From whom to ask for a recommendation for a mortgage consultant?

I founded the Financial Cat Facebook group about four years ago with the aim of teaching and helping anyone who wants to improve their financial situation. I wanted as many people as possible to learn from my bitter experience, I too was once a non-financial cat with a lack of understanding about his financial life. And what I learned on my own, I transferred to the Financial Cat Facebook group.

Over the years we have published thousands of posts, articles and blogs with the aim of making the financial world accessible to everyone and today we have created a community of almost 100,000 financial cats and dogs. But even now after so many years of knowledge and words, the request that always comes back is a recommendation for a good professional. In particular, a recommendation for a mortgage consultant is recommended.

So let's sort things out, what does a mortgage advisor do?

What should you check? How much does it cost? And where to find a recommended mortgage consultant.

What does a mortgage advisor do?

 In the bottom line, a mortgage advisor helps you find the mortgage that will be the best for you. A mortgage is actually a package deal of all kinds of loans, with different mixes and repayment paths and variable interest rates. The mortgage consultant at the bank also helps us put together a mortgage mix, but the bank knows how to offer something generic, and doesn't necessarily see me and my interest.

In fact, there is even a built-in conflict of interest here, the bank advises me how to buy the loan it is selling. The bank wants to be business-like and make a profit and we want a mix, routes and a low interest rate that allows us to live comfortably and with a mortgage repayment that is best for us and not for the bank.

This is how most of the mortgages taken out in Israel are generic, lacking personal characteristics and matching our financial capacity and plans for the future. (Maybe there is another child on the way? Maybe there will be a job change? Maybe we even want to retire early for financial independence?)

A mortgage consultant builds a financial plan with us for the coming years, even 30 years ahead, and adjusts the mortgage to our life path.

What should you check with a recommended mortgage consultant?

From personal experience, I can say that when the main cat in the house dragged me to meet a mortgage consultant for the first time, I almost fell for the price, but in the end he saved me more than NIS 350 thousand.

That's why it's worth checking prices and comparing consultants, but in the end a good consultant can save us a lot and this is the real power of excellent professionals. 

Why is it hard to find good professionals?

The process of finding professionals in Israel works largely the same way. At first we ask for a recommendation from family members, then from friends and if the desired recommendation does not come from them, we will ask for a recommendation on social networks.  And why do we go through this whole process? Because we want reliable professionals, ones that you can trust, that we have received a recommendation for. This process gives us confidence in our decision and makes us feel "that we didn't come off as suckers".

But what is really going on? The good friend recommended his cousin who is involved in the field, among other things, and the beloved aunt recommended the neighbor across the street, because she supports the process of becoming independent. And in fact no one really worked with the recommended expert. No one received real service from him and the recommendation we actually received is worth nothing. 

And more than that, even when we consult with people who actually received service from that specialist, it does not mean that they really understand the field and can give a professional opinion. And yet, we turn quite a few to professionals based on a recommendation from people who have never experienced the service or who don't really know if the service was indeed good. This is a fact and it happens in many other areas.  

But it doesn't stop there, because after we have already received a recommendation and went to work with the same specialist, there is a situation that is simply not good, or does not suit us and thus the meeting ends badly. We also did not get the service we wanted and along the way we will reject the entire field of consulting in the world, because those who are burned in Ruthin are also careful in Tsonnin.

Over the years, I've seen thousands of posts telling how bad experts and professionals hurt them financially, treated customers badly, or tried to sell them products that didn't suit them, and worst of all, just behave like amateurs. The blame is of course not on the unhappy customers who came to the specialist because they do not understand the field enough. but on the professionals.

In a world where everyone is an expert in everything, it is very difficult to identify what our need is or whether the person in front of us is suitable for us. That's why it's important to understand who the right consultant is for our needs and make sure they can help us specifically.

So where do you find a recommended mortgage consultant?

A recommendation for a mortgage advisor is the most frequent request in the financial cat community on Facebook, but together with it, recommendation requests for a host of experts from the financial field, financial planning, pensions, insurances, inheritances, family economics, taxation and more return. Everyone is looking for a recommendation that will give them confidence.

That's why we at Financial Cat decided to take up the gauntlet and make a revolution in the field of financial service providers and established the FINCAT website.

A website for experts in the field of finance and family economics, who have received the Cat Standard from us. Our unique standard, which guarantees that the experts have been verified by the cat and they meet the high criteria that our cats demand. 

On the site, mortgage experts alongside many financial advisors from a variety of fields have been personally checked by the financial cat system and we "sign" their recommendation. We talked to their customers, tested the services personally on us, the performance and the personal attitude to each customer. We even sent the cat's mom as an undercover customer and we believe in each and every one of them.

The FINCAT website is completely free. In order to help anyone who needs financial assistance and guidance.

I proudly recommend to anyone who is at a financial crossroads, to enter the website for a moment and check whether our service providers can help him earn a little more from his money. 

So don't start a process related to money, without entering the website.

In addition, I invite you to continue learning on the financial cat website, join our community in any social network you want and start taking control of your financial life.

So come join the cats.

In collaboration with Financial Cat