That Home Loan Hub
Welcome to That Home Loan Hub, your ultimate guide to mastering the world of home loans and property. I'm Zebunisso Alimova, here to simplify the complexities of real estate and provide you with expert insights and the latest trends.
Whether you're a first-time homebuyer, an experienced investor, or simply curious about the property market, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we unlock the secrets to property success and help you make informed decisions. Let's dive into the world of property together!
That Home Loan Hub
Broker vs Bank: Behind the Homebuying Curtain
Frustration abounds in today's mortgage lending environment. Both mortgage advisors and home buyers alike are feeling the strain of extended processing times and communication gaps. While some potential homeowners believe going directly to the bank offers a faster path to property ownership, the reality is considerably more nuanced.
When comparing the value of mortgage advisors versus direct bank engagement, it's important to understand what happens beyond the pre-approval. As we share in this episode, advisors don't just process paperwork—we provide comprehensive support throughout your entire property journey. We become your therapists, counsellors, real estate consultants, and financial guides all wrapped into one dedicated professional relationship.
The current lending landscape presents unique challenges. Applications that previously took days now extend to weeks due to staffing shortages in bank broker hubs struggling to manage increased volumes. However, even when direct bank applications appear faster, they often lack the personalised guidance that proves crucial for successful home purchasing. We share a poignant example of a first-time buyer in her fifties who secured bank pre-approval but found herself completely lost about what to do next—highlighting the significant gap between transaction-focused banking and relationship-based advising.
Mortgage advisors operate in one of New Zealand's most heavily regulated financial sectors, requiring rigorous certification and continuous professional development—ensuring you receive expert guidance that many bank representatives are actually restricted from providing under current regulations. While processing times may temporarily frustrate everyone involved, the comprehensive support, optimised loan structures, and long-term financial partnership we offer continue to provide immeasurable value throughout your homeownership journey. The ultimate question isn't about speed alone, but about what kind of home buying experience you want, and who you want supporting you through one of life's biggest financial decisions.
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Hello and welcome back to that home loan hop. Hello, Kunj. Hello, how are you? Good, good, good, good Now that I see you, but I am, I am very, very frustrated at the moment. Tell me why.
Speaker 2:Actually, we're all frustrated at the moment In the lending space. We're frustrated. Okay, team, not life or anything like that. No, no Lenders.
Speaker 1:Lenders are frustrating us, giving us extra gray hairs. I'm sorry if you are listening to this and if you work in a bank right now.
Speaker 2:No, we're ex-bankers, so we know we've been there. We get it. We get the bankers as well.
Speaker 1:The frustration is real, especially, you know. You look at the Facebook posts on those Kiwi First Homebuyers page and people are saying why do I need a broker? They call us still brokers, we're advisors, but hey, the old word is a broker. Why do I need one if it's taking three weeks to get an answer, versus I can rock up to the bank or call the bank and get an answer straight away, get an approval straight away. And I'm absolutely frustrated because it's not just a standard, here's an approval, go buy a house yeah.
Speaker 1:Right, that's not what we do here.
Speaker 2:No, no, and that's what I'm frustrated about that people do not see the value that the advisor provides them with versus a banker, exactly Like, for example, last night I had a Zoom meeting with one of our clients and she was so nervous and really apprehensive to even, you know, jump on the Zoom with me just to learn about, you know, the first home buying process or buying a home and everything like that, because she wasn't even sure that she was in that position to do it. So if she was nervous to even talk to, you know, a financial advisor, she'd be nervous to walk into a bank, I would imagine. So what I actually told her when we were having a conversation was that, as an advisor, or why I came into this role, the purpose of this role was like we're just not your financial advisor, we're literally like holding your hand through every step of the home buying purchase. We're actually, you know, your therapist, your counselor, your accountant, your lawyer, your real estate agent, everything Like we.
Speaker 2:I think, especially for you and I as well, we love that connection with the people and that's why you know we do what we do. Our purpose is the connection. You can walk into a bank, being an ex-banker as well, and you just do that transaction. Oh yeah, have you found a house? Have you got a house? Oh, here's your pre-approval Go and find a house, sort of thing. Whereas we were like in it with you. We literally oh, you know how many bedrooms, what color is that house, sort of thing there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we stay up late. We, you know, we look at your properties. Like I was late at midnight, I think I got off my computer last night and I don't think people realize how much goes on behind the scenes, so that really frustrates me. When I see comments like people saying just go direct to the bank, you know it'll be much faster. Cool, the speed is a factor awesome.
Speaker 2:I get it look.
