When Grant, a homeowner in his early 40s, and his wife Lisa, first encountered Mates Rates Mortgage Brokers (MRMB) they were initially sceptical. The idea of receiving a cashback on their home loan commissions sounded too good to be true.
However, after two home loans and nearly a decade of working with MRMB, they are convinced that this unique offering is both real and financially beneficial.
Grant explains why they now recommend MRMB to anyone looking for a better home loan experience.
Doing the research when it comes to the big financial decisions
Grant and Lisa are in many ways a typical Australian family.
“Both my wife and I grew up in Australia, played sports, drank beer, ate pizza, and somehow survived and found ourselves where we are now”, says Grant.
“In other words, we are probably what you’d call the standard run of the mill (almost) nuclear family, except for the fact that whenever we make a big financial decision – like buying a car or a property – we will spreadsheet the hell out of it and do our research until the cows come home!
“We’ve also always been diligent about our financial decisions and we’re good savers too. We’ve both worked hard – my wife worked three jobs at one time,” Grant admits.
“As a result we managed to take out two home loans via MRMB – one small loan for a very modest investment property and the other loan for our current home. Nothing overly grand, just solid properties.”
A cashback offer with no catch and no hidden costs
“Choosing Mates Rates instead of going direct to one of the “big four banks” was a bit of a punt in the beginning to be honest,” says Grant.
“We initially came across MRMB’s cashback offer after Lisa read about it in the bestselling book written by the Barefoot Investor, and we approached it with caution. As I said earlier, we like to do our homework but we were curious.
“We were sure that there had to be a catch like hidden fees or some unknown clause in the fine print that’d come back to bite us, right? It simply seemed too good to be true.
“But guess what? It wasn’t. It really wasn’t.”
What surprised Grant and Lisa most about MRMB was that, despite their concerns, there were no hidden costs attached to their home loan and their cashback offer.
“Seriously, there are no hidden costs at all. None, nadda, nothing, not a thing. You better believe it!”
Almost $5,000 in cashback from trailing commissions in the first five years and now over $21,000 to date!
Over the first five years of their MRMB home loan, Grant and Lisa received almost $5,000 in cashback from the trailing commissions on one of their loans.
“That’s $5 plus three 000’s. Not to mention the compounding interest saving impact that money has in our account. And the best part is, that money keeps coming every month as long as we have our home loans through MRMB,” Grant explained.
According to Grant, the cashback system has had a significant impact on their financial planning, especially with the added benefit of compound interest.
“Had we gone directly to a bank for our home loans, we wouldn’t have seen a cent of the trailing commission”, Grant said, “The bank would’ve kept it all. The same applies had we gone to just about any of the other mortgage brokers on the market at the time!”
But it gets even better! At the time of publishing this article in October 2024, MRMB has paid Grant and Lisa over $21,000 in trailing commissions!
MRMB also helped Grant and Lisa secure a lower interest rate
In addition to passing on thousands of dollars in cashback, MRMB also helped Grant and Lisa secure a lower interest rate than they could have obtained on their own.
“Of course we did our research before going with Mates Rates,” explains Grant.
“We spoke with multiple banks to find the best bank rates and discovered we would have ended up with a higher interest rate if we’d gone directly to the bank. In-sane!
“On every level, Mates Rates truly has made an incredible difference and you just can’t argue with the maths!”
Trent Lee genuinely cares about his clients
Grant attributes their positive experience largely to the service provided by MRMB founder Trent and his team.
“Trent is the real deal,” Grant remarked. “He is a straight-shooter who truly does have his client’s interests at heart. He genuinely cares about his clients.”
“We initially dealt with Trent and we’ve also dealt with members of his team. Not only did we get quality service every time, but it was quick service and to the point, much like Trent himself.
“Trent created Mates Rates out of nothing except from his incredible mind simply because he saw what the banks and other brokers were doing on trailing commissions and he wanted to make a difference. He wanted to put trailing commissions back into the hands of his clients rather than keeping it for himself, unlike most banks and brokers.
“For us, at least, Mates Rates truly has made an incredible difference. What once seemed ‘too good to be true’ is, in fact, a smart financial move.
“It goes without saying that we have no hesitation in recommending Mates Rates to every sane and reasonable person in Australia.”
With no hidden fees, monthly cashback for the life of the loan and a service that has consistently delivered results, Grant and Lisa now recommend MRMB to anyone looking for a better home loan experience.