What would happen if we re-plumbed the house on advice from a doctor or if we committed to surgery on the advice of a driving instructor and what would happen if we learnt how to drive on the advice from a plumber? Sounds crazy I know but we do this all the time and we don’t realise it!
Everyone understands that to put in a new toilet, we speak to a plumber or to have surgery we chat to a doctor and the best person to teach us how to drive is a driving instructor but why do we continually follow the advice of parents, brothers, sisters and friends when it comes to home loan advice!
The biggest challenge for a mortgage broker, is explaining to borrowers, particularly first home buyers why a specific bank, product or loan feature worked for their parents but won’t for them. It usually stems from a conversation ending with the words “this worked really well for us, you should do it to!”
Perhaps it did work well but not everyone has the same income, deposit or credit history and just because it worked well for someone else, doesn’t mean it will for you. Unless your parents, family & friends are mortgage brokers, acknowledge their opinion but please, do yourself a favour and follow advice from the people most qualified to give it.