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The former Aussie CEO has highlighted how important broking is for competition, but said that success in this industry “means bloody hard work”.
The former CEO of major brokerage brand Aussie has shared his thoughts on the evolution of mortgage broking in Australia and how the channel is intrinsically important for competition in home lending.
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Speaking on this week’s episode of The Smart Property Investment Show – a sister brand of The Adviser – the industry veteran joined host Phil Tarrant to reflect on how mortgage broking has grown from a niche service to originating 73 per cent of all mortgages in the country.
In the podcast, James Symond shared his thoughts on the vital role mortgage brokers play in offering clients a wider range of bespoke options and how relationships with both lenders and customers are at the heart of the industry.
He said: “You know, 73 per cent of customers go to mortgage brokers. That’s only going to grow. When you look at what the customer value proposition is, why wouldn’t you go to a mortgage broker? Why would you go to an individual bank and just speak to them about their one single home loan in which they have a bias in which to sell you instead of going to a professional individual who can actually bring to the table, within minutes, dozens of lenders that are on the table?
“Lenders are changing their requirements daily. Customers are becoming more complex than ever. And even this whole online business is a real challenge … some businesses write bits and pieces, but it pales into insignificant compared to a face-to-face meeting with a mortgage broker who can go through and unpack the needs of a customer who’s becoming more and more complicated by the day … There’s no saving for a customer to go digital or to go online versus to get a professional mortgage broker [and be] face to face, in front of them.
“And so mortgage broking, I just think, is just going to grow even much larger than 73 per cent. Whether it’s 80 per cent, whether it’s 85 or 90, who knows? In other countries it has been as high, if not higher than that, because it’s meeting the customers[’] needs.”
Symond said that home ownership in Australia was “part of the fabric of the country”.
He said: “You put a roof over a family’s home, it keeps the family together ... The home loans are part of a fabric of Australia. Home buying and home ownership is the fabric of Australia.”
Symond said that he believed broking was intrinsically important to borrowers across Australia.
“Mortgage broking is a real important industry for mums and dads because, arguably, it keeps competition out there between the bank … We keep the tension so tight that it frankly cheeses off many of the banks,” Symond said.
However, the former brokerage head said that success in broking was only achieved by those who work hard at it.
Speaking on the Smart Property Investment Show, he told listeners: “You’ve got to be a bloody hard worker. You got to know that this is an annuity business. You’re not going to go in there and make a buck within a year and just walk out a zillionaire. It takes you several years. It’s an annuity business. It could take you two or three to start turning some decent cash flow and six or seven to start really making some money that you want.
“You have to have a passion for the customer because you’re with customers all the time … I never confused business and pleasure. What I did was a way of life. And that’s the same with a mortgage broker. It’s a way of life. It could be 6:00pm on a Saturday night, a customer could be upset or they could be calling you. You’ve got to take the call.
“So, you get paid well when you perform well. However, performing well means bloody hard work.”
During the podcast, Symond went on to recount his own property investment journey and offered practical advice for everyday Australians looking to invest in property, stressing the importance of working with professionals like mortgage brokers.
Touching on the negative gearing debate, which has been heating up recently, Symond said: “Negative gearing is a very important aspect of that for the mums and dads. They rely upon the negative gearing. And look, to be perfectly honest, I truly hope the government don’t touch it. I don’t believe they will. I believe that the public will, you know, crucify them if they really go down that path too hard.
“But negative gearing has been a very important part of the investors[’] portfolio in which to build upon.”
You can listen to the full podcast episode with James Symond here:
[Related: ‘Focus on trust and stay at it’, Bouris and Symond tell brokers]
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