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A fun and accessible look into Hobart and Tasmanian Property with 4one4 Property Co. Real Estate Agents, Patrick Berry and John McGregor
Rhianna Farnan: Um, and
yeah, TikTok came up.
I was bored.
Yeah, so we thought about going on there.
It was never an idea of trying
to get business out of it.
I always liked the idea of just
doing it for education and fun.
First video I did.
It was literally just five things
you need before applying for a home
loan, and that's the one that got
the 700,000 views straight away.
Going, going twice.
Sold.
You're listening to The Property
Aaron Horne: Pod.
Alright guys, welcome back to The Property
Pod, your weekly engagement into real
estate here in the Hobart marketplace.
I am your host, Aaron Horne.
And sitting opposite me in someone
else's chair is Johnny Mack.
What's
John McGregor: happening mate?
I like it.
I'm just, you know, I just, I obviously
I'm not gonna be able to, it's gonna
be framed for Patrick's height.
Yeah,
Aaron Horne: don't worry.
I've, I've mo maneuvered it around
to, to fit your, your curly locks.
So all is good.
But yeah, you're sitting in Pat's seat.
Where is, where is Pat Vegas, I believe.
Vegas baby.
Yes.
Pat is, uh, not with
us in the studio today.
He is.
Um, growing his mind.
Yeah.
At, uh, the Inman um, conference.
I'm actually
John McGregor: glad he's going
'cause he missed it last time.
He loves the, loves that
Aaron Horne: conference.
He does.
He does.
And yeah, he's already been like
texting through all these things.
He's just like, oh, we should try this.
We should try this.
He's been there for a day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, yeah, he's, um, He's
over there kind of, yeah.
Learning from that.
I don't know if he took a mic or anything.
Last time he was there,
John McGregor: he took
that little thing I have.
Yeah.
Aaron Horne: Uh, not this time.
No.
So it's all just smack
bang business this time.
But, um, well Mike, he's got the
John McGregor: whole family
coming in to last time.
He was pretty much on his own.
Aaron Horne: Yeah.
It was just him and him
and Abby, I believe.
But yeah, this is sort
of different experience.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So they're having a blast over
there and we're here in the studio
and luckily we, uh, filled the
third seat with, uh, an amazing
John McGregor: guest.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
I'm really excited to have, um, re uh,
Rihanna from doing finance, isn't it?
Yeah.
Yes.
So, um, it's been, we had a
mortgage broker on for a long time.
Aaron Horne: We actually haven't
had a guest on for a red hot minute.
Yeah, yeah.
It's been, it's been few and far between.
Life's kind of been,
uh, getting in the way.
So yeah, it'd be nice to have someone else
in the studio to, to wax lyrical with.
We'll have to be on our best
behavior and try and, um, yeah.
Well I think
John McGregor: too, 'cause they.
They started their business, um, must've
been about seven or eight years ago.
Yeah.
Uh, it'd be, I'm really excited
to chat from, you know, a person
from like a, a younger person's
perspective in this space.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, I mean, in the end we're like
late thirties at this point, you
know, so, but then when you've got
other guests that are generally
speaking, you're associating in their.
Forties and fifties.
So it's a very different, um,
you know, dynamic of personality.
So yeah.
Aaron Horne: And just the way they're
kind of, kind of leveraging, um,
new media and, and kind of yeah.
To, to engage their clients.
TikTok is the thing that got us
together to, to have this conversation.
So it's quite amazing
that, um, yeah, that's how.
How our worlds are engaging
and, and colliding.
So what I might do is, uh, cut away to,
um, the conversation that we're gonna
have with, uh, Rihanna from ENT Finance.
Love it.
Awesome.
Well, guys, we are joined by a
special guest, uh, with us today.
We've got Rihanna F and from ENT Finance.
Uh, welcome to the Property
Rhianna Farnan: Pod.
Hello.
Thank you so much for having me.
I was so excited when you reached out.
Um, a few weeks ago to come on.
Yeah.
What?
So
Aaron Horne: very excited.
Yeah.
It's funny the way we kind of connected
was via TikTok, which um Yeah.
Is a, a strange thing to
say in this modern world.
I was so against kind of diving into
the world of it, it was actually
yourself who, um, got me into
TikTok, which is a funny thing.
Yeah.
Someone said who someone these
guys are doing finance are
doing, they're kind of taking.
Mundane or out of, um, finance
and, and making it fun.
So I, I jumped on, I was like, oh,
maybe I should be playing in this space.
So, yes, thank you for, uh, for,
for putting it out there and, and
bringing it to, to my attention.
So yeah, you're, you're
a TikTok star welcome.
Oh, thank you.
Well, let's not do that.
Um, do you want to kind of, uh, let
the listeners out there know a little
bit about yourself and, and kind of
do finance and, and hit us with, um,
everything that's happening in your world?
Yeah, no
Rhianna Farnan: problem at all.
So obviously my name's Rihanna, um, and
I'm one of the directors of DO Finance.
We've been around for
seven years in September.
Yep.
Congratulations.
That's great.
Yeah.
Which is, funnily enough, the
due date of our baby is the.
And of it like the opening
Aaron Horne: day.
You're joking, right?
Yeah.
Oh, wow.
Rhianna Farnan: Yeah.
So we might have two babies Yeah.
To celebrate on the same day.
Oh, that's amazing.
Um, but we are located in Hobart,
Tasmania, but we service Australia wide.
