How this broker guides clients on property prices

Before the home loan application process migrated online due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Menon would travel to a lender’s branch at all hours of the morning and night to ensure applications reached them without delay to meet tight settlement deadlines. He also wanted to ensure applications did not get lost in the post.

“Nobody likes somebody to get a penalty for no fault of theirs. I will go to any extremes to get things done on target,” Mr Menon told The Adviser’s Elite Broker podcast.

It was this drive to deliver good customer service that led the Sydney-based broker to provide additional support to clients during the home loan writing process.

Mr Menon, who mainly offers residential loan services, also assists clients with gauging the price of the properties in which they may be interested. The broker and qualified real estate agent asks clients to send him a link to the properties, after which the company undertakes its own valuation to provide a guideline of what the price could be.

“That doesn’t mean we will be 100 per cent right. But at least we [have] a basic idea,” he said.

Mr Menon decided to attain his real estate licence in 2012 both because of his fascination with the real estate industry but also to understand how real estate agents function and think.

“I also sell around 20 houses a year. I try to just take properties which I feel are correctly priced, not wrongly priced,” Mr Menon said.

“It gives you a very good sense of understanding how much a property is worth.”

Education and training

Mr Menon is a big believer in constantly investing in training and professional development to keep up to date on the latest developments, trends and lender policies.

He said that while he aspired to become a successful broker at the beginning of his career, he did not initially invest enough time in education and training.

“I tried my best, but I did not enhance myself,” Mr Menon said.

“I should have done it way before, but I was content. I felt the first six months I lost was where I did not read the sales technique.”

He emphasised the need for brokers to invest the time in constantly studying lender policies, the markets of the cities they are servicing, sales techniques and listening to commentators.

“I think if you invest the time, you become the Google of your area, and people will start following you,” Mr Menon said.

Tune in to this week’s Elite Broker podcast to hear more from Kris Menon.

[Related: How professional development and training equipped this broker with the skills to succeed]