The Property bubble is collapsing.  Property is going to skyrocket.  The Brisbane market is dead.  Brisbane is set for a boom.

Ok - I'm confused!

There are all of these talking heads trying to predict the market, each contradicting what the other is saying.  It's the same with the future of broking - I've seen articles telling me that the mortgage broking industry in Australia is a dead duck and then others telling me that it's a wonderful time to be in the business.

When you stop and think about it, regardless of the pedigree of the author - these articles are really the opinions of the author - none of us have a crystal ball.  I know that many of these articles will quote statistics, trends and forecasts, but again, those figures are subject to interpretation - I should know as I spent some time working as Business Analyst for a bank - the figures will say what you influence them to say.

So my advice to my clients is this.  When you buy property, have a clear understanding of why you are buying. 

Is it a return on rental yield - if that's the case then weigh up the purchase and holding costs vs the rental yield and if these figures make sense then buy. 

Are you buying for capital growth?  If so then plan for the long term and be delightfully surprised if the market moves quicker in the short-term.

But, whatever you do, don't buy a property with the mindset that it will double in price in 2 years.  Yes, this has happened in the past, and yes it MAY happen again in the future but don't base your investment strategy upon this unless you have some brilliant information about the demographics of the area you are buying in (for example paying $60k for a house in Dirranbandi knowing that a mine employing 5,000 people will be starting there in a years time, driving up the demand for local properties.

I'm seeing many brokers diversify into Insurance and other areas in an effort to prop up their income streams.  I think that's a great idea, provided you don't spread yourself so thinly that your service gets diluted.

When a client sees a broker, they should be receiving more than just a product recommendation.  You as a trained finance professional should be analysing the clients needs and the structure of the transaction, investigating the suitability of the transaction across the various lenders credit policies, recommending a product and lender and then assisting the client by preparing and completing the application.

In doing all of this you are applying not only your knowledge of products etc, but your acquired knowledge of the structuring of lending and the policies and procedures of the various banks.  This knowledge base is more than that supplied by a Certificate IV, a Diploma or even a degree.  It is amassed over time, through experience and also through your network of colleagues within the industry.  There are some broker models which rely heavily on software and less on the broker knowledge - these models allow a broker with a 2 week course under their belt to sit in front of a client, punch some info into a software program and within the space of an hour delivery a recommendation.  These models don't focus on the brokers expertise, but rely on the system and any experienced broker will tell you that there are so many variations to transactions that no software could replace the expertise of an experienced broker.

But what about the new to industry broker I hear you ask?  How do they provide this service.  Again, if the broker (regardless of their level of experience) takes the time to sit with the client and analyse their situation and then explains to the client that they will then need a day or two to do their research - this then allows the "green" broker to methodically research information and discuss the scenario with their mentor, colleagues and BDMs.  Then when they return to the client they will provide them with a full solution rather than the cheapest rate that the system recommends.

It's for this reason that I'm a firm believer in a fee for service model and this is why I also believe that for a finance broker, insurance and the other add-ons should be on a referral basis rather than another full advice model.  Take the time to specialise and offer your clients a full service.

As a broker mentor I'm continuously asked the question about who to use for creating websites for brokers.

I always ask in return "Why do you want a website?"

Most new brokers are convinced that a well made website will bring business to their door.  With very rare exceptions I can tell you that it doesn't.

Pause for a second and think about what happens when a prospective borrower goes onto Google and starts looking for a broker or a home loan.  First up will be the "Pay per Click" or sponsored ads - in that arena you're competing not only with the major franchises with very deep pockets, but you're also competing directly with all of the banks.

It's the same for the Google results, these same competitors have whole teams devoted to Search Engine Optimisations (SEO) making sure that they're websites are always at the top of the searches.

There are also plenty of firms offering SEO services for anything ranging from a couple of hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.  Yes, these can be effective ways of lifting your web profile but please be very careful about how you spend your money - it's a very competitive market and your $10k SEO spend is a drop in the ocean compared to what the big boys are spending on promoting their sites.

My personal advice - spend as little as possible on your actual website - enough to provide an information page and a contact you page - and then spend some serious time getting your business listed on all of the free business searches as well as a business Facebook page.

It's really up to the individual.

It's a glorious day here in Brisbane, the sun is shining and tonight the Maroons will win the State of Origin.  That will make it 6 years in a row.

Of course NSW have kept up their side of the game by turning up to every game.

That's like broking at the moment, sometimes when times can be tough - it's important to just keep on turning up and staying in the game.  It's all about stamina.

But, it's also important to review your business and look for ways to improve upon your business model.  Just like the Blues should look at their game and try something different.

But they're still not going to win tonight.  Queenslander!

We're proud to announce that Ian Cook, one of our Queensland brokers has made it into the top finalists in St George Banks, BrokerIQ contest, a contest designed to highlight Australia's brightest brokers.  Ian will be travelling to Sydney to compete as one of the 6 finalists after the first 2 preliminary rounds of the competition narrowed the field from the 1,000 brokers who competed.  Well done Ian! http://www.sterlingpublishing.com.au/all-news/53-top-brokers-one-step-closer-to-10000-prize