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Australian DIY real estate platform buyMyplace has expanded its service offering to include a mortgage and broker service.
The platform, which offers vendors the ability to directly list their properties on the platform without the need for an estate agent, has partnered with aggregator Choice to offer users the choice of mortgage finance and the services of a mortgage broker.
Speaking to The Adviser about the new offering, the CEO of buyMyplace, Colin Keating, said that the move to offer home loans made sense given that around half of the visitors to the site are buyers.
Mr Keating said: “My thinking was that those individuals that were looking to buy a property were in the market for mortgage in some shape or form. Depending on the stage of the journey they were on, they may have had that fulfilled already, but I realised they may also be in the early stages of establishing not only the property that they are looking for but also the financial support for that transaction.”
The CEO said that the move to offer home loans on the site represented a good business opportunity to offer buyers, as well as vendors, with additional service from the site.
“I believed that if we had something to offer them to engage with our service, that could then ultimately lead to additional listing service.”
After approaching several different mortgage aggregators, Mr Keating said that he chose a white label option through Choice Aggregation Services to create buyMyplace Finance.
“The way I went about that was looking at the mortgage aggregators and Choice had a cost-effective model while at the same time delivering an effective service. We white labelled the Choice mortgage aggregation platform so users can embrace the home loan process, too.
“What we like about mortgage broking service is that it gives our members choice. Our broader vision is about giving more choice and control back to anyone who is transacting in property, so regardless of whether they are transacting on the sell or buy side or even on the rental side, we are really focused on being able to provide channels that give choice back to the key stakeholder in that transaction.
“What we like about the mortgage aggregation platform is that it gives more choice back to the individual as opposed to us trying to fly the flag for one financial institution in its own right.”
Mr Keating added that the company has its own in-house broker in Victoria, but that broker relationships outside of Victoria are currently supported through Choice’s broker network. However, he told The Adviser that the “plan is to transition to an in-house broker in each state”.
“Queensland is our biggest market in terms of our DIY property listing footprint, so our next aim is to have someone in place by the end of the year. We’ll look at the other states just in terms of the progression of the model itself,” the CEO said.
[Related: Commission-free real estate group enters mortgage market]