So we've got clients all over Australia,
which is really cool to be in little
to old Hobart and then have clients in
Darwin or WA, or, yeah, a hundred percent.
Um, so it's been really cool to
open up and have people everywhere.
Um, and yeah, it's myself and Emmanuel
and we have got seven staff now.
So we've got five mortgage brokers and
then we've got a couple of in-house, um,
settlements offices and an office manager.
Um, and we also have an
intern at the moment as well.
Um, so over the last 12 months we've
grown our team from three to seven.
Yeah.
John McGregor: Wow.
That's exponential growth.
Hey, like seven years and
then it was just you two.
Uh, and then to go from three to doubling
Rhianna Farnan: in four months.
Yeah.
It has been crazy.
We bought an office in the Hobart, C
B D thinking would be there forever.
And now Emmanuel and I don't have a
Aaron Horne: desk.
Yeah.
Wow.
So you're actually kind of outgrowing
your space just in that little period.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Amazing.
Yeah, it was
Rhianna Farnan: very exciting.
Aaron Horne: But kind of run us through
the, the philosophies and the, the
ideas of Don Finance and kind of how
you've gone from this tiny little
operator into kind of like, Hey,
we're making a bit of a splash here.
Rhianna Farnan: Yeah, for sure.
So we always wanted to, um, We, Emmanuel
and I worked as a team for a really
long time, so it was just the two of us.
Um, Emmanuel would do all the broking, I
would do all the customer communications.
Um, and then from there, really
we've just burnt ourselves
out, to be completely honest.
Yep.
It was something that
we couldn't do forever.
Um, and as the company's grown and we've
got a reputation for ourselves, we've
actually had people reaching out to us
to come as a mortgage broker themselves.
Okay.
Um, so that's really how we've grown.
And when you have someone approach you
to be a mortgage broker who's already
trained, you can't really say no
because there's not that many around.
No, no.
It's not a career that you just.
Leave school and go, I'm gonna
become a mortgage broker.
So, well, yeah.
Yeah.
Aaron Horne: I kind of wanted
to ask about how you kind of
found yourself into this space.
Like I've been listening to your
podcast and you mentioned, you know,
it's funny you mentioned, um, you've
got a degree that you don't use.
I trained to be a teacher.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Furthest thing from what I'm doing.
I didn't train for anything.
John McGregor: That's
why I'm really stucked.
Aaron Horne: But yeah, I just
kind of wondered how you kind of.
Found your way into, into this
Rhianna Farnan: and Yeah.
So Emmanuel had a, was working
for his family business.
Yep.
Um, so he was with them since he
was really young, decided that
he wanted to do something else.
His cousin was a mobile lender for a bank.
Yep.
Um, and he was seeing what he was doing.
He liked the idea of the being able
to get commission and earning money
that's not from a family business.
Um, and he really liked the
idea of writing home loans.
He was already really.
Interested in property as it was.
So he dived into that space.
Um, he then had a really good
opportunity a couple years later to
work in a real estate agent's office.
Okay.
Which is really cool.
Um, and then eventually as that was
picking up, the agency basically
said, you need to get someone to
help you, or, you know, you're not,
Going to be able to continue growing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was that awkward stage where
he couldn't really afford Yes.
To hire a staff member.
Um, I had a really good job at the time
I was doing marketing vicinity centers.
Yeah.
So our eastlands and Northgate.
Yeah, for sure.
Or like chadstone, things like that.
Um, And yeah.
So basically I came on to
work with him for two days.
It was planned to be while I was at uni.
Yep.
Um, and then it just never
Aaron Horne: stopped.
And then you keep going.
I know.
It's crazy.
It's even the same with my role here.
I jumped in, um, I ran
into Pat in a coffee shop.
He said, you still teaching?
I said, no, I've got a job for you.
I don't wanna sell real estate.
No, no, no.
Don't worry about that.
Got six months worth of photos for you
to take and then you're outta my hair.
Yeah.
Five years later, here we are.
Yeah.
Hundred 60 episodes of podcast.
Yeah.
It's
Rhianna Farnan: best thing I've ever done.
Like Yeah.
Same.
It's, it's so rewarding.
I love what I do.
Yep.
Um, I love, I don't just do,
like, I've never been interested
in numbers and things like that.
I'm very dyslexic, so the mortgage
broking space and doing the writing of
the deals, there's never been something
that I've been interested in, but I love.
Business and I love
marketing and I love growing.
Yep.
Um, and thinking outside of the box.
So that challenge for
me just kept me going.
The market's continually changing,
as you know, in real estate.
Um, so I love that.
It's never the same.
You've always gotta be
thinking differently.
Um,
Aaron Horne: yeah, I guess it's, it's
as you say, or you've said before
in your podcast that, um, you don't
use the degree that you've earned.
And I often think, oh, like,
I'm not using any of that.
But when you do translate it into,
like, I might not be teaching people
in a classroom, but I'm teaching
people things through here or Yeah.
All the skills that you have picked
up do lead over into the other place.
And as you say, like you're
really interested in marketing.
Your marketing is what kind of got
us, um, in touch with one another
through this idea of social media
and taking that to the next level.
How have you found, like leveraging
that into, like, do you feel like that's
one of the major things that's grown
Rhianna Farnan: finance?
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So obviously, um, as young mortgage
brokers, at the time when I got
into the industry, I was only 18.
Yep.
Um, Emmanuel was 22, so I.
It was really hard for us at the
start to gain trust in the community
because not everyone is going to trust.
Yep.
