Those dreaded words every man fears were uttered last week….. “I think we should take a trip to IKEA to pick up a few bits”… The mind instantly moves to flashing images of huge crowds of people, being ushered through a winding path like consumer cattle, pawing at soft furnishings and light fittings which at some point you’ll get round to using.

After the relentless displays of “how your house could look” you are faced with the smaller items, which at 59p seem a bargain but when you’ve picked up 50 photo frames, 10 sets of cutlery, 9 wine glasses and 7 bonsai trees it isn’t such a bargain anymore. After the “everyday items” section you are then herded through to the “larger item” warehouse pick up.  This is where you now have to find and select your flat pack boxes from the scrawled digits on the tiny scrap of paper. Now to be fair, the warehouse could be a nightmare as there are stacks and stacks of flat pack cardboard from floor to ceiling. But one thing which our Swedish retailers have done well is made their packaging understandable, legible and easy to follow, making the completion of your purchase nice and simple. 

The same can be said of packaged business in the bridging and commercial world.  The introducing financial intermediary can really help any application complete quickly and efficiently by ensuring their application submission is of quality.  As with most commercial and bridging applications, there will be some items which are required before the application can complete. If the intermediary can package these items working in partnership with the lender’s requirements it will only lead to a win, win, win situation. 

It is important that when packaging a case all the different elements are brought together in order for the end result to be as intended. What would the consequences be if there isn’t an accurate valuation? How could we proceed without the signed documentation? Now these lender required items will depend on the level of involvement each lender will allow their intermediaries. For example, some lenders will instruct their own valuation or they will complete their own income checks.  Having a full picture from day one of a client’s situation and required resolution is paramount in a world where quick financial transactions are of the essence.  To allow a lender to review, agree and issue terms of business based on a clear and well packaged case will always lead to a quicker completion.

At Lancashire Mortgage Corporation we are actively encouraging all our intermediaries to take control of the client and the processing of the application to achieve the quickest and most efficient completion possible.  We have recently updated our processing manual called the iDeal Pack; this is a step by step guide to our lending requirements and what our intermediary partners need to complete an application.  This guide is now clearer than ever on how each component relies on the others to function and the domino effect that would occur if one were to fail.

Failure, however, is never an option in the IKEA jaunt; the only light at the end of this shopping hell is the café and food area, the place where you can eat your own weight of meatballs and Daim bar cake.  However before you leave you are faced with the enduring task of fitting your purchased items into the car… drop the seats in the back, open the sunroof, flatten the passenger seat and remove the windscreen, it will fit!! And we will be doing this in only one trip!