This last month has made me realise how much Mortgage brokers actually do. Most people think that mortgage brokers are a price comparison service I think.
We get phone calls “whats the best rate you can get?”… Thats not the sort of enquiry we take on. We tend to specialise in helping first time buyers or peope with complicated circumstances. People who have bad credit, quirky jobs or just want someone on hand to help them along the way.
In the last month, I have spent more time on the phone with 2 clients than I did actual work! One evening I was on the phone until about 7pm where we had crying, laughing, a bit more crying and what I think was some relief at the end.
And this was where I realised that our customers do not want a price comparison service, they want us for our body.
Get your mind out of the gutter…
It is probably not what you think. This is where it goes all cheesy…
A hand
A large percentage of our customers want someone on hand. Can you help with this or that, can you explain what this means or just HELP! I dont know what to do. If you have us as your broker, pick up the phone, give us a call, drop us a whatsapp or send an email. We are here to help in any way we can.
Our brains – we do have them
An estate agent works for the seller. Who is working for you the buyer? A problem crops up, your being told something you are not sure is right… what do you do?
You could search online and find the online version of Dave down the pub?
Or do you call the person you have employed to work on your behalf? Someone who knows your situation and can give you personalised advice.
There may be times that we can not help, in those situations we may know someone who can or at the very least be able to point you in the right direction.
An ear
This is something that only hit me this month. Because we help a lot of peope with bad credit, it is not uncommon to come across people who have had a terrible time. It could be anything from illness, bereavement, job loss and so on. I have always joked about part of my job being a therapist (sorry if you are a real therapist).
Sometimes we just sit there and listen. I let people just unload everything and have a good cry if they need it. This is what happened last month (twice!) and once the month before that.
I was on the phone for over an hour well into the evening. During the phone call they got everything off their chest (I think). We then had a chat, had a bit of a laugh and I found myself trying to build up their confidence in their application and to not worry. I dont think it worked as well as I would have liked. There was still doubt on their end that they would get an offer. But I think the chat may have helped a little.
Their application was fine btw, I dont think I will do a success story on this one as I think it was quite a personal and difficult situation for the applicants, but we received the offer a week or so after that call.
Our heart (I know, I know).
I was going to go and explain this but it felt far too corny! But just to say, when we take on a customer it is because we have bought into you. We like you, we want to work with you – we do not take on every enquiry. So if we work together it is because we genuinely want to help you and I would like to think you genuinely want to work with us.
Summary
I am not sure this post went quite the way you were expecting it to, if it did well done you have a clean mind.
But writing this was a little bit of an emotional one. We have spoken to customers from all walks of life who have been through some of the worst things imaginable. It is so nice to speak to people at the beginning of their journey full of doubt and be able to see it throught to completion where we get them an offer and the tears go from sadness to happiness.
This is one of the reasons why I say “We are not a price comparison service”. If you want a price comparison service, you can probably google fee free mortgage broker and see what pops up. If you want a broker who will be on hand, who wants to see you get your mortgage not for the money but because we care and if you want those body parts, please do get in touch. We would love to be part of helping you get on the ladder.