Ryan McLean : Slightly Unconventional

Working Out How To Succeed Without Fitting The Bill

I had a meeting with a mortgage broker yesterday to apply for a loan for a property I KNOW we can afford and I KNOW that the banks will give us approval for. I was excited to meet Bob the Broker because he sounded really nice on the phone. Our appointment was at 2:30pm but by 2:45 there was no sign of him and he hadn’t even called to say he was running late. So I called him, and he only just remembered who I was. He even said to me “I almost forgot about you completely”.

Turns out he wasn’t coming to the meeting and he pretty much blew me off. Through this experience I have come to realise that I don’t fit the bill when it comes to mortgage brokers. I believe a mortgage broker’s target customer is someone with a large wage and a large deposit who simply wants to buy their family home. Not a 21 year old on a part time sales assistant wage wanting to find any possible way that what I want to do can be done.

I originally went with a mortgage broker because I had heard so many advantages of using them. You pay them nothing, they do all the work and find the best loan for you…that is if you fit the bill. Now don’t hear me wrong, I am not hating on mortgage brokers. My days of hating on people are over (thanks Casey), but I am just saying you have to be a certain type of person to use a mortgage broker (well from my experience you do). I am sure there are mortgage brokers who are different but it is hard to find someone who will bend over backwards to find you a loan because they believe in your future potential and the money you can make them if they do develop a good relationship with you.

So after a few bad experiences with mortgage brokers I have discovered that I don’t fit their bill, so I am looking for loans myself. I am going to approach banks and lenders myself and try to find someone who will trust in me and my deal enough to offer me financing. I think mortgage brokers would be awesome, as long as they think like you. The problem is it is hard enough finding one person who thinks like me, let alone one person who is a mortgage broker who thinks like me.

It is interesting to watch my wife’s face when I get turned down again and again and again. I imagine it to look like a parent who doesn’t know if their child is going to throw a tantram or just calm down. She doesn’t know if I am emotionally shattered, or if I am ok. Generally it is a bit of both. I am starting to develop a thick skin to people telling me no. I still get my hopes up and hope for the best (when sometimes maybe I shouldn’t) but when I am let down generally I can deal with it quite well, I just keep moving forward.

It is an interesting journey trying to work out how to succeed when you don’t quite fit the bill. Most of what I want to achieve is different from the way everyone else does it. But that is what makes my life so exciting. I love that I have to fight to succeed, I love that I have to push every boundary of what people believe because I know I can achieve what I want. It makes life hard, but it makes life exciting and ultimately no one wants a boring life.



2 responses to “Working Out How To Succeed Without Fitting The Bill”

  1. Hermann says:

    The benefits you’ve heard of using a broker only apply to good brokers!

    It’s best to find a Broker recommended by investors you know, or is an investor themself.

  2. casey says:

    you’re welcome 🙂

    i guess this is a sad reminder of the fact that there are very few people out there who will give good advice for free.

    mortgage brokers typically try to come across like “the guy who just wants to help you out” at the start, but at the end of the day they are just the same as any other salesperson – selling a product, adding nominal value by their experience, and working on commission – and if you don’t “fit the bill” these people will generally ignore you.

    the cool thing about your story ryan is that you realised you weren’t going to get help from this source, and went out and added the value (i.e. research) to yourself.

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