Well
Aaron Horne: how's this Yahoo gonna know
Rhianna Farnan: how to an 18
year old to do their mortgage.
Yep.
One of the biggest life things
that you ever going to do.
Yep.
Yeah.
And one of the biggest risks as well.
Um, so it was really slow
for us to start with.
We will get family and friends
and that type of thing come to us.
Um, but then it got to the stage
where we really just wanted to grow.
Um, and yeah, I had TikTok, it
started in 2020 during lockdown.
Yeah.
And I just thought I'd give it a go.
Um, and then, yeah, from there, the
first video got I think 700,000 views.
Wow.
And myself and Emmanuel were out
for breakfast and, um, Our phone
just kept ringing and ringing and
ringing and ringing and we had
to leave the breakfast because it
was just like, what is going on?
Yeah.
Like a dream overnight, um, with
all of the phone calls we received.
So from there, we've just been so lucky.
We've been able to hire, um, more mortgage
brokers, so we've now got five brokers.
Yep.
Um, and we provide all
of their leads to them.
They don't need to go out and
find their own business because it
all comes primarily from TikTok.
Aaron Horne: Yeah.
Yeah.
Isn't that amazing?
And it's this thing that's.
Like kind of, oh, that's
just for the kids.
Like that's just a silly thing
where people do dances and it's, it
John McGregor: actually legitimate.
Aaron Horne: Legitimate, yeah.
Has has grown your business
Rhianna Farnan: to this, this crazy level.
Yeah, and I think it hasn't
just helped us, it's helped
other mortgage brokers as well.
So now 70% of mortgages are
written by mortgage brokers.
Yep.
Um, and quite often as well, I'll have
people reach out to me and it just warms
my heart and they'll say, I've been
following you on TikTok for three years.
I didn't reach out to you because
I wanted to have a broker in-house,
but without you, I would've
never have gone to a broker.
I would've just gone to a bank as my
mom and dad would've told me to do.
Yeah.
And I would've never gotten a mortgage.
And so it's just so nice to hear that
not only I helping Dale and I'm also
helping people reach out to other
mortgage brokers around the country.
Yeah.
Indirectly
John McGregor: helping your industry.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Good.
What, what's, what was the, um, When you
started that originally, was the idea
being that you wanted to do branding
or was it more so about an education?
What was the angle that you guys had?
It was
Rhianna Farnan: more so that it
was just covid and I was bored.
That works.
That works.
Yeah.
And we found that we couldn't
grow on Instagram and Facebook.
Yeah.
Like other brokers have.
Yeah.
We've got a very, in Hobart,
we've got, we are very lucky with
the brokers we've already got.
Yeah.
So we've got a lot of experience,
um, and people that have been in
the industry for a very long time.
And so it's not that easy for someone
just to share your Facebook posts
about finance because they're already
committed to their mortgage broker.
So it wasn't easy for us to grow on there.
Um, and yeah, TikTok came up.
I was bored.
Yep.
So we thought about going on there.
It was never an idea of trying
to get business out of it.
I always liked the idea of
just doing it for education and
Aaron Horne: fun.
I was gonna say, one of
the things that I find.
Really interesting about it is that,
that it's providing that educational
service and Yeah, it's not just like,
let's just do this silly thing and
Yeah, I'm reading through and people are
constantly sending you through, like,
can you just gimme an idea of, I've got
two dependents, I've got this and that,
and your little things are popping up.
I'm just like, oh.
That's so interesting.
That's actually quite
similar to my situation.
Like I might have to reach out
and find out more about this.
Rhianna Farnan: So yeah, and the first
video I did, it was literally just five
things you need before applying for
a home loan, and that's the one that
got the 700,000 views straight away.
And I never, even, for the first two
years, I never put in, I didn't have
a link in the bio for a website.
Yeah.
I didn't tell people to reach out to us.
I just purely, it was.
Giving content about
education, about home loans.
Yep.
And people were just
organically reaching out.
And it's a free platform.
You don't have to spend any money.
No.
Using Google or Facebook or Instagram ads.
You are investing money.
But with TikTok, I'm just investing
five minutes of my day to film something
edited and post it and then comment back.
Aaron Horne: That's amazing.
Yeah.
That's super cool.
And look, it's obviously worked.
It's someone, yeah.
Told me to look you up.
And yeah, we've connected through
TikTok, so yeah, shout out to that
platform as a way of, yeah, making
actually organic, um, connections.
What,
John McGregor: what I find interesting
about that, he'd mentioned someone
had been observing that content
for a few years before they were
ready to make that commitment.
And I know when I first started in
this career, there was a guy who was an
exceptional operator, but in, like, in
he, he was about 30, but he looked 17.
He said the only way that you can
overcome that if you look young is
to have to jump through more hoops.
It's the only way that people, he
said you have to wear 'em down.
Um, the great thing.
Establishing yourself in that,
um, space was you, you, you
guys were great operators.
Um, but that allowed you to have that
credibility built over time so that
when the business started to flow
through, they did see you as an expert
and we're prepared to listen to you.
It wasn't like, oh, you're a kid.
You want my business,
what you can do for me.
You know, it's just like, Hey, you
came together as equals and were
then able to provide, you know,
show them hey, Actually, these
guys are great at what they do.
That's really interesting.
Rhianna Farnan: For sure.
When we started, we obviously
tried to win the cold calls and
the door knocking and the pamphlets
and all of that type of thing.
And it just didn't work because Yeah.
Of the age, um, and saying,
we are trying to hire staff.
