Simon Parker
LJ Hooker has rebranded its mortgage broker division and will commence opening dedicated ‘Home Loan Centres’ across the country, the company has announced.
The first outlet for the rebranded entity, LJ Hooker Home Loans, will open in early 2013.
“The LJ Hooker Home Loan Centres [will offer] owner-occupiers and investors a one-stop shop for their real estate finance needs,” said Georg Chmiel, LJ Hooker chief executive.
The announcement comes at the same time the real estate group switched suppliers for its ‘white label’ mortgage products, in a bid to attract greater market share.
The new supplier will be National Mortgage Company (NMC).
“For years LJ Hooker has been recognised as offering one of the lowest fixed rate home loan options to the market through our ‘white label’ LJ Hooker Home Loans product,” Mr Chmiel said.
“The market share of our product is significantly above the industry average, which shows how our finance specialists and real estate agents value the brand and how important the product offering is to our business.
“With NMC we will be able to enhance our white label program and further grow our market share.”
Peter Bromley, LJ Hooker head of finance, said the LJ Hooker white label program provided customers with a real alternative to standard bank service and products.
“This allows LJ Hooker Home Loan specialists to provide customers with a range of funding options under our brand and deliver customers superior service by providing a 12 hour turnaround time on their initial credit assessment,” he said.
LJ Hooker’s announcement comes not long after Victoria-based group Barry Plant launched its own mortgage broker division.
Other real estate groups with mortgage broker divisions include Harcourts Australia (Mortgage Express); Ray White (Loan Market); CENTURY 21 (CENTURY 21 Home Loans) and McGrath Estate Agents (Oxygen Home Loans).