B&C hop on board with Precise in Birmingham

B&C hop on board with Precise in Birmingham




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On 21st November, Precise Mortgages kicked off a two week bus tour on a self-styled mission to help intermediaries regain market share in a high street bank-dominated mortgage market. Bridging & Commercial joined the bus in Birmingham to hear what Precise had to say to the broking community.

The marketng campaign has attracted a fair amount of attention from both the mainstream press and the industry on its 14 day stint, with brokers attending free hour-long seminars on the top deck of a 1966 Routemaster bus, kitted out with Precise advertising, at stops from Glasgow to Manchester to London.
While the tour was not explicitly geared to sell Precise products, as an entirely intermediary-led business the company does have a vested interest in helping brokers, as Managing Director Alan Cleary stated in his opening remarks. He added, “Consumers should know their options and brokers can really help them to discover all the routes available.”

For some consumers, companies that deal solely with intermediaries could be the answer. Precise, unlike the majority of high street lenders, have no shortage of funds and are actually struggling to lend the money they do have. Yet despite their stringent requirements for the deals they are willing to offer, Precise will consider mortgages and secured lending facilities to those with a certain number of CCJs to their name.

As such, Precise are using the tour to drive activity in the intermediary market, encouraging consumers to get in touch with their mortgage broker and urging brokers to pick up the phone and contact potential clients.
 

At the beginning of the session, Roger Morris, Sales Director at Precise, asked brokers to consider: "How many orphaned clients are wandering the streets that could have access to brokers?"  In the last few years, the recession has seen the financial and property markets change considerably - a situation that Roger believes will open up opportunities for brokers in 2012.

Many consumers that prior to the recession had little difficulty in securing mortgage finance from their high street bank are now struggling to get access to funds. Now, says Roger, is the perfect time to contact these high quality borrowers and help them to find the funding they need: "We need to start communicating positively with our customers again because if you don't work your client bank, someone else will."

However, in 2012 the mortgage market looks set to remain flat, staying at a level similar to 2011. In order to seize opportunities and grow their client books, brokers "need to look at growth areas and diversify" and this, says Roger, is how bridging can become an attractive addition to a broker's arsenal.

"Bridging is the most dynamic lending available," Roger explained in his educational presentation, "and it is short term funding that can set you apart from prime mortgage brokers." As a product that requires a great deal of specialist knowledge but one that can offer a perfect alternative for some borrowers caught in less than straight-forward situations, bridging can both attract and keep customers on a broker's book, helping customers who are, for instance, struggling to receive finance on a technicality, despite a good credit rating.

"In January 2012," Roger explained, "the UK is looking at the highest inabilty of self employed people to pay their annual tax bill." This is a difficult situation for borrowers, as high street banks will not remortgage for the purposes of a tax or VAT bill. What borrowers can do is take out a bridging loan to pay the bill and then remortgage with their provider to consolidate debt against a first of second charge loan. "Having helped a client in a difficult situation such as this, you can instill confidence in your service and form a strong relationship with them."

 

 

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