People didn't wanna come and.
Work for us because of our age, but
now because we've got the resources
of having the face of do finance and
TikTok and um, that platform, it has
really grown where we have people
reaching out all the time asking how
they can get into mortgage broking
and also obviously clients as well.
Um, so it's grown our business not
only with clients, but also being
able to hire staff and grow a team.
It's so
Aaron Horne: funny, I've, I've probably
mentioned this on the podcast before, but.
Growing up, I remember it being
like, don't talk to strangers online.
Like don't go.
If you don't know who they
are, don't talk to them.
Where now it's like, oh, I want
to search out and find strangers
and I want them to help me.
It's a complete flip on it.
And as you say, like the letterbox
dropping and stuff seems so old hat when.
You can spend five minutes making
a tea or something, film it, pop
some information on it and yeah.
Boom, here we go.
Yeah, yeah.
We're gonna, um,
Rhianna Farnan: engage.
Yeah.
TikTok countless also become the
biggest search engine online Yeah.
As well.
So more people were searching on
TikTok for businesses and um, like
say you searching for a mortgage
broker, more people were now inclined
to go onto TikTok to search for
a mortgage broker than on Google.
Yeah.
Wow.
So, and on Facebook and Instagram.
So it's really important that, We're
so lucky that we jumped on that early.
Yeah, yeah.
We could get that reach.
Oh, well
Aaron Horne: I'm so glad that I Yeah.
Found that as well because yeah,
we're exploring in the space and yeah,
having some fun with this podcast is
actually really good content for Yeah.
Pumping on there sort of thing.
So yeah, our goal here at the Property
Party is to try and educate kind of
first home buyers and stuff as well,
and, and get young people into homes.
Yeah, we think we kind of align on that.
Mm.
I just wondered if we could go into
kinda like the three biggest, like
common mistakes or misconceptions people
Rhianna Farnan: have.
Yeah.
So the biggest misconception we are
seeing at the moment is listening
to people that aren't professionals
and taking on their advice.
Yep.
Like people on
Aaron Horne: TikTok.
John McGregor: Sorry.
Rhianna Farnan: Yeah.
Well if you're not qualified, then Yeah.
Um, but yeah, moms and dads and
I know, um, real life personal
experience is really important.
But when it comes to an area that you're
taking into consideration, your fi,
your, your income, it's not just about
yes and no, it changes for every person.
Um, we find that a lot of people will
speak to their friends and family
about getting a home loan and that
group advice like, oh, before you get
a home loan, make sure you go ahead and
get a credit card or a personal loan.
And so they do.
Yeah.
And then they finally come to a broker
and they say, oh, we got a credit card.
And it's like, well now
it's decreased your borrow
capacity by a hundred thousand.
Yeah.
So that's one of the
biggest misconceptions is.
Listening to mom and dad, and I know that
sounds funny and I know moms and dads
will try to do the best they can to help
their, um, children get into the market.
But it's really important.
Finance and getting a home loan and
that type of thing, it changes so much.
It changes.
The bank's policies change
every couple of weeks.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So from when they bought a house or even
when their friend bought a house and.
That type of thing.
The information changes all the
time, so yeah, making sure you
are speaking to a professional.
If you're going to speak to
family and they give you advice,
reach out to a professional first
and ask them if that's okay.
Yeah.
Most of the time, mortgage brokers don't
charge a fee for their services, so you
can reach out to them at any time and
ask for your, their opinion based on your
personal circumstances to see what they.
Think on the situation before
you go ahead and proceed.
Yeah.
Um, to make sure that you're
in the best position possible.
Um, the next misconception we
have a lot still, which is really
surprising, is that you still need
a 20% deposit to purchase your first
home when that's really not the case.
There's so many options out there.
You could use a guarantor if you are in
that lucky position where you do have
the option of having mom and ga dad
or your grandparents or an auntie use
their property as a security against
the property you are purchasing.
Um, and that way you don't need it.
Any deposit at all, which can
be really, really helpful.
Um, there's also schemes out there, like
the first home guarantee scheme where
you only require the 5% deposit and your
lender's mortgage insurance is waived.
Um, so there's lots of
different options out there.
If you wanted to still, if you're
not qualified for the first home,
First home guarantee scheme.
Then you can also look at using lender's
mortgage insurance as well, which I
know it sounds a bit like, oh, I don't
really wanna spend that money, but a
lot of the time the lender's mortgage
insurance is less than a 20% deposit.
So if you do go down that avenue,
you're probably going to get in
a house a lot quicker than if
you were to save that full 20%.
Is,
Aaron Horne: is that
the scheme now as well?
Where, um, like if your brother and
sister or something like that, you.
You can, like, it wasn't in, in
the past, you weren't able to Yeah.
Kind of get a mortgage
together, but now that's,
Rhianna Farnan: yeah.
So of the 1st of July, they
kind of revamped the scheme.
Yeah.
So it's been going on for three years
and personally it's our favorite
scheme, um, because the government
don't hold ownership over your property.
Um, once it's done, you never
have to think about it again.
Um, for us it's a really
simple process as well.
Um, but on the 1st of July, they
revamped it so you can now purchase
with a sibling or a friend.
Yeah.
Um, if you're a permanent
resident, you can now go under
the scheme where originally it
was only for Australian citizens.
And also the big one is if you owned a
property 10 years ago, so you haven't
held ownership over a property in the
last 10 years, you are now eligible for
the first home guaranteed scheme as well.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
Didn't know that one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So that's really handy for,
Aaron Horne: so say you were an
owner before and then you've been
in the rental market for 10 years.
