An Australian national, who has been living in the Philippines for nearly a decade, launched the first mortgage brokerage in the country that is expected to bring the real estate sector to the next level.
"We are the first [online mortgage broker platform] here. We help you compare banks, side by side. We help you secure the best bank for you and your circumstance," says Chris Elder, the founder of Nook.
Nook is a property financial technology company that helps Filipinos find and compare loan products and experience a seamless loan application process online. It serves as an intermediary between mortgage loan applicants and banks. A mortgage refers to a loan secured by an individual from a bank to purchase a house, land or condominium unit.
What Nook does
Nook is the Philippines' original mortgage broker, on a mission to make home loans simple for Filipino families. Instead of asking borrowers to queue at branches and submit the same paperwork to one bank after another, Nook does the entire home loan application for them — comparing lenders, matching each borrower to the bank most likely to approve them, and handling the back-and-forth from the first enquiry through to approval.
That done-for-you model is the heart of the service. A dedicated Nook loan consultant runs the whole application on the borrower's behalf, so customers never have to fill in bank forms or visit a branch to follow up. Because Nook's partner banks pay a commission once a loan is released, the service is 100% free to the borrower.
Comparing banks, side by side
The idea Chris Elder described at launch — comparing banks side by side to find the right fit for each borrower's circumstances — is exactly how Nook works today. Nook compares 20+ banks, including BDO, BPI, Security Bank, UnionBank, RCBC and China Bank, and lets Filipinos pre-qualify online in about three minutes before a consultant takes over the rest of the process.
That end-to-end experience now covers new home loans, refinancing, home equity, construction, improvement and acquisition financing — for house and lot, condo, townhouse, vacant lot and apartment purchases. It serves borrowers based in the Philippines as well as OFWs applying from abroad, who would otherwise find it hard to lodge and follow up an application from overseas.
Since this early coverage, Nook has grown into a full-service brokerage and has been Awarded Best Mortgage Broker Philippines by Pan Finance, recognising its work modernising the way Filipinos access home loans.
Source: manilastandard.net