, and it's the same as Colin as well he's probably said this, he nearly says it every day is that clients come first, communication come first, and that is everyone in our team. Yeah, absolutely, and that's why the team works so well.

Amy Bennett 5:47

Yeah, so tell us about your role and the business.

Shaun Jones 5:50

So Mortgage Broker has become more popular. So we've got about 45 lenders on our panel.

Amy Bennett 5:59

Yeah, chat through that for those listeners that aren't familiar with what a broker does and the access you've got.

Maximizing Mortgage Options Through Brokers

Shaun Jones 6:04

Yep. So as a broker, I get accredited with each of the different banks, so that allows me to write a loan application with them Now. Before that, every bank's policy is different.

Amy Bennett 6:18

Yes.

Shaun Jones 6:18

So the traditional way is you'd go and see your bank manager and be like hey, I've been banking with you for 20 years, what can you do with me? How much can you give me? And they'd be like oh, probably you know, 200,000. What why? Oh, because you're casually employed or you do commission.

Amy Bennett 6:35

So quite restricted, quite restricted.

Shaun Jones 6:38

And that's been the sort of shift over the past sort of five to 10 years is that people need those options. Yes, sort of five to 10 years is that people need those options, but they need to go to one place to have that option.

Amy Bennett 6:46

And not all, obviously, banks provide the same option.

Shaun Jones 6:49

That's correct. Each policy is different. So if I've got 45 lenders, on my panel. I've got hundreds of nearly thousands of policies that can suit someone's need rather than just going to the bank directly. So, as a broker, that is my job to fit you at the right lender, based on your deposit, based on your income, based on your circumstance, based on could be bridging, like not every bank does bridging.

Shaun Jones 7:14

Not every bank will do a 5% deposit. So you need options and that's why you see your brokers, so that we can present those options to you. We're governed by all the same regulations and things, so we always act in the best interest. So we've always got your heart at the end of the day.

Amy Bennett 7:32

And it almost feels. I think it almost feels more fair to have so many choices, rather than you've only got one product to sell.

Shaun Jones 7:39

Correct yeah, and that's what I love about client meetings is we use a software called Quickly.

Amy Bennett 7:45

Yes.

Shaun Jones 7:46

And you can literally see in front of you and it comes up in green which lenders we can go to.

Amy Bennett 7:50

Yeah, isn't that great.

Shaun Jones 7:51

And their eyes bright up and be like, oh my gosh, I get to choose which lender. So you know, it's up to them. I'll explain. You know the products and features and offsets and annual fees. But at the end of the day they have to be comfortable with where they want to go.

Amy Bennett 8:10

And it's just such an awesome feeling. And isn't it amazing, I guess, the progression that we've had with technology and all of these tools you know, to be able to do these calculations so quickly and to give people answers because you know we're living in a society where time is so precious and obviously you know when somebody and I'm speaking from a residential sales perspective, but when somebody is wanting to, you know put in an offer, they need to know. You know straight away, don't they? You know what their borrowing capacity is.

Shaun Jones 8:33

Yeah, and it's down to the timeframes as well with lenders. You know some lenders might turn around an application in 24 or 48 hours. Some might be 28 days.

Amy Bennett 8:45

Yeah, I. It's funny you say that we would almost have like a temperature check every week in our sales meeting on you know when we would catch up with your team is how many days are we saying for finance? So I know we're going to really focus in and hone in on things like relocation loans. But let's chat about pre-approval, because that brings me to a really great, I guess, conversation whereby you know, having that transparency because there is a process in place isn't there a new meeting and really tailoring that package for your clients?

Shaun Jones 9:12

Pre-approvals. We have always been big advocates for them. Time and time again, we say you need to understand what you can borrow, because that filters what you can purchase for, which helps real estate agents. It helps everyone Absolutely. It almost cements a budget in a sense Correct. Now you've got your traditional online banks that will go plug in your income and give you a conditional approval.

Shaun Jones 9:38

The difference is what we do is we actually send all your documents to the assessor and get them to fully assess your application. So the only sort of outstanding is you go find a property.

Amy Bennett 9:47

What is the property? Is there a charge associated with that?