Yep.
It's kind of, yeah.
Revamped back into, I'm
a first home buyer again.
Well,
John McGregor: I mean, gosh,
with the, the, the experiences
that we see with people, um,
over their lifetime is dramatic.
You know, you can have a catastrophic
relationship breakup in, you know,
in your early twenties, all that.
Um, all that wealth gone, and then
you try and find a way to, you
know, muster your way back in.
Um, only that you're just,
you can't compete anymore.
So I think that makes perfect sense.
And I think that for a lot of people,
I mean, I've had, um, you know, Guys
have been quite on our podcast before
saying, look, I'm a single mom.
I had this blah, blah, blah
before, but now I'm stuck.
You know, it, it just gives those
people the capacity to compete again.
Rhianna Farnan: Mm-hmm.
Well, single parent, so if you're a single
parent and you have held ownership over a
property 12 months ago, or six weeks ago,
but you no longer do, you can go through
the family home guarantee scheme and you.
You don't have a limit on when
you have owned a property before.
Um, so as long as you don't hold
ownership over your property, now you can
actually go through the single parenting
scheme and that's only a 2% deposit.
So that's really handy.
Mm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Obviously you don't get the help of
the stamp duty waiver or the first home
owner's grant or that type of thing,
but at least you've got the option
of just putting down a 2% deposit.
Like, like
Aaron Horne: this is, this is exactly
why we love having someone like yourself
on the show is like, you've got this
knowledge base of like, We'll cater
or tailor a service to your needs and
whatever you are after, we'll find a
way of making it work sort of thing.
Like even as you're saying that like, oh,
I know someone that, that would help out.
Like, and that's something
that I've no idea of.
And yeah, you can search it on, or
your mom and dad say, oh, you go to
the bank, that's where you get a loan.
Like, no, these people will Yeah.
Be able to help you out.
Yeah.
Can I go back to, you were saying
like the policies and stuff.
Might change week to
week from the um, banks.
How are you kind of keeping
abreast of, are they like giving
you the information and being
like, heads up, this has changed.
Yeah.
Rhianna Farnan: So it is something that
we as brokers have to be on top of.
Yeah.
'cause if you're not, yeah, you
can make a huge, you're not giving
your best service to a customer.
Yeah.
Um, and you've also got the risk
of submitting an application to
a lender that no longer accepts.
Yeah, those, those conditions and stuff.
So, um, we constantly have
got webinars with our lenders.
Um, we have our bank, b d m, so
they're like bank managers that
will come into the office and
talk to us about what's changing.
Email communication.
Yeah.
Um, just on their portal as we're
making sure that we're reviewing
the policy as much as possible.
John McGregor: Yeah.
Well, the, well, I guess
that one thing I find it.
It's interesting because we, from
our perspective, we obviously are
usually distrusted from the onset.
It is, it is what it is.
Um, luckily enough, once you can break
down that barrier to a client, then
they're willing to listen to you.
Most of the introductions that we try
and make actually to try and make their
life easier, and it's been interesting.
In this probably the current climate last
couple of years where most people have
generally reached out to a bank first.
Mm-hmm.
Um, but it's hard to
break through that thing.
Maybe you should try and
seek some alternative advice.
'cause it sounds to me that you are making
a lot harder on yourself than you need to.
Uh, and that's the thing I find with,
um, brokers, is that you, it's not a,
uh, Loyalty to any one particular stream.
Like there's not only, you've only got
four products and that's all you can do.
Let's open you up to 50
possibilities and see if we can
make this work for you sometime.
You know?
Which to me is, makes perfect sense.
And I, I think I find too people, I.
Don't actually realize
that that's the case.
Rhianna Farnan: Hmm, exactly right.
And we have it happen constantly where
people will communicate and say, oh look,
I went to the bank that my mom and dad
go to because that's the one they wanted
me to go to, but they said I couldn't get
a loan and it was really disheartening.
So I gave up.
Yeah, like, well, You actually fit
the criteria for a lot of lenders.
It's just a bank that you are
going to, you don't, yeah.
Their rules didn't,
their rules don't apply.
They don't specialize in guarantor
loans or they don't specialize in
the first home guarantee scheme.
So that's not an option available.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, they might have high interest rates.
And going back to one of the
common misconceptions that,
um, speaking about before Yeah.
Is that, yeah, if you go to a
bank, That's your only option.
Yeah.
They're not going to go and
tell you the next door have
a better interest rate tool.
John McGregor: Well, they
could make it work for you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's like, sorry, you're done.
Come back to us with more money.
Rhianna Farnan: Yeah.
So that happens quite frequently
where they've gone to one
bank and they've given up.
Yeah.
Aaron Horne: They said, no, it's done.
Yeah.
My dream's over.
Yeah.
It's like, oh no, we've actually
got 25 different doors here
that you could travel through.
Yeah.
Rhianna Farnan: Come and Exactly right.
Let us unlock them.
A lot of the time, like if there's
overtime involved, some lenders won't
take into consideration overtime.
Yeah.
Where some lenders will take 80% of
your overtime as part of your income.
Yeah.
Some lenders won't take,
going back to single parents.
Some lenders won't take child support
payments or family tax benefits or others
will up to a certain age for a child.
Yeah.
Um, so yeah, going and speaking
to a broker is a really good
option if you ask someone that.
