What We Do

Getting You Ready to Buy

As we mentioned earlier, the team at Hunter Galloway is here with you for the long haul. We believe that everyone deserves a chance at achieving their property goals. So if you aren't in a position to buy right now, we aren't going to turf you back onto the streets to fend for yourself.

Instead, we will provide you with customised training, tools, and support to get you in a position where you are ready to buy.

Over the years, we have published dozens of comprehensive blog posts, posted hundreds of YouTube videos, hosted dozens of webinars, and even published a book. The sheer volume of information can be overwhelming, but don't worry - we'll guide you to the resources that will help you reach that next step on your journey.

Pre-Approvals and Eligibility Letters

Here at Hunter Galloway, we do things a little differently compared to most brokers. Most brokers will try to get you to apply for a pre-approval if there's even a slight chance you might think of buying a home sometime in the next few months.

There's a couple of reasons they do that:

• Getting a pre-approval "locks you in"

  - if you have a pre-approval with a broker and their associated bank, you're much more likely to stick with them rather than find another broker or go directly to a bank.

• Most people (brokers included) think that pre-approvals are essential to the home buying process.

  But pre-approvals are not without their drawbacks.

Here are some issues with pre-approvals that you might not be aware of:

• A pre-approval is not a guarantee of approval:

  Pre-approvals tell you that a bank or lender is highly likely to approve your loan when you apply, but it's not a guarantee. If your situation changes, the bank changes their policies, or they have an issue with the home you eventually buy then you risk your application being declined when you go to apply for your loan.

• Pre-approvals do not last indefinitely:

  Most pre-approvals only last for 90 days. Some banks will allow 180 days, but either way: if for any reason you aren't able to find the right home within that time frame, you'll need to re-apply for another pre-approval. That means wasted time and effort on your part, plus you'll have to hit your credit file again in 90 days time for an updated pre-approval.

• You are "stuck" with the bank you have a pre-approval for:

  You should only get a pre-approval from one bank at a time to avoid damaging your credit score by doing lots of applications in a short period. So if another bank or lender announces a new, better rate, you will have to re-apply for a pre-approval (and potentially damage your credit file) or accept the increased costs of staying with your current lender.

• Not all pre-approvals are created equal:

  Some lenders will only perform a basic, automated check for pre-approvals rather than a full assessment of your situation. To put it bluntly, automated pre-approvals are not worth the paper they are printed on. If a lender has not done a thorough analysis of your situation, then there is a much higher chance of your loan being declined due to policy issues or other criteria that weren't assessed at the time of your pre-approval.

We decided there must be a better way. So in 2020, we introduced what we call the "Eligibility Letter". Rather than go through the formal process of pre-approval with a bank, we instead use our internal team of expert credit analysts to review your situation.

An Eligibility Letter gives you the same information and the same confidence about your situation as a pre-approval, but better:

• Comprehensive credit analysis:

  During the Eligibility Letter process, our internal credit team will perform an extremely thorough analysis of your goals and finances. We go through the banks' actual credit criteria to make sure you are eligible and will qualify for a loan. In fact, it is the same process that we use when you are applying for a full home loan application. Compared to an automated pre-approval, it is much more detailed and much more useful.

• Faster turnaround times (a lot faster):

  A regular pre-approval takes a lot of time. In some cases as long as 35 days. That's because the banks need to dedicate time towards assessing your application. And since a pre-approval isn't a guaranteed payoff for them, pre-approvals are at the bottom of the priority list. Eligibility Letters don't have that limitation. Our internal credit team is lightning-fast - we can get your mock pre-approval done within 3 days if you give us the documents we need. There are still some situations where we need to do pre-approvals. For example, typically we would recommend that you get a pre-approval if you're planning on buying at auction, since it does provide a higher level of confidence of your loan being approved. However, in the majority of cases, an Eligibility Letter will be the best choice for you. During the information session, your broker will discuss the pros and cons of each approach and help you decide which way to go.

• It keeps your options open:

  An Eligibility Letter doesn't lock you into any particular bank. So if one of the banks or lenders announces a great new rate, you are free to choose them without the rigmarole of going through another pre-approval.

Other Useful Things to Know

• Free Valuations and Credit Reports

  We can order free, upfront valuations with some lenders before submitting your application. Ordering a valuation before applying for your home loan ensures that you have the best chance of getting your loan approved the first time. This helps to keep your credit file healthy by avoiding too many enquiries. Whenever possible we will order your valuations upfront.

  During our credit assessment, we will also review your credit report to make sure there aren't any issues. If you'd like a free copy of your credit file at any time, just let us know and we will send it to you.

• Priority Access

  Here's a little secret that you might not know: brokers get different levels of priority access to lenders based on the number of loans they send through. Think of it as something similar to your status with airlines or hotels: the more miles you fly or nights you stay, the more perks you get.

  Hunter Galloway has 'Priority Status' with many of the lenders on our panel. What does this mean for you?

  Faster approval times and access to special deals that aren't available to the public, or to smaller brokers.

• Our Fees

  Hunter Galloway gets paid a commission from the banks. That's why we are able to provide our service to you at no charge in most circumstances.

  But as they say, "there are no free lunches". We take on the burden of finding the right loan, making you're a good fit for the bank, and doing the work to put together your application. On average it takes us around 40 hours of work to complete each loan application.

  The banks are happy to pay us a commission because otherwise they would have to do all of that work themselves. And we're happy because getting paid a commission means we can offer our services to you at no charge.

  Rest assured that the amount of commission we are paid by the banks does not in any way influence our advice and recommendations to you. Our expected commission from the banks is clearly outlined in the Credit Proposal Disclosure document that we will give you as part of the application process.