Remortgage activity drive broker business in the face of supply and demand issues

With demand reaching record highs, and housing stock levels unable to keep up, competition is continuing to inflate house prices and bidding wars are driving up costs far beyond what properties are really worth.

This is contributing to growing frustration among mortgage brokers as increasing numbers of surveyors and lenders are contesting a property’s estimated valuation, resulting in house sales falling through. Moreover, it is not only prospective customers that brokers are losing out on, but a great deal of their time is lost, too.

These conditions make it increasingly difficult for brokers to generate new business. In periods where new business is slow, there are a couple of options available to brokers – the first is to capitalise on remortgages, and the other is exploring alternate revenue streams to ensure every available opportunity is maximised.  

“2022 is a bumper year for remortgages”

Sometimes the best thing a broker can do is to go back to basics and consult their ‘back book’. Through this, they can identify what remortgaging opportunities are coming up within their customer base. Luckily for brokers, this year they are spoilt for choice. 2022 is a bumper year for remortgages as 5-year fixes from 2017 and 2-year fixes taken out at the beginning of the stamp duty holiday in 2020 are due to expire. For the best chance to compete against lenders in the fight for remortgage business, brokers need to equip themselves with the right technology.  

Having the right technological capabilities can help brokers capitalise on remortgaging opportunities and drive a steady flow of business. With a CRM system, like finova CRM , brokers can automatically schedule and send a timely stream of personalised customer emails to clients throughout their current mortgage deal to utilise cross-selling opportunities and nearing its end using the inbuilt automation engine. These serve as a reminder to borrowers that their deal is almost at expiration and gives brokers the chance to reopen the conversation and advise on relevant products that their customers may be eligible for.  

By harnessing marketing automation tools like these, advisers can touch base with customers at key stages of their mortgage term and, when the time comes, prompt them to renew. This was historically a manual procedure, and one that was extremely time consuming and prone to human error, often risking the success of securing the refreshed deal. But with the right software, it is a far more seamless process.

Alternate revenue streams

In today’s challenging financial climate, with rates on the up and intermediaries having to cope with last minute product withdrawals, brokers should take the opportunity to maximise every opportunity available to them. If a customer is already close to completing a mortgage application through an adviser, it costs nothing to try and upsell some of the add-ons they can provide. For instance, adding protection & GI to products can help tide brokers over, and, crucially, help protect their property and ensure that customers can afford their payments if they lose their job, or become too sick to work.  

Brokers could also consider new loan product categories, such as commercial lending or business loans, so they can provide the same client with more solutions, or even attract new clients while remaining afloat.  

In an effort to extend the range of services that they provide, brokers can also choose to partner with a conveyancing firm. In this case, brokers could earn a commission for each purchase and sale referral, without having to conduct any extra work or financial backing.  

In times like these, it’s more important than ever to remember that the role of the mortgage broker doesn’t have to be limited to mortgage applications alone. It’s crucial that brokers look beyond their current capabilities to retain their competitive edge in what is becoming an increasingly fraught environment. From exploring remortgage opportunities, to devising a cross-selling strategy, there is no shortage of ways to maximise their value of advice for their client base while providing a better, more well-rounded service.