Investing in mortgage brokers’ success

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Mortgage Choice and REA Group are revolutionising mortgage broking by leveraging cutting-edge technology, providing brokers with unmatched data and tools

MORTGAGE CHOICE is changing the future of broking with innovations powered by tech giant REA Group. While Mortgage Choice has been a leader in Australia’s mortgage broking industry for three decades, the company has transformed over the past few years after becoming part of REA Group. Linking up with the global technology business behind the realestate.com.au website means that Mortgage Choice now has access to data, insights and tools that are setting the company apart from other aggregators.

Part of the leading digital business REA Group, Mortgage Choice is a national franchise broking business with more than 1,000 brokers and over 800 franchisees around Australia. For more than 30 years, Australians have trusted Mortgage Choice brokers to help them find the right home loan to finance their property dreams.

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Anthony Waldron, Mortgage ChoicE

Some aggregators supply their brokers with a suite of tools and technology to manage and grow their businesses. This will usually include a sales and client management platform, compliance tools, product catalogue and application lodgement gateways. However, these tools are geared towards people who have already found a property instead of those who are trying to work out what’s possible. Mortgage Choice brokers have the unique opportunity to connect with property seekers right at the beginning of their property journey. They receive qualified leads from Australia’s number one address in property, realestate.com.au, which receives more than 10.8 million unique visitors each month. Brokers are profiled on the realestate.com.au website to make it easy for property seekers to connect with them.

Nicole Devine, Mortgage Choice

Anthony Waldron, CEO of Mortgage Choice and Financial Services at REA Group, says this direct access to property seekers delivers real advantages for Mortgage Choice brokers. “Through this growing source of leads, our brokers have exclusive opportunities to connect with the realestate.com.au audience and are in a unique position to be part of a complete and seamless homebuying journey, where customers can search for, find and finance property in one place,” he says.

One of the main benefits of joining a franchise as well-known as Mortgage Choice is that most of the marketing work is done for the broker. Mortgage Choice is one of Australia’s most trusted and recognised brands, with over 95% brand confidence. This trust helps Mortgage Choice brokers establish strong relationships with their clients from day one.

Mortgage Choice continually invests in its brand through national media campaigns spanning TV, radio, social media and outdoor advertising. These campaigns are complemented by local marketing assets that brokers can personalise to connect with clients in their local communities. Brokers can also use Mortgage Choice tools – such as technology to help with design, social media scheduling and marketing email delivery – to automate their marketing efforts. George Boustani, a Mortgage Choice franchise owner in Sydney’s Penshurst, estimates that he spends just 15 minutes a week on social media tasks. “This marketing support is crucial to my business as it saves me a tremendous amount of time and money not having to personally prepare marketing and social media content,” he says. “I save on employing a marketing staff member for my franchise, because we can use the content provided by head office.”

“Our brokers have exclusive opportunities to connect with the realestate.com.au audience and are in a unique position to be part of a complete and seamless homebuying journey”

“Our propensity models identify which clients are likely to refinance their loan or buy or sell property in the near future. That makes it easy for brokers to proactively engage”

Mortgage Choice and REA Group are revolutionising mortgage broking by leveraging cutting-edge technology, providing brokers with unmatched data and tools

52.1%

Jan–Mar 2020

Jan–Mar 2023

Jan–Mar 2024

Rising mortgage broker market share

REA Group also owns the property data, insights and digital valuations business, PropTrack, which compiles Australia’s most comprehensive property data. This allows Mortgage Choice brokers to provide their clients with interactive reports containing data-driven insights on property prices and market trends. REA Group’s sophisticated AI tools combine property search behaviour on realestate.com.au with property and finance data to develop sophisticated client prediction models. Mortgage Choice general manager of product Nicole Devine says these propensity models provide brokers with useful client insights. “Our propensity models identify which clients are likely to refinance their loan or buy or sell property in the near future. That makes it easy for brokers to proactively engage with their existing clients at the right time so they can increase the chance of retaining the client. The propensity model functionality is easily accessed through our platforms, including our Hubspot CRM,” Devine says.

95%

Brimming with confidence

Source: Honeycomb and REA Group Broker Brand Research 2021

Source: MFAA quarterly surveys

How an aggregator onboards its brokers can make all the difference to their future success. Every aggregator will assist new brokers with accreditation and provide training on the tools and system they will use every day. But that’s not usually enough to help brokers compile the building blocks they need to generate decent cash flow and maintain a steady pipeline of leads.

Tools and technology

Property and client insights

Brand and marketing

Tools and technology

Property and client insights

Brand and marketing

Published 22 Jul 2024

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E-newsletter

Australian Broker Talk

Events

White papers

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Australian Broker Talk

Resources

Sector Focus

Power Panel

Independent Feature

Executive Team Profile

Exclusive Leader Profile

Business Update

Business Focus

Big Deal

Premium Content

Technology

Reverse Mortgages

Investment Loans

Specialist Lending

SME

Commercial

Specialty

Best In Mortgage

News

RSS

Sitemap

About us

Conditions of Use

Terms & conditions

People

Firms

Advertising

Authors

E-newsletter

Australian Broker Talk

Events

White papers

Webinar

Australian Broker Talk

Resources

Sector Focus

Power Panel

Independent Feature

Executive Team Profile

Exclusive Leader Profile

Business Update

Business Focus

Big Deal

Premium Content

Technology

Reverse Mortgages

Investment Loans

Specialist Lending

SME

Commercial

Specialty

Best In Mortgage

News

RSS

Sitemap

About us

Conditions of Use

Terms & conditions

People

Firms

Honeycomb and REA Group Broker Brand Research 2021

Training and development

Mortgage Choice invests in its brokers’ future success by providing extensive training and development opportunities. The new 12-month Broker Success Program accelerates brokers’ progress and profitability with one-on-one tailored support as they start to build their businesses. The program focuses on developing skills and confidence, removing roadblocks and establishing business development activities. Mel Pedler was one of the first brokers to join the Broker Success Program. She says the program has kept her motivated and accountable during her first year as a broker. “The Broker Success Program has given me a sounding board for when things have not been working right. My peers have shared their insights on what they went through when they were starting out and provided tips about what techniques work for them. I’ve also learnt a lot about marketing, networking and how to keep in touch with my clients. It has really helped to keep me focused.”

69.6%

74.1%

With 74.1% of residential home loans written by brokers in the first quarter of 2024, more Australians than ever before are relying on brokers’ knowledge and expertise to get a fair deal. Mortgage Choice’s ongoing investment in digital innovation, marketing, and learning and development puts its network of more than 1,000 brokers in a unique position to capitalise on this growing reliance on the broking industry.

Investing in the future of broking

Mortgage Choice brand confidence

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Source: MFAA quarterly surveys

52.1%

Jan–Mar 2020

Jan–Mar 2023

Jan–Mar 2024

Rising mortgage broker market share

Source: Honeycomb and REA Group Broker Brand Research 2021

95%

Brimming with confidence

IN Partnership with

“Our brokers have exclusive opportunities to connect with the realestate.com.au audience and are in a unique position to be part of a complete and seamless homebuying journey”

Anthony Waldron, Mortgage Choice

Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Jul 2023 - Jun 2024 (average), P14+, PC/laptop/smartphone/tablets, text only, Homes and Property Category, Brand Group, Realestate.com.au, Audience (000’s)