A growing number of homebuyers say they simply don’t need the advice of a broker, according to a new survey, suggesting those cock-sure consumers are prepared to go it alone with help from the Internet.
A growing number of homebuyers say they simply don’t need the advice of a broker, according to a new survey, suggesting those cock-sure consumers are prepared to go it alone with help from the Internet.
“Brokers are often being left out of the process, either by proactive lenders or because customers do not see them as adding the right level of value,” reads CAAMP’s Consumer Mindset report, part of its 2013 Spring Survey. The polling of more than a 1,000 respondents asked homeowners who'd used a broker in the past why they would not in the future.
Some 41 per cent of those respondents indicated that they “Did not need the advice” of a broker – that’s up from the 24 per cent who answered the same way last fall. Perhaps of even more concern were the number who doubted whether a mortgage broker could in fact get them a better deal. That percentage came in at 28 per cent for the spring survey, up from 11 per cent in late 2012.
Both trends, says one broker, reflect on the growing comfort level consumers have in relying on Internet research – including rate sites – to ferret out the best deal for themselves.
The results also suggests that brokers will increasingly have to up their value add for clients or simply increase their originations volume to compensate for any growth in the number of buydowns.
Either way, the Web may be rapidly changing the way consumers perceive the complexity of the mortgage transaction and the need for expert advice.
