Alan Stott

Michael saved himself $8,796 a year....every year, by restructuring his debt! Listen to how he did it!

"Michael will now have sufficient equity in 18 months, to purchase his first investment property"

Susan's Happy To Refer My Services to her business friend John! How good's that?

Hi John

 I am forwarding you details of Alan Stott, the broker who helped Brxxx and Emxxx get across the line.

Alan only started working on this file on 13^th January so has pulled off one of the quickest approvals I have known, with settlement to take place within 17 days of him starting the application process (Alan I need to stop telling you how great you have been, it will go to your head).

 I thought Alan’s details would be handy for you in the future if your clients need assistance with finance for settlements.

 With kind regards
 Susan Roberts 

Susan would have lost the sale of an appartment in South Melbourne as Brxxx and Emxxxx finance couldn't be arranged by their own broker after approx 4 weeks trying. Although settlement was overdue, Susan sold the appartment and Brxxx and Emxxx saved their 10% deposit, all up $50,000, which would have been lost if finance couldnt be arranged in time.

I got great help from a great lender and their Operations & Marketing Manager (because I asked him to get involved), so between us, we got the deal over the line very quickly! We were all pleased! Really pleased!

Commwealth Bank cops customer beating

By Adam Smith

Commonwealth Bank has again taken a beating from customers in the latest Roy Morgan Research Bank Customer Satisfaction Report. In further customer backlash over CBA's decision to move first in the November round of out-of-cycle rate rises, the bank fell 17.4% in customer satisfaction over November and October.

The Roy Morgan poll showed satisfaction among CBA's home loan customers fell to their lowest levels in five years. The result dropped Commonwealth Bank from second to third among the big four in terms of satisfaction, with only NAB performing worse. The other major banks were not immune to customer anger either, with ANZ falling 8.2% over the same period, Westpac posting a 7.6% drop and NAB declining 0.6%.

Roy Morgan communications director Norman Morris said CBA may find customer satisfaction levels lagging for some time.

"If the Westpac experience is anything to go by when they received bad publicity for their home loan rate increase at the end of 2009, it is likely to take some time for the CBA  satisfaction to recover. Westpac has yet to return to its November 2009 home loan customer satisfaction level, and it is worth noting that the Westpac satisfaction decline at the time was also not as severe as we have seen for the CBA," Morris said.

Among the major banks, ANZ leads customer satisfaction at 76.6%, followed by Westpac at 74.3%, CBA at 73.5% and NAB at 71.7%. Credit unions and building societies continued to perform well, with Credit Union Australia snaring an 87.8% customer satisfaction rating and Heritage Building Society coming in at a score of 90.9%.

Housing market enters 2011 stall

By Adam Smith

NAB has released its Residential Property Index for December, showing a fall of 17 points from the previous quarter. Median price expectations for housing point to a relatively flat market, with falls of 0.5% expected over the next 12 months. NAB chief economist Alan Oster said the bank believes stagnant prices will be the trend for 2011.

“We think markets will remain broadly flat. The weakest market is Brisbane. It was before the floods, and is now presumably weaker,” Oster said.

In spite of stalled prices and even modest falls in the market, Oster said the bank does not believe Australia is on the verge of a housing bust.

“Given the supply imbalance across Australia, we think it’s unlikely we will see much more than sideways [movement]. No crash,” he commented.

NAB’s index echoes the findings of ANZ’s housing predictions, which point to median prices stalling and beginning to decline in some areas. ANZ senior economist for property and financial system research Ange Montalti indicated the bank believes rising interest rates will lead to caution among builders, but that housing prices will begin to see growth again in 2011. ANZ has also predicted the rents will begin to creep up due to supply shortages.

Oster declined to comment on how brokers should respond to the findings of the index, but hinted at opportunities in certain sections of the market.

“The survey suggests lower priced properties closer to the city will do best,” Oster remarked.

And while a stalled housing market could lead the RBA to hold off on interest rate rises in the immediate future, Oster stated that the cash rate is still expected to head upward throughout 2011.

“[The results will] mitigate, but not completely dismiss [a rise]. We still see two 25 point rises in mid-year or late 2011 as the likely outcome. If the floods have a bigger impact than many expect, then it might delay tightening, as could lower CPI numbers,” he commented.

One million Aussies look to switch banks

334 people have read this article

Thursday, 30 December 2010

Staff Reporter Making headlines today, The Herald Sun has reported that more than one million Australians are looking to switch their mortgage to another financial institution. Research done by CoreData for the paper found 23 per cent of people with mortgages had started looking around for a new financial institution within the last few weeks. In comparison, similar research undertaken just one year ago by CoreData found that just 4 per cent of people with mortgages were shopping around for a better deal, suggesting that there is widespread belief the big banks have profited unreasonably since last month's 25 basis point rate hike by the RBA. In fact, more than 43 per cent of the people surveyed said the banks lifting mortgage rates more than the official Reserve Bank rise prompted them to actively consider changing financial institutions. If your one of the 43% like I am (just switching my lender as of 18/1/2011), then give me a call because I can help get you the best deal on the market. I've just done it for myself and others!