Case study: Linda Schmidt, Liberty Network Services

A Liberty adviser for more than two years, Linda is now carving out a unique niche on the Sunshine Coast, helping customers with out of the box home loan solutions.

“I’ve been a bank manager and a business development manager, but nothing has been more enjoyable than what I’m doing at the moment,” she said.

The award-winning adviser has been in the finance industry for more than a decade. Having worked for one of the big four banks as well as other smaller lenders, Linda knows first-hand what customers are looking for.

Two years ago, she decided to set up her own broking business. Linda joined Liberty Network Services and hasn’t looked back since.

“I get a great deal of pleasure being able to help people,” she said.

“It’s not often that you can say you genuinely love what you do, but in my case, it’s absolutely true.

“We all know that there’s not always a simple answer to developing a mortgage solution and it’s not always easy to get finance. In many cases, the major banks are not able to help people with their finance needs, as they don’t fit a certain criterion. It locks out a lot of people who need help.”

Having a panel of lenders – including all the major and regional banks – gives Linda a lot of options, and the flexibility of Liberty’s prime and custom home loan solutions means she can help so many more people.

“Every circumstance, every family, every loan application is different. There are always factors that you need to be mindful of when considering a home loan solution,” she said.

“I’m always mindful of people who might not have as many options. You have to look at the bigger picture. If the big banks have turned customers away, I make it my mission to give them a helping hand to see if there’s something we can do.

“The beauty of Liberty is that it specialises in both prime and custom lending. It caters for people who don’t necessarily fit into the one prescribed perfect box. This means the majority of the loans I write are Liberty loans.”

One of the ways Linda has managed to gain a foothold in the local market is the speed through which she processes loan applications. Linda uses the proprietary Liberty technology Spark – an easy-to-use iPad solution to input customers’ details quickly and efficiently.

“It’s no longer the arduous task it might once have been. Customers are time-poor and the last thing they want to do is to spend hours and hours dealing with paperwork,” she said.

“The Spark technology that Liberty has developed means that I can scan all the necessary documents in one quick hit and upload all the information very quickly. Gone are the days of laboriously handwriting information. With Spark, you can literally get everything you need like payslips and ID very quickly, and have it in the system straightaway.

“Technology improvements are changing the way advisers do their jobs and it means that more loans are being processed a lot quicker, which is a better result for customers.

“There are new challenges every day, more customers to help and more people to get on their way. Liberty provides me with the flexibility and range of product solutions to be able to help people right across the Sunshine Coast.”

With a mix of clients across prime, custom, vehicle, business and commercial lending, there’s no sign that Linda’s busy schedule will ease up any time soon.

“At the end of the day, customers are over the moon because with Liberty, we try to open every door we can,” she said.