6 Colin Mason, SMS Finance

Colin Mason has been recognised as one of the leading brokers in the Australian mortgage industry by being listed in the 2017 edition of Mortgage Professional Australia's Top 100 Brokers

6 Colin Mason, SMS Finance
https://www.smsfinance.com.au/
6 COLIN MASON
SMS Finance
Maroochydore, Qld
Aggregator: AFG
Total value of residential loans FY2016/17: $171,471,774
Total number of residential loans FY2016/17: 474

As property prices in Sydney and Melbourne leave the rest of Australia behind, brokers in other cities and regions have to work ever harder to write similar numbers. Colin Mason not only proves it can be done; his brokerage, SMS Finance, shows it’s possible to dominate an entire region.

Mason is not based on the Sunshine Coast just for the lifestyle; 95% of his work comes from the area. “We’ve got over 200 real estate agents on the Sunshine Coast and further north and south that refer business to us,” Mason explains. “Our motto is ‘Just get the job done’; if we do the job well enough and keep the lines of communication open, we find that the real estate agents love that and keep referring business to us.”

A long-standing Top 100 broker, Mason’s move into the Top 10 this year owes much to his joining John McNamara at SMS Finance. The team is 30 strong and “we’ve recruited more staff, which frees up more of my time to get out there and do more business development type work”. With the assistance of seven sales staff and a seven-strong processing team, Mason’s role in the application process is focused on meeting the client and initial product recommendation.

SMS Finance’s response to lending restrictions has been to increase market share, Mason explains, with the brokerage catering to “first home buyers through to mum-and-dad investors and commercial clients as well … we treat all clients the same; at the end of the day they’re coming to us and we want to help everyone”. Many interest-only investor clients are being transferred to principal and interest loans. Additionally, the brokerage has just secured a new referral relationship, adding another 50–60 referral partners to its cohort.

“Our motto is ‘Just get the job done’ ”

A growing population in the Sunshine Coast offers further opportunities for Mason. He is working with the developers of new housing estates, including Stockland, hoping for huge potential benefits. “There are thousands and thousands of clients that we will hopefully pick up along the way,” he says.