Mortgage Declined to Approved

Recently I was introduced to a South African client who had been put in an extremely tricky situation as a result of dealing with an on-line lender.

He is in Australia on a 457 visa after his employer relocated him and his family, he is currently in the midst of buying his family a home that they can settle down in for the foreseeable future. He had applied for a loan through an on-line lender, the loan had been approved and our South African friend was over the moon. However, as it got closer to the day of needing the money, the online lender came back to him stating that the loan had now been declined and they were not able to tell him why. In trying to get to the bottom of the situation, he was passed from person to person, and all the time not getting any closer to a resolution. Eventually he reached out to one of his friends who is an accountant and told him his plight. The accountant introduced him to me, as I had helped him out with several tricky situations in the past and always came through with the goods.

When we met, he was understandably frustrated and nervous that his deposit he had already paid was now on the line, thousands of hard earned dollars could be wasted, the clock was ticking!  The due date was in three weeks and we needed to find a suitable home loan based on his unique situation and get an application in and approved asap.

With my expertise and contacts, I was able to get his loan approved in 1 week! I was even able to get a better rate than the on-line lender had offered, it wasn't the most important part of the transaction, but it certainly helped.

On-line lenders are becoming more attractive and popular, marketing themselves as a simpler, time effective way to get a mortgage. However, the reality is more complicated and if something’s too good to be true then it often is.  As a mortgage broker I'm sure the process will one day become digitised, but not yet.  When it comes to a more complex scenario, you need someone with experience to place the loan with the right lender, contacts within the banks to get the deal processed quickly and the enthusiasm to recognise the urgency and do work with you to meet the settlement in time.