Shaun Jones 9:50

No, so we don't charge a fee.

Amy Bennett 9:52

Yes.

Shaun Jones 9:52

And that's because you know, for first home buyers or next home buyers, you've worked so hard to get that deposit. We don't want to if a pre-approval doesn't go ahead for whatever reason, you know, we don't want to take that money away from you.

Amy Bennett 10:07

Yeah, no, that's correct. We'll get the bank to pass Well, and that is essentially how you're paid right, correct, absolutely so. With regards to the pre-approval, what timeframe do they last?

Shaun Jones 10:18

So usually it's about 90 days that that pre-approval will last, for Takes a couple of weeks to put together. Yes, but yeah, 90 days.

Amy Bennett 10:27

Excellent. So somebody that's in that position where they're starting to dip their toe in the market, starting to peruse realestatecom and domain, they really need to have a look at what they're.

Shaun Jones 10:36

Absolutely.

Amy Bennett 10:36

And you know it would be really interesting to get your take, because one thing that I you know come across all the time is people's, I guess, lack of knowledge around transfer duties. So they kind of don't factor in solicitor fees, building and pest inspections anything like that as well. So you kind of give them more of an overview of all fees.

Shaun Jones 10:54

Yeah 100%, and that's so that we don't get caught out at settlement. So we always do a funding calculator in our meetings to go based on a purchase let's say $700, and you're a first home buyer. You've got no stamp duty, so you've only got maybe a few transfer fees, solicitor fees, things like that. If you're purchasing your next home you want to make sure that you're including those stamp duty, because the deposit needs to be 20% or 30% plus those costs.

Amy Bennett 11:21

I like that next home buyer. I haven't heard oh, that's a new one.

Shaun Jones 11:25

It's good there's a lot of people upsizing. Yeah, I love it.

Amy Bennett 11:28

Well, funnily enough, I guess my area of expertise is really downsizing.

Amy Bennett 11:32

So, coming out of the family home, you know, taking equity out, you know, more cash back in the bank and then purchasing a smaller property, you know whether it's just a single person or a couple, and obviously that's where we work together so closely, you know, consistently in that space with utilising relocation funds. But certainly I love that. I think that's good. Next home purchase. So, yeah, we certainly covered off the fees associated with it. I am a client and have found the process so user-friendly. You know, to I can kind of you know midnight or whenever I'm filling in forms online and digital signing, and it's really evolved, hasn't it.

Shaun Jones 12:10

It is and that's the process that we've got at Mason Finance Group. So you know, you've got your banks, so you've got your brokers. That are one-man bands and they're trying to do everything.

Amy Bennett 12:19

It's a big job, right. I tell you what I could not do. That Wouldn't go back to it.

Shaun Jones 12:24

No, well, you're trying to manage new clients, you're trying to sign up people You're trying to work out, you're trying to talk to us, you're trying to do everything. Yeah, absolutely so. At Mates of Clients Group, we've got a team in each section. Yes, so that I can see the client, I can hand it off to the next person to put everything together.

Amy Bennett 12:42

Yeah, it's like a medley relay. Yeah, that's right. I hope you're at the end of the finish line. Yeah, it's amazing All the way through to settlements. Yeah.

Shaun Jones 12:52

And that's just because I physically wouldn't be able to manage all of those stages. Of course I'd probably maybe see two or three clients a month. If I could do that.

Amy Bennett 13:00

Yeah, it's amazing to be able to I guess you know from a cohesive business component, you know mindset to be able to put that in place. You know I've certainly done the same in my business as well. It's just so important. We can't be everything to everyone. You need sleep, yes very important, and so, with regards to your industry, I would imagine there's lots of myths and misconceptions. We've obviously spoke about the you know how you get paid but any other myths and misconceptions that you think people have?

Shaun Jones 13:33

People are still a little bit conservative about using brokers.

Amy Bennett 13:37

Yes.

Shaun Jones 13:39

And that's just more. I've had a dollar a month account at CBA since I was two years old so I can just go back and they know all my information and things like that.

Amy Bennett 13:46

So it's a loyalty, but a comfort factor as well. Yeah, amazing.

Shaun Jones 13:50

You know you might have a personal banker at that branch that looks after everything it just comes back to. Is that your best option?

