The pandemic brought many challenges to our daily lives. Our lifestyle and everyday tasks suddenly became much more difficult. Things we took for granted were no longer accessible, and many parts of our daily routine came to a grinding halt. But with those challenges also came opportunities — opportunities to find new ways to do old things, to do them better, faster and cheaper, and to improve, progress and modernise.
KMC Savills was one such company that saw a need to adapt to the changing landscape of the real estate industry. As an award-winning real estate leader, KMC was already adept at adopting modern work practices and seeing things differently — a strong part of KMC's competitive edge. So when the pandemic necessitated business change, KMC was ready.
The problem: financing a property during lockdown
One of the first challenges recognised was the difficulty in accessing bank financing for property purchasers during the lockdowns. The Philippines is very traditional in its home loan processing, which means property buyers are generally burdened by paperwork, procedures and physical trips to bank branches in order to complete a housing loan — all of which were extremely difficult during lockdowns, and equally tedious amid heavy traffic in non-pandemic times.
To solve the bank financing problem for their clients, KMC turned to Nook, the Philippines' original mortgage broker. Nook has partnered with the biggest banks in the country with the goal of making home loans simple.
But what is a mortgage broker?
Quite simply, a mortgage broker acts as a middle-man between banks and borrowers, sparing the borrower from having to choose a complex financial product like a home loan all on their own. The mortgage broker does the entire housing loan process for the borrower and also helps them choose the right mortgage product for their unique financial circumstances. This alone can save the borrower thousands in repayments and years off the life of the loan.
And a mortgage broker like Nook does this all for free for the borrower, because the bank pays Nook a commission for finding it new qualified borrowers. Nook acts like a sales and marketing extension of the big banks — which means property buyers get the convenience of Nook's service completely free of charge, without needing to work directly with the banks themselves.
Mortgage broking is the number one way people get home loans around the world, in countries such as the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. It's a service that has existed for decades. Thanks to companies like KMC teaming up with Nook, Filipino families can now enjoy this same mortgage broker service in the Philippines.
Why use Nook instead of going it alone?
So why would a property buyer use Nook instead of doing the home loan process themselves? Apart from the fact that the mortgage broker service is free, it's also about convenience and speed.
Convenience, because a borrower does not need to leave their house to get a home loan — Nook does all the legwork to secure the approval and get the loan paid out. And speed, because Nook uses technology to help the property buyer find out which banks they are qualified to borrow from in a matter of minutes. That means there's no need to waste time applying to multiple banks just to find out whether the buyer qualifies. It speeds up the home loan process dramatically.
With KMC and Nook working together, property buyers can experience a more professional, modern and convenient home-buying experience.
For more information on the KMC Savills and Nook partnership, visit partner.nook.com.ph/kmc-savills.