The world is picking up dizzying speed, and financial decisions are becoming more and more complicated. Even so, you have to live somewhere, you have to get on with life and fulfill your dreams written down as financial goals. In times like these, a good mortgage advisor who can guide you through the twists and turns of the loan process becomes hugely valuable. The only question is: how much does a mortgage advisor who knows their stuff cost?
Is a mortgage advisor really free? Or is there, after all, some cost involved in using a mortgage advisor’s services? I’ll try to clear up any doubts.
What does a mortgage advisor do?
At the outset, let me note that I’ll use the terms mortgage advisor, financial advisor, credit intermediary and financial intermediary interchangeably. They refer to the same person: an expert authorized to process loan applications at a dozen or so banks at once.
Many of us picture a mortgage advisor as a serious, dull gentleman sitting behind a desk, filling out stacks of paperwork and tapping away on a calculator. But the truth is that a mortgage advisor is someone who not only knows the magic formulas the banks use, but can also translate them into plain language.
Imagine you want to buy a flat in Wrocław, but the mere thought of a mortgage gives you the shivers. That’s when he steps in, the financial advisor, riding to the rescue. He’ll go through the banks’ offers and compare far more than just the interest rate. In short, he’ll check which options are most advantageous for you and help you fill in all those baffling forms, so everything turns out right.
And how much does such a mortgage advisor charge for their help? Absolutely nothing.
Why is it worth using a financial advisor?
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A financial advisor is an expert who lives and breathes finance and has answers to every question that comes into your head. When you’re planning to take out a mortgage, a mortgage advisor will not only help you find the best offer, but will also point out what to watch for in the contracts and explain how loans work. Thanks to them, you won’t miss the small print that could later keep you up at night.
Another reason it’s worth using a credit intermediary is the time and nerves you save. Instead of running from bank to bank comparing offers, let a mortgage expert do it for you. They know the market and know which banks have the best terms. And by „knowing the market”, I don’t mean a particular location, city or region.
A financial advisor from Wrocław can help you no matter where you are. The banks’ offers are the same across the whole country, and whether we meet in Katowice or Gdańsk, your loan documents go straight to a credit analyst at the head office of the bank you’ve chosen.
It’s like having a personal guide through the loan jungle who not only knows the paths, but also knows where the most dangerous traps and the tastiest fruit are hidden. Because it has to be stressed that a financial advisor acts in your interest. Even if the bank pays for their services, they’ll look after your needs, because whether they earn anything at all depends on you.
Who pays the mortgage advisor?
You already know that the answer to the question „is a mortgage advisor paid?” is „no”. All right, but who actually pays for it? After all, no one works for free, right? The answer is a bit more complicated than it might seem.
The big secret of financial advice
What’s the biggest secret of mortgage advice? Was your first thought „how much does a financial advisor earn”? Well, no, that’s no secret. Something else is carefully hidden.
An advisor won’t tell you why financial advice is free. It would shatter the whole carefully woven story about how important you are. About how „the customer is king” and how your satisfaction matters most. Because that isn’t always true.
In reality, for the banks the kings are the shareholders. A finance student learns the most important rule of business in their very first class: the goal of a company is to maximize value for its shareholders. And in this case, to please the shareholder, banks pull a certain trick from which you happen to benefit.
The free mortgage-advice system wasn’t created with you in mind. It was created with the banks’ shareholders in mind.
Let’s get back to how much a mortgage advisor costs. Banks have found a clever way to optimize their costs. Instead of bearing the fixed cost of employing a mortgage advisor, they shifted the costs and risk onto someone else: the credit intermediary.
Banks pay intermediaries a commission, but only once the loan is disbursed. In this way they turn fixed costs into variable costs. It’s more efficient and reduces the risk of keeping specialists on staff. They don’t have to invest in marketing, branches or training, and mortgages sell themselves.
A credit intermediary isn’t competition for the bank, but an important partner
Imagine the office of a financial advisor in the center of Wrocław. You go to them and receive offers from ten different banks. You choose the most favorable ones and submit applications to three of them, all while staying in the same place. In the end, one of those banks whose offers you got to know will sign a loan agreement with you.
And now the question: who pays the rent for that office? Who pays the mortgage specialist who devotes a dozen or so hours to you? The mortgage advisor pays for all of it. And Wrocław or Warsaw are not cheap cities to run an office right in the center – the costs are high.
