Expert insight: Why should I use a mortgage broker?

One of the questions clients ask me that I often find hardest to answer succinctly is:

"Why should I use a mortgage broker?"

The standard answers are all true. We know the market. We compare rates. We save our clients time. We reduce their paperwork. But when you're dealing with complex circumstances or larger mortgages, those answers barely scratch the surface.

One of the biggest reasons an experienced mortgage broker adds value isn't finding a lender whose criteria says yes; it's knowing which lender actually wants the case. The difference is subtle, but it is one of the reasons experienced brokers often place cases differently from someone who relies solely on a criteria search.

Criteria tells you whether a lender CAN consider a case.

Credit appetite tells you whether they are actually likely to WANT it.

The ability to match client cases to lender appetites comes from experience. It comes from countless conversations with business development managers and underwriters. It comes from working with lenders and spending time with them, both on and off individual cases. It comes from understanding a lender's culture, recent lending decisions and where they are actively looking to grow. And it changes over time.

This is why complex cases are rarely solved by technology alone. A criteria search is an excellent starting point, but it cannot tell you how enthusiastic a lender will be about a case, how they are currently interpreting policy or whether another lender is quietly proving far more pragmatic.

The best brokers spend years building that knowledge.

They recognise the difference between a lender saying, "Yes, we'll look at it," and one saying, "We'd really like to take this case on."

Ultimately, placing a mortgage is not always just about matching a client to a set of published criteria or finding the best rates on the market. It's about matching them to a lender that has an appetite to lend to them.

And that's why, when a client asks me, "Why should I use a mortgage broker?", I usually answer by telling them about one or two similar cases I've placed. It's probably the best way of demonstrating the value a specialist broker brings.

It's about as succinct as I can get it.