Broker vs Direct for Commercial

The referral is called ‘spot and refer’, some lenders run their commercial programs like this, particularly if the brokers aren’t familiar with commercial/write low commercial volumes.

Some of the best commercial products in the market cannot be accessed by going direct to branch. Likewise the usual policy/serviceability/rate comparisons benefit using a broker than going direct.

The key with commercial is ensuring your broker actually is familiar with writing it, the vast majority of brokers may be great with resi, but not have much experience with the commercial market.

Dan – my brokerage has the full panel of commercial lenders, and a number of off panel lenders outside of the aggregator who deal with specialist lending. To be honest it’s much the same as resi accreditations, some of which are actually bundled to the residential accreditation. Likewise there’s always lenders beating down the door to try get five minutes to show their product and policy suite.

I’m not sure what you’re getting in regards to the aggregator relationship assisting with APRA – for the most part aggregators primary role is within commission management and lender liasion for minor admin issues – likewise APRA isn’t touching on commercial.

As per experiences with commercial, a quick look at the workflow shows 8 commercial transactions in progress today, ranging from business finance, development to SMSF CIP purchasing. Of the lenders on panel, ~20 of them would be playing in the commercial space (which is a broad spectrum).

I have two grandfathers that were bank managers, my dad was a bank manager, my mum worked in the bank, so did a sister-in-law.
But from my experience, it’s use a broker every time.
I have a good relationship with Michael and George at http://www.alphamortgagemanagers.com.au
My nephew has another in North Sydney that he can relate to.

Plus a strategy to reduce risk – it to spread different loans with different lenders. Which a broker can do.
All loans and all security with one bank? No thank you.

I think it’s better to deal with the bank directly. If we are a regular customer and have a great relationship with the bank, definitely banks will offer better terms and interest rates.

thecrest wrote:

All in with one bank ? No, never again. Brokers provide expertise and leverage.Cheersthecrest

And a far greater panel of commercial lending options than available through branch/direct to bank. This is especially the case for those looking to purchase with lending <1.5mil, the third party and non big 4 lenders generally outperform in terms of cost and features through their broker sourced products.