Amy Bennett 13:59

And would you recommend seeking a second opinion Is that an option?

Shaun Jones 14:02

Oh, absolutely.

Amy Bennett 14:03

Wonderful. So you have an existing experience with your bank, you can get, I guess, an idea of costs and everything from them borrowing capacity and then you could also speak to a broker.

Shaun Jones 14:12

The reason why is it comes back to borrowing capacity, income, things like that. So, to give you an idea, your borrowing capacity on $100,000 might be let's say you earn $100,000, your borrowing capacity might be $600,000 with one bank, yes, but then it could be $700,000 with the other bank, and we've got that information to be oh well, if you want to get a little bit higher, this is what we can do. So that's where that second opinion is really crucial.

Amy Bennett 14:41

And I guess Bank A is not going to tell you about Bank B, are they?

Shaun Jones 14:44

No, yeah, Whereas we actually put it in front of them and go this is how much you can borrow with all of these different banks. They go, oh really.

Amy Bennett 14:53

It's a real transparency. I would imagine that you wouldn't have many people do the broker back to the bank component.

Shaun Jones 14:57

No.

Amy Bennett 14:59

Although it looked interesting. You know, and who knows when our listeners will pick up this podcast. But you know, the traditional bricks and mortars banks seem to be thinning out as well.

Shaun Jones 15:09

There's been a lot of closures, especially on the Sunshine Coast, and that is because everything, unfortunately, is moving online.

Amy Bennett 15:16

Yeah.

Shaun Jones 15:20

Which I mean. Look, it's great, isn't it, to be able to transact and to be able to when you sign your mortgage.

Amy Bennett 15:23

Now you can do it digitally. Yeah, that's right. How cool is that.

Shaun Jones 15:25

I know, yeah, so there's less need for bank staff, unfortunately. No, I know yeah, but you know it still gives us the option to present options at that bank that they're with.

Amy Bennett 15:37

Yes, exactly.

Shaun Jones 15:37

Because we're accredited.

Amy Bennett 15:39

That's right, yeah.

Shaun Jones 15:49

So it's not as if the only option is to physically present to those banks.

Amy Bennett 15:50

No, so I've done many loans for people that that's their main banking account and we'll just go there. Yeah, that's amazing, that's convenient.

Shaun Jones 15:52

That's wonderful. So we still have to present the options, of course, and I'm still bound by best interest duty. Yes, but in their best interest, that's where we need to go.

Amy Bennett 16:05

Yeah, that's wonderful. So big team at Mason Finance Group and obviously it sounds like they, all you know, have their own, you know particular position within the business, which is great. Is there any part of your role that you found hard to hand over? All of it, yeah, true question.

Shaun Jones 16:21

Look again, it comes down to me just as a person. I love to make sure everything's yes flowing right yes so I had to learn very on and it is. It is a great process. It works well yes um, but you have to hand it off and let it go, yeah, otherwise it will bog you down yeah, absolutely, that's good um so yeah, I mean I still pop my head back in see, see where the file is hey, I'm a recovering perfectionist.

Amy Bennett 16:44

I'm with you on that as well.

Shaun Jones 16:45

But it comes down to the trust Okay, and everyone in our team can do their job so well.

Life Highlights With Sean Jones

Amy Bennett 16:52

And it's a care, isn't it? Because when you form, you know, ultimately you are the face of that connection with the client as well. You know that's very much speaking my language. So if not mortgage broking, what would you consider doing?

Shaun Jones 17:04

That is a great question.

Amy Bennett 17:06

That means you're doing what you love. If it is.

Shaun Jones 17:08

I really do enjoy what I I love doing, what I do.

Amy Bennett 17:12

That's amazing Perfect.

Shaun Jones 17:14

I don't, I don't know, win the lotto, Retire.

Amy Bennett 17:18

Hey, well, we just had a financial investment strategist on.

Shaun Jones 17:22

So if you want to know how to retire early, but yeah, no, I do, I love what I do.

Amy Bennett 17:27

Amazing. So, aside from work, I always like to ask people what would be your dream holiday destination.

