The big banks quite often have the most competitive rates and products. When I bought my first I was adamant that I would not go with a big bank but as soon as I started looking into it in detail I soon discovered this would be an emotional not a financial decision and I went with a big bank.
For what it is worth, I am now with a none big 4 as they had the best rate/product, first time this has been the case for me in over a decade.
As for brokers, a good broker is priceless. You don't pay them anything, the commission structure is transparent and they do a lot of the work for you. Yes you can mostly get the same deal from the bank, but why would you?
Obviously you do your own "Compare home loans" search and make sure what they are suggesting really is the best deal, but then they handle all the applications, approvals, etc and generally make the whole process a lot easier. Also a lot of the deals I have got were not available in an online search.
In addition, my broker called me one day to tell me that a few of his new customers were getting a better deal from my big bank and he had negotiated for me to get the same deal. Saved an extra .25% that i would never have known I could get.
