Mortgage advice – our process

A bit about our company

Before describing our process I would like to give you a brief look inside our company. This is the opening statement from our internal documentation around policies and processes.

"The foundational policy is to always put the client first. No ‘if’ or ‘but’ about this. We pay salaries at mortgagehq and have from the beginning to ensure that advisers are not incentivised to place business with banks or lenders that pay more. We often sacrifice revenue (happily) to put the client’s needs first and will provide advice and assistance to clients who do not change providers but need or want help getting good results at their current provider if the products and terms suit the client’s goals.

To ensure clients get the best care and diligence on advice, we assign clients to advisers that have the right knowledge, experience and competency. Mortgagehq achieves this by first asking clients questions and for information relating to mortgages and their goals… Depending on the client’s requirements, they are assigned to the appropriate adviser who can help them reach their desired outcomes."

- Guiding principles on how we conduct business

Skip to: How can I get a free borrowing summary?

We will help you restructure, refinance, plan, or buy

Want to buy a property? From the banks’ perspective, what can you afford to buy right now? We help you understand what your options are right now, and how you could change them by adjusting your mortgage or finances.

We are here to help you buy; your first home, an investment property, or a holiday house.

Want to maximise your mortgage? Mortgages are often 30 years long, but they should never be left alone for that long. They can be adjusted to minimise fixed expenses, provide interest rate security, reduce interest rate exposure, or topped up to access lending.

We can help you adjust your mortgage through refixes, restructures, or refinances.

Building a property portfolio? We’ve helped many clients identify opportunities to get more out of their property portfolios, we can unemotionally analyse your portfolio and give you ideas for improvement.

Our mortgage advisers are tasked with 5 key things

Help you get lower interest rates and better cash back incentives on existing mortgages and future lending.
Help you choose and secure the right mortgage products and structure for your current situation and future plans.
To help you understand which banks and lenders will be most helpful to your strategy and plans for financial freedom.
To ensure you are in the ‘drivers seat’ and are fully in control of your mortgage, and financial future.
To manage applications and mortgage settlements for you so they go smoothly.

Our belief

We believe that our advice is special in the marketplace and deeply appreciate the hundreds of clients who have used their time to leave us 5 star reviews on Google or Facebook. Our advisers strive to help you beyond the frustration you’re experiencing right now.

All mortgage brokers can only give you the products and services that the banks or non-bank lenders approve to offer you. We can not create you a magical bank product that doesn’t exist. With this in mind we have built our business on offering high quality long term advice paired with online education.

Many times people solve an immediate mortgage problem without realising that they have locked themselves into a sticky situation which will only appear in the future. When you get advice from our team we will advise you on what you are asking for right now. Then offer to discuss the future ramifications of these decisions with you.

For example; you could be looking at what amount a bank would lend you to buy your first investment property. We can answer that question for you. But then, we would offer to also answer your unasked question ‘what will happen to my future options if I buy this property using all of my available lending?’. This then leads to a high value conversation which could conclude with an answer like: “If you can find a property with a 5.75% yield using no more than $700,000 of the $850,000 we think we could secure you, you would then probably be in the position to buy another property very soon – whereas if you purchase a $850,000 property with a 5.1% yield you will likely not be in the position to purchase again for several years.”

If this sounds like the advice you would value, read on to find the process we will take you through.

Start with your free borrowing summary

What is included in your borrowing summary?

Up to date bank valuations. Find out how much equity you can use and what interest rate specials you qualify for
Advanced borrowing calculator with the new CCCFA rules in mind
Compound effect calculator to identify your retirement gap
And more…
It has everything needed to let you have a solid conversation with an adviser from our team.

Step 1. Book a 10 Minute call using the form below. We will email you a confirmation email with a link to our secure online portal.

Step 2. OPTIONAL. Follow the link to login and update your details (property addresses, income, expenses), you DO NOT need to upload any documents.

If you complete your online profile one of our team will modify your booking so that it is instead a 30-45 minute session with an adviser.

If you do not complete your online profile, we will have a chat to answer any questions, explain the process, and help you complete your online profile.

STEP 1: BOOK A 10 MINUTE CALL, GET INVITED TO OUR SECURE PORTAL

Your mortgage advice process with our team

Introductions

These introductory steps are encouraged but not required.

Online: Snapshot

This is an advanced online aggregate mortgage calculator designed to give you a 90-second estimate of your potential options. It is built as a general market borrowing power tool to save you visiting 27 different bank website calculators.

Phonecall: 10-minute call

This is a no-obligation opportunity for you to talk with someone and get a feel for whether you want to have us on your team. During the phone call we will ask you a number of questions to clarify your goals and current situation – your answers are used to match you with the best adviser for you.

Borrowing Summary

Secure Client Profile

You’ll be sent a link where you can log in to our streamlined online portal. We use this to save you from having to print forms, fill forms, scanning, emailing etc. Note there are still some important legal documents that require printing & signing but we have removed everything painful from the process that we can. We can also create applications for multiple banks from this same set of information, meaning that over time you only ever have to update your profile rather than starting from scratch.

Free Borrowing Summary

This is a comprehensive spreadsheet we prepare for you in preparation for our discussion with you. It includes an up-to-date valuation of your properties using bank level e-Valuations. It is based off the information provided by you in your client profile.

Options Analysis & Long Term Advice

Four Meeting Types:

Application or Renewal review
Stage 1 Mortgage Action Plan
Stage 2 Mortgage Action Plan
Stage 3 Mortgage Action Plan

These are typically held via zoom, otherwise by phone or face to face and last for 25-45 minutes depending on the complexity of your situation.

During this meeting, we will take the time to answer any questions you have, and suggest talking points you may not have considered. We will refer to, and update, your MHQ Summary throughout this meeting. We will then create an initial plan for you to decide if you would like us to action on your behalf.

For more information about the three stages of the mortgage lifecycle read about the mortgage lifecycle framework here.

Application Submission

If you are keen to take action we will then begin preparing your application for the bank(s) in our plan. You will need to upload documents into your client profile. Your adviser will work with, and assign you a dedicated settlement adviser from our settlement team to process your application, discussing it when necessary with bank staff if appropriate.

If we encounter problems with our first choice bank we will look at alternative banks and other options with you. After we get approval we will move onto the next step.

Mortgage Structure Implementation

Meeting: Loan Structure Confirmation

These are typically held via zoom, otherwise by phone or face to face and last for 20-30 minutes depending on the complexity of your situation.

The purpose of this meeting is to recap what we previously discussed alongside any new thoughts you may have. Rather than long term advice, goals etc this meeting is focused on the details of your mortgage structure. Questions like:

How much of my mortgage should be in a revolving or offset account?
Should I put all my mortgage on a 5-year fixed term?
What is interest rate averaging and would it be wise to use it in my situation?

The Settlement Process

Legal Documents Produced:

These documents get sent directly to your solicitor. Once your solicitor accepts them on your behalf you are ready for settlement day. Note having your solicitor accept these documents is your final chance to change things before settlement.

On settlement day the bank sends funds and a statement to your solicitor who will distribute to relevant parties, typically the vendor, the real estate agent and their own bank account for their fees.

If you are topping up this doesn’t typically require a solicitor so the bank documents and funds will get sent directly to you.

The mortgagehq origin story

Investing in property since forever

Meet the directors

Meet the whole team

Talk with our team

Meet the Advisers

Mortgage Brokers - whose side are they on?