Shaun Jones 17:35

Look, I want to go back to sorry, I want to go to South Africa.

Amy Bennett 17:39

Yes, you've not been. No, not been.

Shaun Jones 17:42

So I need to go.

Amy Bennett 17:43

Your beautiful wife's motherland. Yes, yeah, amazing so.

Shaun Jones 17:46

I've heard the stories. I've heard how beautiful it is, so we will go there one day. Beautiful, but also Europe, I reckon.

Amy Bennett 17:55

Yeah, I think it's a must do I love to travel. You do. I was going to say, to your credit, you do take time with the family. It's so important, isn't it? Because I know it's certainly not a nine-to-five role what both you and I do but important to spend that time with your beautiful family. Absolutely which leads me to my next question which. I ask every guest which is, what was the best day of your life?

Shaun Jones 18:17

Probably best day would be. Can I choose two? Yeah, of course First one's wedding.

Amy Bennett 18:20

Can I choose two? Yeah, of course. First one's wedding. Yes, tell us about your wedding.

Shaun Jones 18:23

So we got married in Auckland, new Zealand. Yes, so in a place called Bombay Hills. Okay so it was actually on an olive grove, so instead of your winery, we did an olive plantation so beautiful spot, beautiful spot. It was a lovely day, didn't rain, which in Auckland is very rare, but no it was just a beautiful day.

Amy Bennett 18:45

I hear it's good luck, though, if it rains. Yes, yes, that's a wedding planner in me, so Ah, there we go.

Shaun Jones 18:51

So yeah, beautiful day, lovely day.

Amy Bennett 18:53

Amazing how many years married now.

Shaun Jones 18:55

We got married in 2017, so we are 10 years. Oh gosh, my mess is so off today, oh sorry. We've been together for 10 years.

Amy Bennett 19:05

Yeah, eight years this year eight-year anniversary.

Shaun Jones 19:07

Yes, correct, feels like 10. Yes, Beautiful.

Amy Bennett 19:11

So there's another special day.

Shaun Jones 19:13

Yeah, so little one. Ledger, yes, yeah, when he was born, yeah, amazing.

Amy Bennett 19:18

Yeah, incredible. So, as I may have alluded to, I've had the beautiful pleasure of knowing Shaun and Alinka for a number of years and they welcome their beautiful baby boy ledger into the world.

Shaun Jones 19:27

Three years ago, last week, you said this Saturday, oh, this Saturday coming in Amazing.

Amy Bennett 19:36

So, you've been through the twos, terrible twos, and the threes, yeah three nature.

Shaun Jones 19:40

He acts like he's three.

Amy Bennett 19:41

Yeah, amazing.

Shaun Jones 19:42

But yeah, no, he's a caring soul, beautiful soul.

Amy Bennett 19:45

He's gorgeous, so I do believe there might be another best day of your life coming up, am I right?

Shaun Jones 19:51

Yes, At this time of recording I haven't had the call that-. Oh, I got goosebumps 38 weeks pregnant.

Amy Bennett 19:59

Yeah, amazing. So, yeah, we certainly are recording ahead of schedule, so can't wait to share the exciting news.

Shaun Jones 20:04

I'll probably be listening to this with a newborn in my head.

Bridging Finance Explained

Amy Bennett 20:07

Well, it is very exciting, Shaun. What is your favorite meal and drink?

Shaun Jones 20:13

Look, I'm a sucker for a good pizza.

Amy Bennett 20:15

Oh, what kind.

Shaun Jones 20:16

I've always been a meat lovers pizza.

Amy Bennett 20:18

Barbecue or tomato base.

Shaun Jones 20:21

I'm going to go the traditional tomato.

Amy Bennett 20:23

I like it, isn't it funny, I'm just to go. The traditional tomato, I like it, isn't it funny, I'm just like straight in. So, daniel, my husband loves barbecue base. So I haven't had a tomato base forever.

Shaun Jones 20:31

Well, I usually get the tomato base and then the barbecue swirl, oh I like a bit of both yeah. So a good handmade proper.

Amy Bennett 20:39

Italian pizza. Any recommendations?

Shaun Jones 20:42

Oh boccarina. Yeah, it's good, isn't it? That's so good, that's so nice.