Would prefer, like if you're someone
that's really on top of everything
and loves doing your own research and
would prefer to be involved every step
of the way, yeah, then that's when
you'd probably reach out to a lender.
But if you're somebody that you.
Want to make You don't have time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Personally, I, if I wasn't doing
my job, I wouldn't have time to
reach out to 45 different lenders
to see what all options are.
No, exactly.
Yeah.
Um, and I wouldn't have time
to research them as well.
So
John McGregor: this is an odd segue, but
my partner's got really into that show.
The Good Doctor I.
Okay.
Yeah.
And the premise of that is this,
this doctor's autistic, so Yes.
I love that show.
Right.
Yeah.
So last night there was one that was,
we're watching and one of the fathers
and a daughter had been in hospital
her whole life, like they were onto it.
He was really onto it.
And so he was in the, um, the
wall room, you say, coming
up with different solutions.
And he came up with this, like thought
digging into this information, but
his, his ideas were wrong and they, um,
uh, What he, what they then followed
what he wanted 'cause he wouldn't
approve a different surgery, you
know, complicated things dramatically.
And then later on though, they,
the, the good doctor was able
to resolve it and then his ideas
meshed and it was all great.
And the reason why I use that as
an example is that we can think
that we are experts, but the rea,
like he just said, you are not
a doctor, like, you know, a lot.
You're not a doctor, so it's
that thing you, you're still
not working in the day to day.
And so we can bring a lot of our
knowledge and think, and I think once
you know a little bit is that that's
when you think you're an expert and
you can get yourself in trouble.
So it's that thought where you.
Going in, going, look,
I know what's right.
I know what's best.
It's like, yeah, but how many loans
have you written in the last 12 months?
Yeah.
Aaron Horne: Faking it
till you're making it Yeah.
In that scenario is probably
not the way to go about it.
John McGregor: Yeah.
So then you can lock yourself
into what you think is right.
Realizing that only two degrees
of separation away was a much
better solution for you as well.
Yeah.
So what happened to
the patient in the end?
She survived.
So the, but lucky enough,
both ideas 'cause the, the,
the good doctor he, he, he.
He went into his autistic mode, which
is legitimately how they phrase it.
It's silly.
But then he sees this three D
like thing come up in his head
and they, it was, it was all good.
Um, but the thing is, I guess
if we're to bring it back to
grounding, sorry about Rena.
Now you know how mine works.
Um, the, but the thing is that all
they would need to do is go, could you,
this is my situation, can you help me?
It's like, and boom, you've
got all that years of research
across all these different, um,
levels of what could be possible.
And all of a sudden you're gonna
open up 10 different doors where they
thought there was only one, even when
they thought they were the expert.
And that's how I always view,
um, working with great people is
that they will, they, they, they,
their interests are aligned with
Rhianna Farnan: yours.
Mm-hmm.
And one of my favorite things about
growing a team now and having a.
Of experts when it was
just myself and Emmanuel.
Now we've got a team as if we have a
scenario with a client and it might
be a little bit more challenging
and we're not sure who to put them
through, we'll all come together
and we'll discuss it together.
Yeah.
And bring all of our ideas together.
You got a brains trust of people.
Yeah.
And it's so awesome to see like
a team normally in an industry
where it is quite, um, singular.
Um, and yeah, it's just so nice to see
our team coming together and putting
together a scenario to help a client out.
Yeah.
John McGregor: Looking at the year.
So you were start around
about 2017, is that right?
Yeah.
So with that, we were coming into a
market that was absolutely booming.
Obviously now we're shifting, so
things are getting, um, harder
for lack of a better term.
What's that been like for
you as the business now?
What are you needing to do and what
conversations you're having as people's?
Um, expectations have changed.
Rhianna Farnan: Yeah, for sure.
So we're seeing a lot more
people needing a lot more help.
Originally, back when we started
it was a lot, oh, awesome.
This is what I can get.
I'm happy with this.
I'm ha I can buy a house for this amount.
Yeah, yeah.
Now it's.
They ask for a certain price and a lot
of the time it's like, hang on, we've
gotta draw back those expectations.
But also the property
prices are really high.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, interest is higher than it was.
Yeah.
Interest is high as well.
And it's a lot of, um, people coming to
us and saying, oh look, we wanna buy a
house, but we know the mark is not ready,
so we should wait, and things like that.
But it's always coming back to that.
The market is always going to up and
down and change, but your situation of
when you can buy houses, Gonna be there.
So buying when you are ready and
when you've got the opportunity to
over buying when the market's ready.
Because as we've seen with Covid,
that was when the market was ready.
And the whole world changed.
And then the whole world
changed a couple years later.
So, and those people who bought
then are probably not ready now.
So
Aaron Horne: yeah, a great circle of life.
John McGregor: I, I, I think that message
is so, um, important is we, I got an email
from a client that was saying, oh, should
we, um, basically, should we sell now?
My question is, well, what are
you gonna do with that money?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's the same with, well, when should
I buy or when it's suitable for you.
Because it's very few people that are
actually masters of picking a market.
The rest are all lucky.
Yeah.
And it's that, again, the, the cliche
of the, your, your friends or your
family going, well, oh mate, oh,
there's money's like, mate, you have
no idea what you're talking about.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
Um, so is that a message to you?
Is it your finding that.
No matter what it is, you're just
trying to get them set up and then
letting them decide for when's
Rhianna Farnan: right.
Yeah.
When the right time is for them.
