Mortgage Choice Bowral director Josh Sullivan talks mortgage stress

He's urging residents currently experiencing mortgage stress to reach out and "have the conversation" before it's too late.

"It's so important at the moment that people come and talk to us," Mr Sullivan said.

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"There's horrific stories that we hear on a weekly basis about the pressures of what happens when people are at the end of their tether.

"Don't let it get to that. Come and have a chat and we'll be able to say categorically if there's a chance there to save some money," he said.

Buying a house is one of the most stressful things you can do in life and Mr Sullivan started Mortgage Choice in Bowral for this specific reason.

"The mortgages that people have has such an impact on the way they live their lives," he said.

"It's got an impact on your relationship with your kids; with your partner; with your friends down town. My whole thing is making sure that people have the best deal available for them.

"I can take the stress of monthly mortgage payments out of someone's hands. Let us worry about it; let us fight for you to get the best rate available," Mr Sullivan said.

He's been able to save people $100 a week or a couple of thousand dollars per month "time and time again".

"We've got people that are coming in who are paying between six and eight per cent interest, today," Mr Sullivan said.

"Sometimes it's a few phone calls and we can get it down; sometimes it's a little bit of work to potentially move to another lender, but there's still relatively cheap money available for people."

As a mortgage broker it's Mr Sullivan's job to look at a person's individual requirements and then match them to one of the 40 different lenders he deals with.

Those lenders range from the big four banks ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank Australia and NAB to second tier lenders like Macquarie Bank and St George.

"We look at what they need and what their current circumstances are and take those and find the appropriate lender for them," Mr Sullivan said.

"Some lenders won't look at things like family tax benefits; some lenders will want to see two or more years financial information for self-employed people; some lenders will want to see six months worth of work history; some only want to see one pay slip."

Mr Sullivan has found that many people go to their bank for a loan simply because they've banked with them their whole life "since they were a kid".

"But the bank won't give them any money," he said.

"If I'm self-employed and had a really bad financial year in 2021 but my financial year in 2022 is really great, some lenders are going to look at both of those years together while others will average them out.

"Some will do some math and they'll say that FY21 was that bad that it's not making up for FY22 so 'no money for you' but other lenders will pick it up and find that last financial year was great and therefore ask no more questions."

Mr Sullivan's job is to link the person to the right lender according to his client's financial information.

"I'm very much a numbers driven person, I'm an accountant by trade and I've got my CPA membership behind me," Mr Sullivan said.

"I spent 20 years working out of Sydney for large blue-chip corporates where I worked for some very wealthy individuals out of Sydney. However, I wanted to create a way to be part of the community down here and give back and actually help those that are part of the community."

His family moved out of Sydney 12 years ago and spent five years in Goulburn, which was "a great experience".

Mr Sullivan's advice to everyone but in particular to first homebuyers is to "really have a comprehensive understanding of your mortgage".

"I always say to people that if they don't understand anything then we will go back and revisit it, because I talk about dealing with the stress and if people understand what's going on, then they can feel more comfortable about it," he said.

"If you don't understand it's this big scary monster that is bearing down and you can't manage it. That's only going to eat you up, because you don't know what you're dealing with or if there's a better option for you."

That better option could be a restructure or involve bringing in guarantors.

"There's things that we can do to demystify the big beast and make it simpler; make it more understandable," Mr Sullivan said.

"I think if people have got that level of comfort and understanding they've got to sleep better at night."

During his career Mr Sullivan has had many experiences of saving people their home.

"I had a man from outside of town about six months ago who was recently divorced. He was a hardened farming lad and the only thing he wanted to get out of the whole thing was his property." Mr Sullivan said.

"He went to his bank and the bank said 'not interested'. Within a week we were able to get through approval and a better interest rate with cash back, which gave him the money to transfer the mortgage to them.

"The guy was in tears over the phone for what we could do in a short space of time."

He said situations such as that are what drives him in business.

"It makes you go, 'that's why I'm here and that's why I do this'," Mr Sullivan said.

"Part of me being here was for that engagement and to support the community with those things."

Of the impact he's had since taking charge two years ago, Mr Sullivan said "there's still a lot more work we can do".

"We're seeing several hundred people each year and some of those are existing clients that we've been dealing with for the past 20 years," he said.

"We go from Bargo and Tahmoor all the way down through Kangaroo Valley down through Marulan and past Goulburn and then sort of far out west. We support a large catchment area."

Mr Sullivan said the most important thing for people in this current environment is to "just have the conversation".

"That's more so than 12 months ago or at any other time," Mr Sullivan said.

"Currently we're dealing with a lot of people who need to refinance; there are options. Seniors as well, a lot of people who have been here for awhile and are asset rich but with not a lot of cash and they just want help; they just want relief.

"We've got ways and we've got products to help with that."

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