One of my favourite things about being a mortgage broker is bumping into a potential client who hasn’t ever used the services of a mortgage broker before and in this case, didn’t even know what a mortgage broker was.

I remember getting the text around 9:00 p.m. and I was just putting the finishing touches on a different mortgage file I was submitting that evening.

“Hi, I was referred to you by my REALTOR.  What is your best mortgage rate?”.   I answered back, “I’m just finishing up a mortgage submission, I will call you in 5 minutes.”  I always find the “best rate question” to be a way to start the conversation.   The conversation was about 15 minutes in length and I explained that a mortgage broker will do the following:

✅ Will most likely get a better mortgage rate and/or better terms
✅ Will spend the time to review the entire mortgage application upfront and look for any potential challenges.
✅ Will explain mortgage penalties and other mortgage terms.
✅ Will explain mortgage privileges such as pre-payment and portability.

The client mentioned they went to their bank for pre-approval already and had an amount that wasn’t exactly what they were looking for.   I offered to send her our introductory e-mail with our process, application, and other helpful information.  They agreed.

The next morning I woke up to their mortgage application (it was excellent by the way) and a text stating that our introductory e-mail had more useful information than their financial institution had provided.   I sent them our required documents list and to be honest and fair they thought the amount of documents we requested was too much.  I explained that their financial institution would ask for the same amount of documents, however, we like to invest our time into our clients to make sure that everything about their application meets/exceeds the lending qualification standards.  As it turned out there was an issue reporting on their credit bureau (an old Cable Company collection that was paid but not updated).  We were able to get this fixed with property documentation and by fixing it in advance saved us a lot of time when the clients made an offer to purchase a home and it was accepted.

The mortgage submission process was flawless, we had their mortgage approval back the same day without any conditions.   Their REALTOR, the clients, and the Listing REALTOR were all impressed and maybe a little shocked by the speed of our approval.  And while we would love to take all the credit for this, it helps when we have amazing clients who provide us with all of the proper documents, amazing REALTORs who have detailed MLS listings and contracts, and of course, amazing lender partners who take the time to also review mortgage documents upon submission.

I specifically asked this client how they liked using a mortgage broker.  I hoped to get some good feedback to help us improve our process and the information given.   Here are the hi-lites:

✅ Our response times were very fast.
✅ Our explanations were clear and easy to understand.
✅ The level of education provided far exceeded their financial institution.
✅ The mortgage rate was lower.
✅ The mortgage terms are better (no one had ever explained mortgage penalties and how they worked).
✅ Being able to have questions answered in the evenings and weekends was very helpful.
✅ Having a tailored pre-approval letter when writing the offer helped them during the purchasing process.

I always like hearing feedback whether positive or constructive.  It’s what makes us better.   And of course, the best compliment for us is getting a referral from our clients.  This lovely couple has already referred us 3 new clients.

We would love to help you with your next mortgage, answer any mortgage questions you have or provide you with a 2nd opinion.

Let us know how we can help!