Ever-tightening regulations and ever-increasing competition from the banks are forcing the broker industry to get more creative when trying to chase leads and build business; which, for one broker, includes sharing leads with professionals he originally had an aversion to.
Ever-tightening regulations and ever-increasing competition from the banks are forcing the broker industry to get more creative when trying to chase leads and build business; which, for one broker, includes sharing leads with those in an industry he originally had an aversion to.
“I used to think real estate people were a pain in the butt because they are extremely demanding (and that) they’re only concerned with one thing and that’s their commission,” John Van Driel of Mortgage Shopper told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “I’m finding myself now with relationships with six or seven realtors and I go out and do that in a variety of ways; usually I get referred or I’ll have to know the managing broker at an office and I’ll explain to them that I do business a certain way and I’d like to do business with some of their, quote, ‘more honest individuals’ and they usually recommend one or two of their people.”
It’s no surprise that mortgage brokers are being forced to find new referral streams, with recent CMHC data pointing to an 81 per cent drop in refinance business and banks gobbling a bigger piece of the refi pie.
“On the refinance side, banks are becoming more and more aggressive and they send renewal documents out with rates that sometimes I can’t compete with,” Van Driel said. “It’s brutal. I’m pretty sure a lot of brokers outside my area are finding the same thing.”
And of course, mortgage rule changes and tightenend lending requirements aren’t making the broker’s job any easier.
“It seems to me that our government and the people that regulate interest rates and regulate the way that we get mortgages approved are going to get more more and tighter,” Van Driel said. “They’ve probably already knocked the bottom 10 per cent of the market out and when I say that I mean first-time buyers and younger folk and people who don’t have very much in savings.”
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Though Van Driel doesn’t pull any punches about the current state of affairs plaguing industry players, he isn’t willing to throw in the towel just yet.
“I also (chase leads) by getting involved in LinkedIn,” Van Driel explained. “I’ve got a number of agents I am connected to that I send regular information to but I’ve only started doing that in the last six months or so, in response to tightening regulations and the lack of business that we used to get for refinance business.”
And when all else fails, he isn’t above purchasing leads.
“We use a company called canadaleads.ca so we buy leads occasionally,” Van Driel said. “We don’t do that on a regular basis because the quality of those leads comes and goes and you pay quite a bit for those leads, about fifty bucks each on average.”
“I used to think real estate people were a pain in the butt because they are extremely demanding (and that) they’re only concerned with one thing and that’s their commission,” John Van Driel of Mortgage Shopper told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “I’m finding myself now with relationships with six or seven realtors and I go out and do that in a variety of ways; usually I get referred or I’ll have to know the managing broker at an office and I’ll explain to them that I do business a certain way and I’d like to do business with some of their, quote, ‘more honest individuals’ and they usually recommend one or two of their people.”
It’s no surprise that mortgage brokers are being forced to find new referral streams, with recent CMHC data pointing to an 81 per cent drop in refinance business and banks gobbling a bigger piece of the refi pie.
“On the refinance side, banks are becoming more and more aggressive and they send renewal documents out with rates that sometimes I can’t compete with,” Van Driel said. “It’s brutal. I’m pretty sure a lot of brokers outside my area are finding the same thing.”
And of course, mortgage rule changes and tightenend lending requirements aren’t making the broker’s job any easier.
“It seems to me that our government and the people that regulate interest rates and regulate the way that we get mortgages approved are going to get more more and tighter,” Van Driel said. “They’ve probably already knocked the bottom 10 per cent of the market out and when I say that I mean first-time buyers and younger folk and people who don’t have very much in savings.”
Story continued on page 2
#pb#
Though Van Driel doesn’t pull any punches about the current state of affairs plaguing industry players, he isn’t willing to throw in the towel just yet.
“I also (chase leads) by getting involved in LinkedIn,” Van Driel explained. “I’ve got a number of agents I am connected to that I send regular information to but I’ve only started doing that in the last six months or so, in response to tightening regulations and the lack of business that we used to get for refinance business.”
And when all else fails, he isn’t above purchasing leads.
“We use a company called canadaleads.ca so we buy leads occasionally,” Van Driel said. “We don’t do that on a regular basis because the quality of those leads comes and goes and you pay quite a bit for those leads, about fifty bucks each on average.”
