Mortgage Broker - local or national?

I got keys to my first IP late last year and am looking at refinancing my loan as it's generic and doesn’t offer the features I want. I am currently working on building my team; already have a PM, next up is a MB.

I have read a number of threads about MBs and wanted to know: for someone in the early stages of property investing, should I start with a local MB, or it doesn’t matter where he/she is? I aim to continue learning and building my portfolio. I figure once I start investing in more locations then it wouldn't really matter where the MB is. I am currently in Brisbane and plan to get my next IP here. My only IP is in Perth. I think a lot of you will suggest picking the best regardless of location - if so, who do you recommend? I have seen people asking for best MBs in a city but not country.

 

Do you want to meet someone face to face or would you be happy to deal via email and phone?

 

95% of my clients had not met me before we began working together.

And I don't think more than a quarter have met me in person at present.

Skype, phone, email means geography is irrelevant

Recommendations? There's plenty of great brokers here. See who you feel you might work well with and reach out.

 

Depends if you are a face to face person or you would be happy to conduct consultations online, emails/phone/Skype.

It is definitely more important to find a MB that understands your needs - even better if they are investors themselves with a proven track record. That way they can provide you not only with solid financial advice, but everything else related to property investing.

 

You don't need to meet a broker in person for us to be effective.

That said, I believe that where possible, it is better to go with someone local. Nothing beats a face to face meeting to understand peoples needs and challenges.

The other advantage is that there's things a local broker can do that a remote one can't. Occasionally we need to do things like hand deliver documents, ensure they're signed property, deliver them to the bank. In an emergency situation, this can save a few days. I've delivered cheques to a settlement a few times. You can't really do any of this with a remote broker.

Realistically though, these are extreme cases. Best avoided.

I would discourage using one broker with the intention to use another later when things get a bit trickier. If you feel the first broker isn't going to be up to scratch, odds are the next broker is going to need to repair things they've done.

Additionally the later deals are usually a lot trickier and can require more work and risk. Not particularly fair on the second broker to expect them to only take on the tough deals when someone else has potentially messed up the easy stuff.

 

You want a good broker, not just one that happens to be local. A good broker can start setting things up to allow you to carry on investing, whereas a bad one can hinder your future progress in the way they set up your first deal.

 

Broker doesn't need to be local in order to provide outstanding service.

Having said that - you've got Rolf just down the road (posted above) from you - and if you're fortunate enough to become one of his clients you'll be in excellent hands.

Cheers

Jamie

 

+1 Rolf!

 

Thanks for the replies everyone, that's why this site is so valuable.