"O’Leary Mortgages is No More"

A few sources including Canadian Mortgage Trends are reporting that O'Leary Mortgages have closed up shop. Rob McLister, Mortgage Columnist for the Globe & Mail, wrote that " In sum, O'Leary Mortgages was a pilot project that didn't generate the returns O'Leary envisioned. The problem might have been that he treated it like a pilot project and didn't make the investment needed to grow consumer awareness and differentiate his offerings." I would also argue that the direct consumer model wasn't best suited. Perhaps offering O'Leary Mortgages through brokers could have helped?

Some also argue that O'Leary's personality wasn't the ideal "poster child" for the mortgage industry in Canada. Regardless of what one thinks of the man, it's always a shame to lose another virtual lender in Canada. Unfortuanately virtual lenders like ING, Macquarie etc have come and gone. As a mortgage broker, I meet with clients from all sort of backgrounds and I can tell you that lender variety is critical more than folks realize. Furthermore, having more virtual mono line lenders is important as their mortgage conditions, i.e. "fine print" is usually better and more consumer friendly.

The dicotomy of between O’Leary Mortgages and mortgage brokers?

There has been much uproar in the Canadian mortgage community about Kevin O’Leary and the creation of O’Leary Mortgages.  Many mortgage brokers are upset that his mortgage product bypasses mortgage brokers and "trivializes" our role. Personally, I welcome O’Leary Mortgages into the mortgage mix. Hopefully his mortgage product can make its way into Quebec. Kevin's profile will bring more attention to the mortgage industry.

I love my job as a mortgage broker but for the average person mortgages and debt is still a mystery. Here is where a mortgage broker should be instrumental. Our role is to find the right mortgage for our clients' needs but also guide our clients to pay down their mortgage, help our clients' manage their debt, how to fix/maintain one's credit, among other things within the box of our mortgage license.

Whether you love him or not, Kevin O’Leary is successful and appears to be an advocate for the broker model. Kevin is correct in the broker model is not the sole model of delivering mortgages to the consumer. Let's face it if a client wants an ING mortgage they can apply directly online to ING. I think that Kevin is challenging our profession to do better. As a profession we must provide value of our client today, on an ongoing basis and in the future. "#Being awesome," Scott Stratten shares in his book The Book of Awesomeness is critical.

Scott Stratten's presentation about Awesomeness at the Mortgage Forum 2012 in Vacouver

Scott is an advocate for quality of product but more importantly that we are in an age demanding excellent customer service. As broker we must provide exceptional customer service and value as this is what will keep customer's returning to you rather than just rate. Clients get it and need that advice! But it's up to us to keep stepping up and evolving with the times whether it delivering on service, banking developments or technology. Hence why I say I support O’Leary Mortgages. As mortgage brokers we need to continue evolving and provide value to customers. O’Leary Mortgages will also bring more attention to the mortgage brokerage channel. After all, approximately 44% of overall Canadians actually use our services.