Obviously, you could be ready
now, but when the market's ready,
you could have had another child.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
So you borrowing capacity
drops or, um, your, you need to
have more savings because the
grants aren't available 'cause.
They reviewed every 12 months.
So it's just really important's to
make sure that you're working together.
Um, and that's one thing we try
to do with our clients as well.
If they've reached out to us now and
they're not quite ready because they don't
have the savings or their income's lower,
it's making that plan to get them to where
they want to be in 12 months, two years,
three years time to be able to purchase.
But then it's also making sure as
a broker, that we are communicating
with that client every three
to six months to make sure that
their scenario hasn't changed and.
Um, not falling behind where they
need to be in the next three years.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, or two years or whatever it is.
Or maybe they're more ahead of
where they thought they would be.
So maybe they've got more,
they can move up the timeline
Aaron Horne: too.
Yeah, yeah,
John McGregor: yeah, for sure.
We see it on a practical level where
they'll go, look, I've got seven
days until my, uh, my thing expires.
Like, mate, just relax.
Like, this is not exactly
how it works that way.
And yeah, you're completely
missing the point.
Um, the, it's a constant.
Negotiation and conversation
with your mortgage broker.
Just 'cause the of approval
loses it in three days basically.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but
really doesn't matter much.
Rhianna Farnan: It's just we're actually.
Less and less pre-approvals happen
because they don't really mean much with
interest rates changing all the time.
Mm.
Um, so a lot of the time we're just
checking with our clients to make
sure that their borrow capacity
hasn't changed with the interest rates
increasing, um, and making sure that
they're still on the right point.
So when they do find a property, they.
They're still able to purchase for the,
what they're wanting to purchase for.
Um, and then they're not getting
to the stage where they get the
contract and then they realize that
their borrow capacitys changed.
We've
John McGregor: blown up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that, um, actually, well that,
that's an interesting, um, scenario.
So if you are a buyer that you just, just
left your office one day ago and they're
like, they're really excited to go out
into the market, what would be, um, as a
race out the door, what's often you, you
know, almost like you'd try to grab 'em by
the neck and just go, Hey, sorry, wrong.
You know, grab 'em by the shirt.
And just remember this, what
would that thing you'd say to
'
Rhianna Farnan: em be?
I always try to tell them that your
maximum borrowing capacity is this.
But don't, don't rely on that.
Don't rely on that.
Yeah.
Don't go that high.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Um, obviously as brokers we need
to say what their maximum borrowing
capacity is, but we also try to get
them to draw it back a little bit so
they've got that common ground of if
they have an emergency and they need
to get additional funds or they need to
buy a new car, or, it is very common.
You buy a house, you want a new
car, then you get pregnant, and
then you go on maternity leave.
And it all just builds up.
So it's really important to make
sure that they're not rushing.
Um, again, on the rushing, we have
a lot of people come to us, they get
their preapproval, they're so excited.
I'm gonna buy us and I'll buy anything.
Yep.
I'll take it.
They can get their hands on them.
For some people they need to 'cause they
don't have the luxury of leaving at home
or they need to get out of their rental.
Um, so some people do need to rush.
But when you don't need
to rush, don't rush.
Yep.
Aaron Horne: I love that.
Yeah.
Great tip.
Yeah.
Yep.
Can we, can we have like maybe one or
two more tips before we, um, before
we sign off with the show today?
Mm-hmm.
Just kind of, um, yeah, don't rush.
Rhianna Farnan: I think my next tip would
be having a really good team behind you.
So having that really good mortgage
broker or your lender, um, For you.
Yep.
Having a really good conveyancer.
Obviously it can be a little bit harder
with real estate agents, um, but if
you've got a really good agent, You're
working with that can help you secure,
secure a property that you trust.
Yep.
Um, just having that team of people around
you that, you know, you can reach out to,
Aaron Horne: man, you go out
to get on like a house on fire.
John McGregor: Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, it's, it's interesting, you
know, like I've been really toying
with the idea of branching up
into, moving into, um, a buyer's
agent, um, option for our business.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, because the, it is a reality that, you
know, um, You know, the incentive changes.
'cause obviously an agent's
gonna be getting paid by the
owner, not by the, by the buyer.
Um, but I don't think that's,
there's some really good buyer's
agents in Hobart at the moment.
I think though, generally speaking, it's
a very under or misunderstood, um, Field.
And also too, the buyers go, I'm not
gonna pay a guy to do that work for me.
But again, it's about building in that
value where it can negotiate a, a better
deal, a better strategy to, to marry
with what the broker has advised for you.
Yeah.
Um, so it can be service
Rhianna Farnan: and it's another
person that you can help.
We are very lucky with some of the
buyer's agents we have in Hobart.
Um, but a lot of them
are for the higher end.
Yes.
Or the investment end.
We don't have that many for the
first home buyer, um, educational.
Side.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So yeah, it is definitely a market that
John McGregor: JMac maybe, well, it's
something we can say, but I guess your
horses, the, the reality is though is
that, um, there's a commercial aspect
to it because if, um, providing the, um,
advice and time is really beneficial.
No one wants to pay your money.
Yeah.
And ultimately you can
only provide that service.
You've got the capacity to earn.
Which makes it very,
very difficult, you know?
So, um, but that's something
we, I, I've really been thinking
about a lot we'd love to build in.
Um, but obviously, um, the market
needs to see that value as well.
Mm-hmm.
You know, a hundred percent.
It's challenging.
Aaron Horne: Alright.
Um, one more tip, I just, I
John McGregor: just so
there's something missing.