The second question: who profits from you having a loan at a particular bank? It’s that bank that charges a commission for granting the loan, then the interest, fees for annexes, and gets a chance to win you over and encourage you to use other products.
Or maybe you know someone thinking about a mortgage?
Refer me to them and give them my contact details. If they reach out and it ends with a mortgage, I’ll share my commission with you.
It’s a setup in which everyone wins: the bank saves on fixed costs, the credit intermediary earns on commission, and you get access to a mortgage expert who will help you find the best mortgage on the market. What’s more, because the intermediary only earns the moment the loan is disbursed, you can be sure that to them you really do become the proverbial king.
Because it depends on you whether you sign the loan agreement and draw down the loan – and only then does the mortgage advisor get paid. Even though it’s not you who pays, their pay depends on your decision. You become the key figure – the all-powerful client.
Sounds trivial? And how much does a mortgage advisor earn if they can’t inspire trust and don’t get loans disbursed? They earn nothing. 0 PLN. In this industry the pay is purely commission-based, with no base salary whatsoever. So even if it sounds trivial, it’s true. Whether the advisor earns anything depends on you. So they have to do everything to make sure you’re satisfied and want to work with them.
Bonuses and incentives for selling other products
To determine how much a financial advisor earns, you also have to take into account that they can receive bonuses for selling other products. The obvious solution is recommending real-estate agents in exchange for splitting the commission. On top of that comes selling insurance, and sometimes investments or banking products.
Such bonuses are an extra motivator, but a good mortgage advisor is perfectly aware that your needs come first. The most important thing is getting the commission for the loan, and you already know that it’s you who decides who gets that commission.
Here I have to make it clear: it won’t be you. Because how much does a mortgage advisor cost you? Nothing. True, they’ll earn when they help you get a mortgage, but it really isn’t a service for you. It’s a service for the bank, and the bank pays for it, because it lets the bank turn fixed costs into variable costs.
If you go straight to the bank, you’ll get exactly the same offer a mortgage advisor would have offered. Wrocław, Kraków or Warsaw – location makes no difference here. Someone has to grant you that loan: accept the documents and process the application, and that’s precisely what costs money and is paid for by the bank.
The bank will either pay the mortgage advisor a commission for serving you and handling the loan process, or it will have to bear those costs itself.
Pay from clients
You might also come up with another idea: paying the advisor out of your own pocket. Would a mortgage advisor who is paid give you more than one you don’t pay? If you’re paying, you can demand something extra, right? Well… no.
Intermediaries have almost all the banks on offer, and from each of those banks they have the necessary authorizations and powers of attorney. They can accept applications, declarations and certificates, identify clients and certify documents as true copies of the originals. Thanks to that, the client goes to just one person: their mortgage advisor.
If you paid someone for help with a mortgage, you’d still have to submit applications in person to three different bank employees. Your private financial advisor wouldn’t have the power of attorney to process the full loan documentation. That means running from one bank to another – extra time, stress and effort.
Almost all banks take part in the credit-intermediary system. That means even if you paid someone to find you a mortgage and tell you where to go, you’d get far less than what a free mortgage advisor guarantees you.
Can you pay a mortgage advisor extra?
So here’s another idea: I’ll pay the mortgage advisor extra to be sure they’ll act on my behalf. So how much does such a mortgage advisor cost? Well, that solution isn’t possible. Regulations prohibit accepting payment from the client if you receive payment from the bank.
Still think you could ask for something extra if you paid? Let’s do this: book a mortgage consultation with me, ask for something extra, and I’ll do it and won’t charge you a penny. Determined to pay? Well, OK, you can always support me for sharing my knowledge with you, but believe me, whether I get anything from you or not, I’ll serve you to the best of my ability.
If you take out a mortgage, the bank will pay for processing it one way or another. It will pay either its own employees or the credit intermediary. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel or split hairs wondering how much a mortgage advisor costs. It costs nothing and there are no catches. It simply isn’t a service designed for you – it’s a service for the bank that you happen to benefit from.
A free credit intermediary – is it worth it?
A proven mortgage advisor acts on your behalf
The first advantage of using a free mortgage advisor is that they act on your behalf and have your interests above all in mind.
Instead of running from bank to bank, comparing offers and racking your brains over tables of interest rates, let a mortgage advisor handle it for you. They know where to look for the best offers and how to „negotiate” the most favorable terms. Thanks to that, you can save time and energy while being sure you’re getting honest advice.
