Real estate agent credits broker for listing success

“It’s a bit of an education process around buyer borrowing capacity and how a mortgage broker fits into the equation,” he said.

“The take-home message is simple: if you can give buyers access to more money, it’s likely they’ll use it.

“And if all these buyers get the right kind of pre-approval for a higher amount of money, they’ll be even more prepared to spend it.”

Ray White Ferntree Gully has a fully integrated Loan Market business in its network of offices, allowing Mr Watson to work exclusively with broker Kat Skold to ensure his clients’ loan options are prepared and financially confident before they purchase, particularly when it comes to auction properties.

When Mr Watson recently prepared for a listing presentation for a property in the Melbourne suburb of Rowville, he knew the vendors had already made up their mind to go with another agent in the area.

“The vendors had made it clear that they were just bringing in other agents to keep the agency they had chosen honest,” he said.

“Still, I decided to go in and do my full presentation because I knew I had something a lot of agents in the area lacked: a successful relationship with a mortgage broker.”

The vendors in this case had decided not to go to auction, however, after Mr Watson’s presentation, their perspective changed.

“They hadn’t been informed about buyer finance prior to our meeting and afterwards their whole plan had flipped on its head,” he said.

“All of a sudden I had won the listing and the vendors were going to auction – all because of my relationship with Loan Market.”

Mr Watson said many agents think that having a relationship with a mortgage broker is only about referral fees.

“But that’s only the start of it, as proven in this case, working with a broker wins me business,” he said.

[Related: Brokerage drives evolution of property auctions]