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Staff Reporter
One real estate network is set to launch a dedicated mortgage broking division as early as next month, continuing a trend that's seeing the two industries form even closer ties.
The Victorian-based network, Barry Plant, will dive into mortgage broking in a bid to provide buyers with a valuable add-on.
The new division, which will aggregate under Australian Finance Group (AFG), will be headed up by mortgage broking industry stalwart Paul Gollan.
Speaking about the new division, Mr Gollan said the inclusion of an in-house mortgage broking service will bring the real estate group’s service offering into line with other national real estate networks.
“Basically, by virtue of what they do, brokers have access to a huge range of products that are constantly changing. Sometimes the ability to get finance depends on whether a person goes to the right bank and what their lending policies are,” he said.
“To be honest, I think people are crazy to go to the banks direct for finance when there are mortgage brokers who are able to tap into a much larger range of home loans and broader lending policies, at no additional cost as we are paid by the bank.”
According to Mr Gollan, 16 mortgage brokers will service the 80-strong network of Barry Plant real estate offices.
“They will be highly trained and experienced professionals using state of the art I.T. software platforms, provided through an association with aggregator AFG, to help their clients compare and choose a great home loan.”
Barry Plant chief executive officer Mike McCarthy said he was excited to offer customers the additional service of mortgage broking.
“Having a diversified range of services is important and mortgage broking and real estate are a logical fit,” Mr McCarthy said.
“The advice home buyers can get from a mortgage broker can be invaluable. They know a lot more than just home loans. They factor in the whole cost of buying a property including extras like stamp duty and settlement times and can advise about their real financial position before they put in an offer.”
Other real estate groups with mortgage broker divisions include Harcourts Australia (Mortgage Express); Ray White (Loan Market); LJ Hooker (LJ Hooker Finance); CENTURY 21 (CENTURY 21 Home Loans) and McGrath Estate Agents (Oxygen Home Loans), to name a few.
Oxygen Home Loans is another mortgage brokerage to aggregate through AFG. Oxygen reported strong results earlier this year, lodging more than $135 million in home loan applications for the month of March – up 80 per cent on the same time last year.
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