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A Melbourne-based mortgage consultant says he believes the emerging popularity of price-driven online mortgage platforms could be “fraught with danger” and problematic for consumers.
Echoing concerns voiced by the FBAA last year over online mortgage providers, Vincent Moore of Stratton Finance told the Elite Broker podcast that broker advice would remain necessary for consumers as online mortgage platforms would not be able to accurately address the individual issues of different clients.
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“I think if every client was a really strong applicant, could pick any lender they wanted to go to, had consistent income, had good savings [and] had a good deposit, then sure – they would work for those models,” he explained.
“[But] there are a lot of clients who have no idea what a bank would say yes [to] and what a bank would say no to.”
Mr Moore noted that income write-offs, self-employment and property sizes were among the common issues for banks restricting their lending to consumers.
He added that while these online platforms could indeed work for “vanilla-type clients who are really strong”, clients who use brokers are generally consumers in need of assistance, as they had been “knocked back from one bank already and need to be guided”.
“They need to be [told], ‘Hey look, this lender’s going to say no. But at the same time, this lender’s going to say yes for these reasons',” he said.
“There [are] so many issues that… those online systems are not going to be able to address accurately and there [are] too many little things that I don't think a system can catch without you talking to someone,” he concluded.
Listen to Vincent’s episode of the Elite Broker podcast from Monday, 13 February.
[Related: Lender explains decision to ‘steer away’ from brokers]
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