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Smartmove’s director of mortgage advice, Simon Orbell, shares how he has used specialist lenders to offer his clients a solution "outside the box".
When did you start working with specialist lenders?
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About two years ago we started working more closely with Pepper (and even more recently with Liberty Financial). Prior to that, we did deal with the specialist lenders from time to time, but it was more infrequent.
Why did you decide to do this?
We developed a great relationship with Mario Rehayem and the team at Pepper. He presented to the team and off the back of that we identified many more opportunities to provide specialist solutions to our clients. From there, we have started to get more familiar with the specialist lender offering and what can be achieved outside the box.
How have you seen this change your business?
The amount of business that is specialist is still relatively small compared to our overall volume due to our location and client demographic. However, the types of deals that we have been able to set are the ones that have probably some of the biggest emotional impacts for our customers – for example, being able to save people’s businesses through smart financing arrangement, saving family homes, assisting clients in rebuilding after a relationship breakdown. These all have incredible impacts on the lives of our clients and create even more raving fans.
What portion of your total book is made up of specialist lending?
Less than one per cent, but if you look at the opening book balance 12 months ago to the closing book balance now, the level of specialist lending has grown by over 300 per cent. Obviously this is off a small base, but you can see the evolution starting to emerge as it becomes more embedded in our offering.
Do you see this figure increasing in 2016?
I definitely see this increasing in 2016 as we get more familiar with the processes, systems and credit policies of these specialist lenders, and also due to the significant policy changes that we have seen industry-wide. There are some great niches starting to develop, particularly in the specialist lender space.
Any final words?
Given the changing market conditions and the opportunity specialist lenders are providing, the key for the industry is certainly around ongoing education of these great niche solutions to be able to meet our clients’ ongoing needs.