You just need that one more.
I
Aaron Horne: just want that one more tip.
I
Rhianna Farnan: think reaching out
to a broker at the very first start
of your journey is really important.
Um.
Even if you think you're three
years away, we have clients that
we've been working with the whole
seven years that we've been open.
Okay.
Um, and that's really important
because if you don't have a broker,
you don't know where to start.
Yeah.
You don't know what your borrowing
capacity is, so you don't know what
you need to save as your deposit.
You dunno what.
Um, you, yeah.
So reaching out to a broker at the
very first stage, understanding
your needs, understanding
your partner's needs as well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And having that broker, you can
really have that conversation.
A lot of the time as brokers, we feel
like counselors, um, and like life
advisors because we are getting that plan
together to get them in place to be able
to buy a house when they're ready to.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, and we can also, you know, get.
Sorry, I'm probably not making much sense.
No, no problem.
When you're speaking to a mortgage
broker, you also get that understanding
of what is available to you as well.
Yeah.
So reaching out to a broker as your
first step, even if you don't think
you're ready for the next five years.
It doesn't hurt to speak
to a broker straight away.
As you were
Aaron Horne: saying that, I was just
kind of like, yeah, rather than just
thinking of it as this like transactional
relationship of like, I need the
thing right now, I'm going to get it.
It is like, well, let's build this
relationship and work out what you
need, whether it's two years from
now or three years from now, or
seven years you've had these clients.
It's like, I trust Ray and
the team at, um, Mont Finance,
like they've got me covered.
Mm-hmm.
And they're gonna yeah, keep
me informed across the journey.
So yeah, that's actually
Rhianna Farnan: really handy.
It's really sad after you deal with
a client for a couple years and then
they buy the house and you're only
check in with them every six months
instead of every couple of weeks.
That's, that's how
John McGregor: it works.
So it's really, it's
really surreal, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I, I really like that point because,
The, as you said, people think these
relationships are transactional.
Well, no, part of it is a
transaction at some point in time.
Um, but if you were, you know,
like the first thing that I got
was a credit card, you know, but
I didn't have that information.
That's just
Aaron Horne: lower borrowing
capacity by a hundred thousand.
That's, so it's, it depends on the,
John McGregor: no, I mean,
like when I'm 18, you know, so
it's that thing where I do too.
Yeah.
Like the first person you speak with will.
Build a relationship with some
people about that can give you some
points for your future, and it's like
you may never want to buy a house.
That's fine.
But these are the options.
And if that's something that's
inter important to you, let's have
that conversation today knowing
that nothing will come about for
three to five years potentially.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, and then the thing is, it's,
um, you know, it's, it's on you, you
are happy to build that relationship.
Rhianna Farnan: Yeah, for sure.
And, uh, every broker we speak to in
Hobart, like we talk about it all the
time about building relationships,
and every broker's the same.
They're happy to speak with a client
for a couple of years before that.
Transaction happens because a lot of the
time, and I know we get a bad wrap as
mortgage brokers, that we're dodgy and
we try to do things just to make money.
Yeah, yeah.
But I've really seen a
shift in the industry.
And a lot of the time we actually
care more about you being
in a good position Oh yeah.
To be able to buy a house Hundred
percent than anything else.
Yeah.
Aaron Horne: I think the, the
growth of your, of your business
in the seven year period is just a
testament to that, to say that like,
oh no, we're, we're the good guys.
We're not like, kind of Yeah.
Just kind of come around the back and
we'll throw a loan at you and Yeah.
Yeah.
We'll, we'll sting you for all you got.
Rhianna Farnan: So, yeah.
And I couldn't sleep at night.
I'm sure not many people
could sleep at night.
And for me, and I dunno if it's my age,
but the rap that the mortgage broking
industry gets, I've never met a broker.
Three falls under that
John McGregor: category.
Yeah.
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, well, same with our industry, you know?
Yeah.
Um, generally speaking,
we're all nice people
Aaron Horne: just trying to get by.
Exactly.
Awesome.
Well, I think we might wrap it up
there, but thank you so much for
coming in and having a yarn list.
My pleasure.
It's been a hoot.
Um, for the people out there that,
um, aren't following you on TikTok,
how else can they kind of Yeah.
Connect with Do
Rhianna Farnan: want finance?
Yeah.
So you can go through to our TikTok.
All of our, um, social medias are the
same, so it's just at Do Want finance.
Yep.
Um, and our website's do want
finance at com au for sure.
So pretty simple.
It's all in the same thing.
Yeah.
Yep.
Aaron Horne: Awesome.
Well, yeah, again, thank you.
And um, yeah, congratulations on
seven years and, and it would be
so amazing if Bub comes out on
the, the birth of the business.
That would be, that would just be amazing.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Good luck with that.
Good luck you with that adventure
beyond, um, yeah, motherhood
is, parenthood is, yeah.
The best adventure.
I've, I
John McGregor: remember growing up
in my parents' office, so if you
guys don't have a desk as it is, you
are gonna need some bigger premises.
Rhianna Farnan: Yeah.
Yeah.
Aaron Horne: Awesome.
Thanks Ray.
Thank you.
Beautiful.
You have been listening to The
Property Bod, recorded and edited
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with 4 1 4 property code.
John McGregor: This podcast is
general information only, and
the thoughts and views expressed
is the opinion of our panel.
And listeners
Rhianna Farnan: should always seek
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ensure they fully understand their
John McGregor: own situation.
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