Should I ask these even if I feel out of my depth?

Especially then. Every question here is a normal, professional thing to ask, and how a broker handles them tells you more than any brochure. A good broker enjoys being asked.

What if the broker gets defensive?

That is your answer. Transparency questions only threaten people with something to hide. Thank them for their time and keep looking.

Do these apply to banks too?

Mostly, yes, with 1 structural difference: a bank lender can only recommend that bank's products. The panel question becomes: who else did you compare, and the honest answer is nobody.

Can I ask Brokerage & Co all 6?

Please do. It is the fastest way to see the difference for yourself, and the conversation costs you nothing.

6 Questions to Ask Your Mortgage Broker

By Sergio Stefano, CEO & Head Broker and FBAA State President SA/NT

Choosing a broker is choosing the person who will likely influence the biggest financial decisions of your life. These 6 questions, asked in the first meeting, tell you almost everything, and I have included what a good answer sounds like, so you can grade us too.

1. How do you get paid?

A good broker answers instantly and in detail: lenders pay commissions on settled loans, disclosed in writing. Ask the follow-up too: do YOU charge me anything? Some brokers charge advice or service fees. We expressly do not, and any broker who does should be able to justify exactly what you get for it.

2. How many lenders are on your panel, and how many did you consider for me?

Panel breadth matters, but the honest second half matters more. A broker with 50+ lenders who only ever recommends the same 3 is a smaller panel wearing a big one's badge. A good answer names the shortlist for your file and why each made or missed it.

3. Why this loan, for me, specifically?

The answer should reference your situation: your income shape, your plans, your risk appetite, not a brochure. If the reasoning would fit any borrower, it fits nobody.

4. What structure do you recommend, and why?

Rate gets the headlines; structure does the work. Offsets, splits, repayment types, security setup: a broker who talks structure before rate is thinking about your next decade, not their next settlement.

5. What happens after settlement?

The honest industry answer is often “nothing”. Ask whether your loan gets reviewed, who calls whom, and when. Our answer is the client-for-life approach: reviews as rates and life change, and a broker who already knows your story when you need the next move.

6. What would make you tell me NOT to proceed?

The question that reveals everything. A broker with no answer sees you as a transaction. A good broker can describe exactly the situations where waiting, saving more, or staying put beats signing, because they have said it to real clients.

A broker who welcomes hard questions before you sign will fight hard questions for you after you do.

General information only. See how we stack up on all 6 at our Adelaide brokerage page, or judge us by what clients say.

6 questions to ask your mortgage broker