How a broker’s passion for wheels attracted clients

According to Mr Flint, burnout is one of the fastest-growing forms of motor sport in Australia and has been in existence for a significant period of time.

Mr Flint, who used to be a banker and private client manager at National Australia Bank (NAB) but became a mortgage broker in 2009 and joined MoneyQuest in 2012, explained: “Getting a high horsepower car and trying to kill a brand-new set of tyres in about a minute, minute and a half is the ultimate goal.”

The winner is decided by a “unique scoring system” where four or five qualified judges decide the winner of the prize money of between $10,000 and $15,000, Mr Flint said.

This lucrative passion and hobby have translated into more broking business for Mr Flint, who said that it has formed an avenue for client referrals.

“I get probably more than 50 per cent of my client base as a direct link to the car scene, and probably another 20 per cent has an indirect link to the scene,” he said.

“It’s been a work in progress and it’s just through word of mouth and existing client referrals and whatnot, but it’s nice to be able to sit down with a client who has a very similar interest, talk about the loan for an hour, and probably talk cars for another hour.”

Despite this common interest in cars, Mr Flint explained that while he dabbles in asset finance, the majority of his clients (many of whom work as firefighter operators or fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) miners in Western Australia) approach him for mortgages.

“They’re earning good money. Yes, they have a hobby that does cost a little bit of money, but they can generally afford to [pursue the hobby],” Mr Flint said.

He added that all of his commercial clients are directly linked to the car industry.

“So, there might be a mechanical repair shop, or a performance shop or a shop that rebuilds gearboxes and places like that,” he said.

“These guys own commercial premises, they get the right advice, [and] they do it through a super fund, so there’s plenty of opportunities there.”

Outside of building his client base through his contacts with the modified car scene, Mr Flint has also created his own YouTube channel called Flinty460 where he films motor vehicle events for car magazines in Australia.

Mr Flint has over 83,000 subscribers on this channel.

To listen to the full Elite Broker podcast with Peter Flint, please click here:

[Related: Creating a niche out of a hobby]