Broker platform inks lead deal with listed property group

Through the partnership, brokers who use the HashChing platform will have their profiles appear whenever a prospective home buyer visits Onthehouse.com.au and searches a particular suburb.

Unlike mortgage comparison websites that channel prospective borrowers to lenders, HashChing sends customers to a mortgage broker in their local area for further credit advice.

Brokers pay a monthly membership of approximately $50 for the lead generation service. Borrowers can use HashChing for free to seek out cheaper home loans as brokers negotiate rates with lenders based on the volumes they write and then advertise their deals on the platform.

When they see a deal they like, borrowers punch in their postcode and are connected with a broker in their local area.

Once they’ve submitted their details on the platform, consumers receive a notification telling them who their broker is and the date and time of their appointment. A calendar invite is automatically made for both the consumer and the broker.

The consumer also receives the broker’s profile picture along with a phone number and email address.

But the group has a strict service standards and is not afraid to 'drop' brokers that don't respond to clients quick enough. 

“We have dropped a few brokers who find it hard to get in touch with the client within 24 hours,” HashChing CEO Mandeep Sodhi said. “If a broker doesn’t follow up with a client within 24 hours then the lead gets assigned to a different broker.”

HashChing has already generated over $225 million worth of home loan leads to its 71 active brokers, with another 1,250 waiting to join the platform. According to Mr Sodhi, the group needed to form a strategic partnership to generate more leads to feed the growing demand from brokers.

“With this new partnership with Onthehouse, from February we will activate another 250 brokers,” Mr Sodhi told The Adviser. “After that we will be switching on more brokers by suburb.”

Onthehouse currently receives around two million views a month from consumers accessing property valuations and browsing properties.

“It’s a great value add service to their consumers to connect them to local mortgage brokers,” Mr Sodhi said.

Onthehouse already has existing relationships with a number of large broker groups on an advertising level, but the HashChing partnership will allow those looking for a property the opportunity to engage individual brokers in specific suburbs.

The website provides free access to an extensive database of real estate content and property values on over 13 million properties in Australia.

“We publish our calculated estimate [on properties], which is based on an algorithm,” Onthehouse chief operating officer Andy Antonini told The Adviser.

“The broker will get an engaged audience who are already at that stage of researching properties, so they can build those relationships ahead of time, so that when it comes to the actual decision there is less competition.

“It promotes a longer-term relationship based on advice, rather than the broker just trying to sell them something.”

Mr Antonini said the ASX-listed group’s vision in partnering with HashChing is to meet the needs of home buyers, investors and renovators by introducing them to a trusted adviser.

[Related: Fintech start-up delivers hot leads to brokers]