Getting in to the market, page-82

Its good to see you have had a good experience with a mortgage broker. As a broker, I see many first home buyers make the classic mistake of going to the local branch of the bank they have all their accounts with. They think, just because I have a transaction account with them they know me and are most likely to give me an approval. Wrong. It doesn't make a difference unless you already have property and an existing mortgage with the bank. Banks thrive on this apathy.

I don't know why you wouldn't get more than one banks opinion if it doesn't cost you anything. ie brokers don't charge a fee. Going to a branch or calling your existing bank just gives you one banks opinion and most of the time they stuff it up because they are terrible communicators.