Amy Bennett 20:47

Actually, Daniel took me there last week. Yeah, I think.

Shaun Jones 20:49

I had the chilli one.

Amy Bennett 20:51

Yeah, nice Boy, that was chilli Diavola. Yeah, I know the menu. And to wash it down, Wash it down.

Shaun Jones 20:58

Look, I love a good alcoholic ginger beer.

Amy Bennett 21:00

Yeah me too, yeah me too. So nice Any particular brand.

Shaun Jones 21:05

The Yamundi one, I reckon.

Amy Bennett 21:05

Yeah, that's nice, isn't it? We're really blessed. We've got Diablo Yamundi Matzos now. Yeah, I like it A little ice and lime.

Shaun Jones 21:12

Yeah, Sounds good. Yeah, I love that little bit of lime. I think that's what makes it for me. But yeah, definitely a ginger beer Sounds like we're off for today. I would love you to share a favourite quote or saying Favourite quote. Mine has always been you do what you say and you say what you do.

Amy Bennett 21:31

Oh, I like it All right.

Shaun Jones 21:33

And that is the integrity side of me.

Amy Bennett 21:35

Yes, yeah.

Shaun Jones 21:36

So if you say you're going to do something, you do it. And if you do something you know, you say you're going to do it.

Amy Bennett 21:42

Yeah, it's good, you're very true to that. So, where we would normally wrap up the podcast, we're going to go back a little bit because we haven't spoke about bridging finance.

Shaun Jones 21:53

Save the best till last, Amy I thought I had nailed it.

Amy Bennett 21:56

So for those that have hung in, we're off. So this is something that's really important to you and I. We are, you know, working closely together, quite often working on a couple of contracts at the moment together. It's been an amazing tool, I must say, in my business, predominantly because we are looking at helping people. Like I said, they're moving from their family home where all their equity is tied up, so cash flow generally, not a mortgage on that or a very minimal mortgage. They're moving into either freehold villa communities or a smaller home. So this has been absolutely the product of our dreams and, not to steal your thunder, but what we've loved about it as agents is it's essentially been a process that allows the buyer to be in a cash position. So there's not a subject to sale component and certainly over the years we've been through periods in the market where subject to sale was okay, but certainly in a competing environment it's certainly not the person's best interest. So no one better to speak about it than you. So I will hand over.

Shaun Jones 23:02

Bridgene has come back in the storm and it's like what you said is that you might find your property that you love and you want to purchase it, but you haven't even thought about selling. This is where bridging finance comes in Now. It's not for everyone, and that's just purely down on the fact that you need to have quite a bit of equity to be able to do it. So it's all about how much you've got equity in your property as to how much can go towards your next purchase.

Amy Bennett 23:29

Has to be a buffer there as well.

Shaun Jones 23:30

Yes, there is. So there's a few different components that make up bridging finance. So if your property is worth, say, a million dollars from an amount that we can use, most lenders stick to about 15%.

Amy Bennett 23:46

Yes.

Shaun Jones 23:46

So all that we can use is basically $850,000. So we've already got a decrease straight off the bat.

Amy Bennett 23:52

Yeah, that's right.

Shaun Jones 23:52

All right, and then we've got interest. So interest is usually capitalised into the loan.

Amy Bennett 23:57

Yes.

Shaun Jones 23:58

And you can either do it over six months or 12 months, just depending how long you need to sell. Sure, that takes up another portion. All right, so we've already lost a little bit of equity.

Amy Bennett 24:09

A piece of the pie or the pizza, of the pizza to go towards the next purchase.

Shaun Jones 24:13

But we've got lenders that can either do. If you've got an end transaction, so an end mortgage, all you need to do is show servicing on the end mortgage and away we go. So nine times out of 10, that's probably for your upsizes where you're going from a million dollar property to a 1.5 and you don't have 500,000 of cash but you can service maybe a $500,000 loan.

Shaun Jones 24:36

We can do that. We can do it the other way as well. So if you've got a $1.5 million property and you're going to a million dollar purchase and there's no in-mortgage at the end of the transaction, we've got a few different options that we can do. So, as I said earlier in the podcast, one of the main ones we use is Bridget and this is probably more for your older generation that are retired and don't have the income to necessarily service that debt. They don't need to show any income verification to be able to do the transaction, which is amazing, make a big difference.

