Login
ISCOVER
Award-winning broker Alex Lambros says 95 per cent of his business comes from his relationship with the LJ Hooker network
Alex, you’ve been in the mortgage industry for seven years and much of that time with LJ Hooker Home Loans. In that time what has been your best year to date?
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
The 2013/2014 financial year was definitely my strongest year so far. In that time I wrote over $105 million in loans. However as this financial year comes to an end, I am on track to better that amount; it’s always my goal to try and improve the numbers I write.
You’re an award-winning broker. Why have you chosen LJ Hooker Home Loans?
I chose to join and build my business with LJ Hooker Home Loans for two reasons. Firstly I fundamentally believe that real estate sales and finance go handin-hand: they are complementary industries so it just made sense to me to partner with a real estate network. So why not partner with the best?
Which brings me to my second reason: branding. I was looking for a network that had a strong reputation and robust brand recognition.
How do you find the level of system support within LJ Hooker Home Loans?
It’s fantastic. We are a strategic partner with PLAN Australia so we receive fantastic BDM support, great training for new loan writers, and assistance with recruitment. Podium is very easy for our team to use, which has really assisted us in coping with our rapid volume growth. It also manages all our real estate referrals very effectively.
Is there value in marketing support given the history of the LJ Hooker group?
There is. We use the state of the art HUB system to access PR, point of sale material for the real estate offices and open homes, and also have access to one-off pieces that support a campaign we may look to run. Support in the digital space is also increasing, which is great.
LJ Hooker has again and again been voted the most recognisable real estate brand in Australia. How helpful is that brand recognition to you as a broker?
It is absolutely priceless. When you’re calling a potential client and you say, ‘I’m from Alex Lambros Home Loans’, the response can often fall short of what you’re after. However, when you say you are calling from LJ Hooker, you have instant recognition.
LJ Hooker was established in 1928 and in that time has grown to become Australia’s best-known and most trusted real estate brand. Australians connect with the brand, the same way they do with Vegemite or Arnott’s. To me, the brand is the Rolls Royce of real estate and it has been priceless to our business, helping us get a foot in the door.
As an LJ Hooker Home Loans lending specialist, what type of opportunities do you have that others don’t?
I think most brokers realise the potential for their business that a strong referral relationship with a real estate agent has. Because we work with the agents, we wear the same colours and are on the same team, we experience very little push-back. They are willing and raring to work with us.
I run LJ Hooker Home Loans Eastern Suburbs with nine mortgage brokers, and referrals from the LJ Hooker real estate network make up about 90-95 per cent of their business. The real estate network is the most important part of the growth in my business. I say with complete confidence that without our connection to LJ Hooker, our nine brokers would have to work three times as hard to receive the same amount of referrals.
Sponsored content
