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Breaking into specialist lending with Bluestone Mortgages has been delivering significant benefits for this broker’s business.
Mortgage broker Steve Keramidas told The Adviser that since starting to use Bluestone Mortgages, he has been able to provide his customers with a wider variety of flexible options in helping to make their dream of owning a home a reality.
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Mr Keramidas has been working with Bluestone since he became accredited as a broker about eight months ago, and said he was “so surprised by how many customers we can help that I wasn't aware of before because they didn’t fit the criteria”.
“Before I used to knock them back, but with Bluestone being so flexible I can help them now – I was amazed,” he added.
“As a customer, if you've got any credit defaults, or any bad history on your credit files, Bluestone will definitely look at that. It depends on how many defaults you've got. They'll even look at bankruptcy and ATO debts, which some other lenders won't even look at it.
“And with Bluestone lo-doc loans, if a customer has got an ABN registered for a day or two, he or she can prove what sort of income they’re producing. Bluestone will be happy to give them a loan based on that, along with any financials and bank statements,” Mr Keramidas explained.
To brokers who may be considering adding specialist lending to their portfolio, Mr Keramidas pointed out that they will “be surprised that it’s not actually difficult at all”.
Mr Keramidas said that specialist lending now makes up approximately 30 per cent of his loan book.
His advice to other brokers: “Give it a crack, you’ve got nothing to lose. It’s not as hard as it might seem.
“There might be a little bit more work involved with collating more documents but that customer that you’ve assisted to get the specialist lending, he’s pretty much going to be there with you for a lifetime, because nobody else was there to assist him, and you did.”
Speaking to The Adviser, Bluestone Group’s national head of sales and distribution Royden D’Vaz added that while many brokers have a preconception that specialist borrowers can be difficult to deal with, “the reality is that the typical Bluestone customer is a good quality borrower who is poorly served by traditional lenders. Our customers come from right across the spectrum, from newly formed one-person businesses, through to doctors and lawyers”.
“Our BDMs are well equipped to walk the broker through the entire process and help them navigate through the internal requirements, and these borrowers are potentially another lead in 2-3 years, once their circumstances have changed,” Mr D’Vaz said.