Shaun Jones 25:10

So to give you context, I've done a loan for an 86-year-old.

Amy Bennett 25:13

Yeah, that's amazing, isn't it? That's lovely.

Shaun Jones 25:15

So she went to a. No pay slips no pay slips, so her property was worth about three. I think, she purchased for 1.5. Yes, I think she purchased for 1.5. Yes, it's perfect, yeah, of course, but yeah, she went to auction. She thought she'd been pre-approved at a big bank, not through me. She'd gone directly to the bank Again.

Amy Bennett 25:30

that's why you don't go to a bank. Good case study.

Shaun Jones 25:33

Good case study. Yeah, she thought she'd been pre-approved. So, she went to auction bid, won the auction.

Amy Bennett 25:39

Can't do it for you, so she was stuck with the unconditional contract.

Shaun Jones 25:45

So this is where we stepped in and we got it done, I think within seven days.

Amy Bennett 25:49

Yeah, amazing. So it's quick as well.

Shaun Jones 25:58

It's quick, yep, and it's nothing bridging is nothing to be scary.

Amy Bennett 26:00

You don't need to be scared about it. Yeah, it really is one of those big myths, isn't it? Like you said, you've even got a new name because people kind of cringe, or it's not for me.

Shaun Jones 26:07

People think it's expensive, correct. And yes, there are some fees I won't hide around that. Yeah, absolutely, and the main one is interest, of course. If you put it in the perspective of you've got a home loan for 30 years, you're probably paying around $600,000 worth of interest. Paying around $600,000 worth of interest that's how they're making their money.

Amy Bennett 26:24

That's right.

Shaun Jones 26:24

That's exactly right when you do a bridging loan, it's a short-term loan, correct. So the banks still need to make their money and bridging is only done over 12 months, and nine times out of 10, you're going to sell before the 12 months is up anyway.

Amy Bennett 26:38

Yeah, that's always. What I've reassured clients is that you've got that as a buffer, and what I love about it is it means that you've got. You know, probably the scariest component for people is not having a roof over their head, correct? So you go subject to sale, get a contract in your house. It's not necessarily in time. You've then missed your purchase and you've now got nowhere to live. Yeah, so, taking that stress out, you know you're doing two of the largest things. You know you're buying and selling, and so that's been a huge, you know, point of difference, but also the time to be out of the home that you're moving out of, to stage it, to paint it, to renovate it, to downsize furniture. So that's been really advantageous, I've found, for people as well. They've loved that component.

Shaun Jones 27:19

Yeah, and you know we can do purchases of leaseholds as well, right, so you know we can do purchases of leaseholds as well. Right. So you know, if you've got a retired couple that has had their property for 20 years, it's worth, you know, $2 million and they want to go to a retirement village, then we do what's called a single security bridge.

Amy Bennett 27:35

Okay.

Shaun Jones 27:35

We still take a mortgage over their property, yes, and then we just pay cash for the leasehold contract.

Amy Bennett 27:40

Okay, that's great to know.

Shaun Jones 27:42

Extra bonus. Yeah, so first lender to do that, because obviously you can't take a mortgage over a leasehold. Yes, nothing to take a mortgage over.

Amy Bennett 27:49

That's exactly right, yeah.

Shaun Jones 27:50

You can do vacant land as well.

Amy Bennett 27:51

Okay, great. Yeah so I think, the way that it's evolved, there's so many different options that we can explore. Yeah, and it's obviously from feedback or what people need, or from gaps in the market. You know feedback or what people need it from gaps in the market. You're working some really savvy lenders that are really you know, I know when you come to our meetings and share things like and I know that there's benefits for health employees and everything like that. But I guess there's a lot more creativity, isn't there, with lending now.

Shaun Jones 28:19

Yeah, there is, I think, as more banks. I mean we've got 45 lenders on a panel. So, all four of them are trying to compete for business, so they have to do something differently to be able to get that business.

Amy Bennett 28:31

Yeah, absolutely.