Speaker 1:sometimes you do have to act fast, but Are you making the right decision? Are you getting the best interest rates? Are you getting the right advice on the structure of your loan? The bankers often these days they can't provide you all of this. With the new regulations, correct? I don't think people realise that the new regulations restrict certain bankers from providing you with the right financial advice.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So this is we qualify right. We have to study hard. We have you still got PTSD from that? I got PTSD from that. Oh, yes, ptsd from my studies, but I'm done, yay, but you know, we have to study hard. We have to constantly stay on top of our learning and everything and development. So we are in the game. We're constantly upgrading our knowledge. It's funny how our industry is one of the most, um, you know, looked after and certified industry out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, regulated, regulated, very regulated, yeah, that's what I was looking at.
Speaker 1:You know property managers. You don't have to be a certified property manager to be a property manager. You can just go and become a property manager. You don't need any certifications. You're not regulated. You can do whatever you want Versus. Our industry is heavily, heavily regulated, so we have to be on top of our game constantly and it's absolutely frustrating when we do submit an application to the lender and the lenders take three weeks to come back to us and the whole time we have to let the clients know. I'm sorry, there are no news?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think what's happening in the banks or the lenders is that the staff isn't there in the broker hub. So you've got thousands of brokers and people are choosing advisors, or thousands of advisors, and people are choosing to work with advisors, and there's just not capacity there as well. So there's two things you know, like advisors submitting volumes of application. People are looking at property. There's volumes of that coming. The demand is there because interest rates have dropped, house prices have dropped, so we're seeing that pick up.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, the manpower at the other end isn't there, so it's slowing everything down for us, whereas, like we keep saying, we're ex-bankers, so we know how quicker an application can be processed. And we've got a few example. As you know, clients have gone directly to the bank and you know they've gotten an answer in two or three days and but it's not the answer they're getting or they want, right. So then they've actually come back to us advisors and we're still working hard in the background for them to get that answer, to get that lending amount, to get that approval for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's funny because yesterday I also had an appointment with this beautiful woman and she came supported by her daughter. Her daughter reached out to me and she said can we please make an appointment with you? My mom is looking to buy her first home and I'm just going to come and support her, and I thought that was so cute you know, and this lady is in her fifties, her daughter is in her twenties and her daughter wants to see her mom in her home.
Speaker 1:So this lady comes in and she's already pre-approved by the bank and she's got good amount there that she's pre-approved for.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I said why do you need me? You already have a pre-approval from the bank. And she looked at me and she goes. But the bank just gave me a pre-approval and that's it. I don't even know what to do with this now. And when I asked for help you know in terms of what do I do next? They just said go find a property. But they wouldn't even look at the properties that I'm buying and they just want me to bring a sales and purchase agreement, but I don't even know what it is. So in that moment I realized that, cool, you can go to the bank, you can get an approval, but the banker is not going to hold your hand like we do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's what I said. It's a journey and we hold their hands through everything. It's the ultimate difference.
Speaker 1:And we work in a team. Right, We've got a trusted solicitor that we usually refer our clients to and I'm sure your advisors if you guys are listening and you've got your own mortgage advisor, they would have their own team.
Speaker 1:A good mortgage advisor will have a team of property manager of an accountant, of a real estate agent, people that we trust, that we can work with together. Because, again, in the interest of time, in order to speed up things, you know, sometimes it's faster for me to talk quickly to the solicitor that you're dealing with and go okay, this is what's happening, this is what I need, and then the solicitor knows, instead of going around trying to tell you and then you're trying to convey the message and it's like a Chinese whisper, yeah. So I think this is what I'm most frustrated about at the moment in terms of we want to do a good job by the client, but we just a little bit restricted at the moment in terms of time and, honestly, I've been around for over seven years now in the advisor space as a mortgage advisor and I've been through COVID times when we had absolute high. We had a peak of applications back then, yeah, but still it wasn't as bad as it is now Right now I'm seeing it the worst waiting times ever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and here's me sitting there going is anybody open? Kind of like the frustration of like, yes, you pick up an app and you can actually give a conditional approval within you know half an hour. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I find sometimes, I think, because the lenders on the other side are very stressed out as well, because of the volumes they're not reading our applications properly.
Speaker 1:They're asking us questions that we've already answered. They're asking for information that's already been provided, yeah, and that just causes further delays. Correct, correct. And again, that frustrates us because it means that we can't provide you with the best service that we pride ourselves in, exactly. So if you are out there listening to this episode and you're wondering should I go to the bank because it's a 24 hour turnaround, or should I go to an advisor because it's a two week turnaround, the answer is not as simple as yes or no. The answer is what's right for you. What journey do you want to go on? Do you just want to buy a house and forget about it, or do you want to build a relationship with an advisor that knows who you are, knows your family, knows your goals and is working alongside with you for the rest of your mortgage life, so to speak? So there you go, thank you. That's a wrap.
Speaker 2:Thanks, that was a good one.
