The role of a mortgage broker should be made clear to prospective Asian borrowers as many of them do not use brokers because they don’t understand the concept, according to Mortgage House franchisee Tom Mak.
Mak’s business is based in New South Wales, Australia, which has a high Asian population. He said that the majority of his clients were surprised upon learning that they do not have to pay him for his services as a broker.
“It often takes me a while just to explain what I do and why I won’t be charging them a fee.”
“When I started with Mortgage House most of my customers came through head office and were Australians who were familiar with mortgage brokers. Now I generate a lot of leads myself and most of these are Asians, many of whom are confused about what I do,” noted Mak.
He added that some of his personnel do not fully understand the role as well.
“A lot of people who apply for a job are under the impression that a mortgage broker simply fills in application forms.”
Mak explained that a mortgage broker is someone “who understands financial credit, what the banks are up to, how to fulfil the banking policy, how to interview clients and how to address their needs”.
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