Choosing a broker, lawyer or other professional

A property loan rarely involves just the borrower and the lender. Along the way you may work with a finance broker, a lawyer or conveyancer, an accountant, and on development projects a quantity surveyor, while the lender brings in its own valuer. Each of them shapes the outcome, and each has different rules about licensing, fees and whose side they are on.

This lesson covers how to check credentials, the questions that tease out fees and conflicts, and what each role usually does. Privet does not name, rank or refer anyone; the goal is to help you vet whoever you are considering.

Start with what the role requires

Different professions are regulated in different ways. Some need a licence to operate at all; others rely on professional membership and insurance. Knowing which applies tells you what to check:

• Brokers arranging regulated consumer credit need an Australian Credit Licence or must act as an authorised credit representative of a licensee.
• Lawyers must be admitted and hold a current practising certificate issued in their state or territory. Conveyancers are licensed or registered in many states.
• Accountants who give tax advice for a fee generally must be registered tax agents with the Tax Practitioners Board.
• Valuers face registration rules that vary between states, and many belong to a professional body.
• Quantity surveyors are not generally licensed, so professional membership, experience and insurance carry more weight.

Choosing a broker

A broker collects your information, approaches lenders and helps manage the application. For regulated home loans, brokers have legal obligations under consumer credit law, including duties about acting in the consumer's interests and handling conflicts. For business-purpose or commercial loans, the licensing position may differ, so ask how the broker is authorised for the type of loan you need.

To check a broker, search ASIC's professional registers for the licence or credit representative number. Confirm the name on the register matches the business you are dealing with, and that the licence is current. A licensee providing consumer credit must also belong to AFCA, the external dispute resolution scheme.

Then ask about money and reach:

• How are you paid on this loan: commission from the lender, a fee from me, or both?
• Does the commission vary between the lenders you might approach?
• How many lenders do you work with for this kind of loan, and why might some be left out?
• Will you give me your credit guide and a written fee disclosure before I commit?

A broker who is paid differently by different lenders is not necessarily acting badly, but you are entitled to know so you can weigh what you are told.

Choosing a lawyer or conveyancer

For a straightforward purchase, a conveyancer may handle the transfer. Once private lending, company or trust borrowers, guarantors or construction contracts are involved, many borrowers use a lawyer who regularly reads loan and security documents. Lenders often require guarantors to obtain independent legal advice and a signed certificate confirming it.

You can generally confirm a lawyer's practising status through the law society or legal services regulator in their state or territory. Useful questions include:

• Do you regularly act for borrowers on private or commercial property loans?
• Is your fee fixed or hourly, and what falls outside it?
• Do you act for the lender or any other party in this transaction?
• Who will actually do the work, and how quickly do you turn documents around?

Ask for a written costs disclosure. If time is tight, as it often is with short-term finance, raise turnaround times before you engage.

Choosing an accountant

Accountants matter at several points: structuring the borrowing entity, preparing financial statements, advising on GST and duty, and in alt-doc lending, signing a letter or declaration about income. Check registration on the Tax Practitioners Board register and ask about membership of a professional accounting body, which usually brings continuing education and complaint processes.

Questions worth putting to an accountant include whether they have worked with property developers or investors, how they charge for one-off letters to lenders, and what they are prepared to confirm. An accountant should only sign statements they can stand behind, and a lender may contact them to check. Be wary of anyone offering to "adjust" figures to help an application succeed.

Valuers: whose report is it?

For lending purposes, the borrower usually does not choose the valuer. The lender generally instructs a panel valuer, the report is addressed to the lender, and you may or may not receive a copy. You can commission your own valuation for planning, but the lender may not rely on it.

That makes the questions different. Ask the lender how its valuer is selected, what basis of value it will request (as-is, as-if-complete or something else), whether you can supply comparable sales or plans for the valuer to consider, and whether you will see the report. The valuations lesson explains the different bases.

Quantity surveyors on construction projects

On a construction or development loan, the lender usually appoints a quantity surveyor to review the budget at the outset and certify progress before each drawdown. That surveyor works for the lender. Some borrowers also engage their own to prepare a cost plan, test the builder's price or argue a progress claim.

When choosing one, ask about experience with projects of your type and size, professional membership, professional indemnity insurance, and how their reports will line up with the lender's requirements. The feasibility tool helps you test how cost changes affect the project.

Getting the team to work together

On short-term or development finance, delays often come from the gaps between professionals rather than from any one of them. The broker waits on the accountant's letter, the lawyer waits on the lender's documents, and the surveyor waits on the builder's revised price. A little coordination helps.

Picture a hypothetical owner-builder refinancing a part-finished project. They give the broker, lawyer and accountant a shared list of deadlines worked back from the loan expiry, agree who will chase which document, and ask each one to confirm by email when their part is complete. None of this needs special software; the preparation checklist is enough to track who holds what.

Warning signs when choosing

Some signals deserve a pause before you engage anyone:

• A licence or registration number that does not appear on the relevant register, or appears under a different business name.
• Pressure to sign an engagement or pay a fee before the scope is clear.
• Requests to pay into a personal account rather than a business account.
• Promises about loan outcomes, interest rates or valuation results that no professional can control.
• Reluctance to explain how they are paid.

Questions for any professional

1. Which licence, registration or practising certificate do you hold, and how can I check it?
2. What exactly will you do, and what is excluded?
3. How are you paid, and does anyone else pay you in connection with my matter?
4. Do you receive anything for referring me to another professional or lender?
5. Do you hold professional indemnity insurance?
6. What is your complaints process, and which external body handles disputes?

Common mistakes

• Relying on a website or business card rather than checking the register yourself.
• Assuming the lender's valuer or surveyor is looking after your interests.
• Agreeing to work without a written scope and fee.
• Choosing purely on price, then discovering the lawyer cannot meet a settlement date.
• Not asking about referral payments between professionals.

If something goes wrong

Raise concerns with the professional first and use their internal complaints process. For credit licensees and other financial firms, AFCA can generally consider complaints that are not resolved. The financial hardship and complaints lesson explains the steps, and the scams warning lists signs that someone is not who they claim to be.