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Aussie Home Loans franchisee John Kennebury has always used specialist lenders, and explains why more brokers should follow suit.
Have you always used specialist lenders?
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Yes, l have always used specialist lenders to make funding available for those who may or may not fit mainstream funding.
I continually re-finance people’s house under receivership – specialist lending helps these people restart their financial life and allows them to keep their homes. It also provides funding to everyday borrowers who may or may not have the traditional documentation required.
I use specialist lending because I am a mortgage adviser and my duty and obligation to the community is to offer the funding available to them depending on their circumstances. It allows borrowers the opportunity to proceed or not – it’s not my position to make this decision on their behalf.
As a mortgage adviser, we are providing a service to the community, and specialist lending is a service.
What was the motivation or turning point for you to try specialist lending?
As a young rookie when I was only 22, learning the trade and the value of service to customers brought specialist lending into my product range very early. When I started [as a broker], mortgage advising, defaults, writs and judgements were commonplace – therefore it is my duty to provide the service.
I had a customer with 20 unpaid bills of a varied nature. She was behind her mortgage payments by two months, and was stressed and emotional. Specialist lending assisted her to re-organise her life and put her in a better financial position – it changed her life.
I still don’t understand why some brokers don’t offer it.
How is writing a specialist loan different to a prime loan?
No different – it has the same requirements as a normal prime loan. You capture a person’s details and assess the credit risk and provide the consumer with the rate and fees to be charged according to their position. Always prepare the customer to understand the loan that may initially have been available to them might not be perfect, and provide them with a plan B.
What benefits has specialist lending provided your business with?
It’s a source of alternative funding for tricky situations outside the normal policy realms of mainstream lending. It offers the opportunity to provide finance to other unqualified customers of banking. My clients are satisfied and very happy that I have gone the full 10 yards to support them using specialist lending. I've had lots more referrals. And we get paid for it!
What is your advice for other brokers who haven’t considered specialist lending?
Give it a shot – encourage all brokers who have not gone down this product trail to review an application where required and present specialist lending to the consumer.
Contact your BDM: they will provide the folders you need and outline the product specs. Engage the BDM in all scenarios.
John Kennebury is the franchisee of Aussie Belmont, Fremantle and Kalamunda.
