This Sunshine Coast brokers's expertise is in helping clients who want to invest further down the track
When it comes to lining up home loans for customers who want to invest further down the track, it is important to consider a range of different factors, says Florentin Ciritel.
MPA spoke with the Sunshine Coast Multi-Choice broker about the importance of looking beyond the cheapest rate to set up the best structure for wealth creation.
Having well established structures
One of the things that sets Ciritel apart from other brokers in the residential space is his expertise in helping clients who want to purchase a principle place of residence (PPOR) first and then invest later on.
In the early days of his career he completed a diploma in financial planning which gave him plenty of insight that he was able to apply to his own wealth creation strategy.
“One of the things I learned is when you wealth-create, the structures need to be well established,” he says.
Because of this, he says, brokers shouldn’t shy away from asking questions.
“Don’t be afraid to talk to the customer to say, have you spoken to your accountant? What is the best thing here in regards to how you want to purchase the next asset?”
He adds that any customer with a wealth creation goal should seek advice from their solicitor, accountant and financial planner before deciding on the type of loan that they need.
“When you’re dealing with clients that want to wealth-create, you’ve got to make sure that you bring those conversations in and tick off all the boxes,” he says.
“Often people address or purchase things in the wrong structure or don’t understand tax benefits.
“What I try and do is go, right, well I’ll direct you in how to start a conversation with these professionals – but go away and do it, because ultimately you paying $300 now could save you thousands down the track.”
Transactional habits
Another thing that is important to consider is the way the customer prefers to transact, says Ciritel.
“Some people are visual, so they only like one loan and one account. Some people like to spread their money across multiple accounts,” he says.
Rather than just focusing on the best rate, he looks beyond to see how the features of the loan product match up to the client’s goals and transactional needs.
He says recently a client came to him wanting a split loan and while he found them a product that had both the best variable and fixed rates on offer it only had one offset account.
“I had another lender that was not as cheap as the first one but offered multiple offset accounts,” he says.
“When I spoke to the client I said, there’s your option, there’s your rate that you wanted, top line, or there’s the one that’s not quite there but offers all that flexibility.
“So, then they made the choice of actually understanding the features.
“What’s forgotten in the industry right now when we’re so focused on rate is the service-based proposition.
“It would be interesting to see if all lenders provided the same rate, how lenders would attain their clients because then it’s all about the service.
“Then you can’t hide on how well you provide service to your customers because you’re all the same.
“That’s what I try to bring the conversation back to.”