Shaun Jones 28:31

And this is how different policies are created where you can do one year in isolation for self-employed or you know, pay yourself a wage and we can use that in six months. Or casual income. You know, still six months, but a bank might be coming out with a three month. They will win a lot of business.

Amy Bennett 28:49

Yeah, it's amazing it just depends. So that says to me, Shaun, that especially for consumers or potential clients for you, really, if they think they've got a confusing scenario, or the bank won't lend or I'm not in that position, they really just need to get in front of a broker and just really do that initial game plan, ascertain what they need to do, to be kind of guest match ready.

Shaun Jones 29:10

Oh, the amount of out of the box scenarios we do and you have to give the lender comfort. At the end of the day, if you can give them comfort, they'll give you the money.

Amy Bennett 29:20

And you do that by providing a lot of information, I imagine. So you make sure that the file is 110% ready.

Shaun Jones 29:26

Even before that, we've got access to credit managers. We've got access to credit hotlines where we can tell them the scenario and they go sure, that makes sense. Just get us X, y and Z.

Amy Bennett 29:38

Okay.

Shaun Jones 29:38

And then, when we lodge the application, they can see that we've already spoken to someone and that just flies through. Yeah, amazing so long as you can explain it, and it makes sense and there's information to back up what you're trying to present.

Amy Bennett 29:50

Yeah, of course.

Shaun Jones 29:52

Sure. Storytelling right yeah, storytelling.

Amy Bennett 29:54

And is there anything I guess not necessarily myths or misconceptions are there questions you get asked all the time in your industry that you'd like to be able to help and share?

Shaun Jones 30:07

that you'd like to be able to help and share.

Amy Bennett 30:09

Not to this, probably the main question is when are interest rates going to decrease? Hopefully soon.

Shaun Jones 30:15

Yes, always, because you know, if we have a look at the past, sort of 13, 14 months we have been at the top of borrowing capacity yes, Compared to COVID times. You know the maximum that you could borrow from a serviceability buffer was 5.5%. That's all that. They were assessing you when rates were about 2%. Now they're sort of assessing you about 9.5%. It's huge.

Amy Bennett 30:37

So that's a question I get asked quite a bit and that's bringing the borrowing capacity down, yep.

Shaun Jones 30:42

As soon as the rates come down, that allows people to borrow a little bit more.

Amy Bennett 30:46

Yeah, so if somebody had a pre-approval and there's an interest rate decrease or increase, they would need to have that reassessed. Oh great, it stays valid. Yep, stays valid, excellent.

Shaun Jones 30:56

So if we had an interest rate decrease and we had applications in flight if they found a property, then they would just automatically get that decrease.

Amy Bennett 31:03

Great, excellent, wonderful, all right. Well, it has been an absolute pleasure, Shaun to have you. I was excited to get to the personal question. Knowing that you'd speak about your beautiful family, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you. My sincere thanks, as always, for your help in getting Beyond the Signboard.

Shaun Jones 31:22

You're most welcome. I love podcasting. Is is a huge passion of mine and it's probably become a huge passion of yours as well yeah, what?

Amy Bennett 31:31

it's just so much fun. It is fun. And what do you like to listen to?

Podcast Recommendations for Listeners

Shaun Jones 31:34

podcast wise oh, I like a good uh crime story yeah, they're good yeah that dateline ah, I haven't watched it or listened to it. Yeah, dateline they've it's all like in the US. Yes, but yeah, it's good to listen to. I used to listen to.

Amy Bennett 31:48

Serial have you. No that was really good. That was an American series. Yeah okay, right at the infancy of podcasting.

Shaun Jones 31:56

Yeah, right Now the Dateline guy, he's got like a really deep voice. It just sounds really good. It tells the story really well. It's like ASMR yeah.

Amy Bennett 32:05

Amazing. All right Shaun well, thank you so much for popping by no doubt, as I said, once we're all published, you'll have a beautiful new bundle of joy. Thank you very much Thanks for coming along. Thank you for listening to this episode of Beyond the Signboard. We trust you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed making it for you. If there are any topics you want covered in the future, make sure you reach out and let us know. Also, feedback and suggestions are appreciated almost as much as likes, shares and downloads.