One of the main benefits that Mortgage Brokers bring to the table is their independence from the Banks which means that there can be no impediment to them providing impartial advice. It is this independence that we at Great Aussie Dream have always sought to maintain so that we can guarantee that it is our client’s interests that we serve, not someone else’s.

Mortgage Brokers fall into two categories. Firstly there are the “independent operators” who have their own brand, and then there are the Franchisees.  Like any industry, Mortgage Broking has its big names and typically Mortgage Brokers and smaller business owners operate under the umbrella of these big names on a franchise or licensee basis.

Over the last few years, the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and the NAB have been buying up these big names which now threatens the Independent status of Mortgage Brokers who operate under these brands.

To give you an idea of how prevalent this has been, have a look at the list of Mortgage Broking companies that have be snapped up by the Banks over the past few years.

Paul Ryan, Co-Founder of Wizard Home Loans has commented in the media that Bank Ownership of these firms "clouds the advice" that these Mortgage Brokers give. The contention is that Bank Ownership of a body of supposedly independent advisers who recommend banking products is a serious conflict of interest, and you would have to agree that it is.

A similar situation occured in the Financial Planning world and we now find that the majority of Financial Planning firms operate under the Licence of a big Bank owned entity that predominantly recommends the their own products in the name of "Advice".

Which raises another “red flag” when it comes to Mortgage Broker independence: whether or not your Mortgage Broker holds their own Australian Credit License. You see, it is possible that a Mortgage Broker will brand as an independent, but still be under the umbrella of a Bank owned organisation, operating simply as an “Authorised Representative” of their License Holder. This of course means that they are tied to that Licence Holder who will most certainly have terms and conditions that the Mortgage Broker is forced to comply with.

As mentioned at the outset, Great Aussie Dream is completely independent. We are under no obligation to any Bank, or any organisation that is owned by a Bank.

Great Aussie Dream also holds it's own Australian Credit Licence.

What this means for you is that Great Aussie Dream is free to recommend the best product, from the best bank or lender from hundreds of different loans and dozens to different lenders. We do not have to dance to anyone else’s tune and there is definitely no pressure on us to push one product over another.

At Great Aussie Dream our mission has always been and always will be to get the best result for our Clients, not the Banks. Like our slogans says... We make the Dream a Reality!