Or are you asking how much a mortgage advisor costs because you’re afraid they’ll „push” a loan on you that pays them more? You don’t have to. The differences between individual banks are cosmetic, not worth risking the loss of a client or even their reputation. Someone who does that won’t last long in this industry.
Your personal financial expert for free
There’s a glut of mortgage advisors, the competition is huge, which is why they have to fight for clients with more than just a good knowledge of the loan market. Anyone with access to the tools can prepare an offer.
To compete effectively for clients, you have to offer something more than plain mortgage advice. Financial consultations, free household-budget templates, a course on the basics of investing – you can get all of this from a professional financial advisor like me.
Besides helping you get a mortgage, I’ll gladly help you understand the basics of planning, complex financial concepts, money-management techniques and other areas of personal finance. On top of getting you through the whole loan process unscathed, you’ll also receive from me:
Real financial advice
If you need it, I’ll advise you on how to manage your finances over the longer term. I can help with budget planning, the technical aspects of investing (such as carrying out fundamental or technical analysis) or saving for the future. Such comprehensive help is priceless, especially if you don’t feel confident in the world of finance.
Being your financial expert pays off for me, because that way I gain tangible benefits myself. Nothing is more convincing to someone close to you than your honest recommendation: I have a trusted mortgage advisor.
By starting a working relationship with me, you’ll be able to count on financial consultations both before taking out the loan, during the loan process and afterwards, when you’re already repaying it – because that’s how a real mortgage advisor works. What’s more, Wrocław isn’t the only city I operate in. I can help you no matter which city you’re planning to buy a flat or build a house in.
What to watch out for when working with a mortgage advisor
In every industry there are dishonest people, black sheep. Here are a few things worth paying attention to in order to avoid surprises.
Going by the commission schedule
A mortgage advisor receives commissions for sales. And not only from banks: also from insurance companies, investment firms, brokerage houses and real-estate agents. That’s normal in business – after all, when you buy a TV, they also offer you an HDMI cable and cleaning cloths, right?
But you have to be careful that your advisor doesn’t go solely by the commission schedule. Make sure the mortgage advisor presents you with various options and explains why a given offer is the best for you, not for their wallet. Transparency is key.
Working with me, you can be completely sure that I won’t hesitate for a moment during our conversation and will always be guided by your benefit. Transparently – that’s how a mortgage advisor should operate. The cost of „pushing” an unnecessary product on you would be disproportionately greater than the commission earned. Honesty and acting in the client’s interest are an obvious baseline for me.
It’s the same with other products. I’ll show you what I have on offer and honestly tell you whether I’ll be paid for the purchase of a given solution. For me, how much a financial advisor earns is no secret. I’ll know how much you earn; you can know how much I earn.
Limits on the products offered
Mortgage advisors will only offer you the banks they have agreements with. When it comes to mortgages, intermediaries work with, among others, Alior Bank, BOŚ, BNP Paribas, Citibank, ING, mBank, Millennium Bank, Pekao SA, PKO BP, Santander, SBR and VeloBank. And some cooperative banks too.
When it comes to cash loans, business loans or other products, here I’ll clearly point out that the offer may differ between individual intermediaries.
How to choose a reliable financial advisor?
Financial advisors’ licenses and certificates
Sometimes people say, „check whether the advisor has certificates”. Or „a licensed financial advisor”. What exactly are we talking about? How can a financial advisor in Poland be licensed?
Only one serious certificate comes to mind. It’s the CFP certificate (Certified Financial Planner), the gold standard of financial advice worldwide. But the problem is that it doesn’t exist in Poland. If someone wants to earn it, they have to spend a fortune on a course and exam in Germany or the UK. You probably won’t find a CFP advisor operating in Poland.
You might also hear about EAFP (European Financial Advisor Professional) and EFPA (European Financial Planning Association). EAFP offers the EFG, EFC and EFP certificates, which you can obtain after completing a course. You just pay the right sum, attend classes for one year – and that’s it. A bit like postgraduate studies.
Do they prove a higher level of professionalism? Well, it’s certainly better than nothing, but I wouldn’t attach much weight to it and would place it among the completion certificates of other vocational courses and postgraduate studies. Some students take them seriously, while others just want to pass and have a piece of paper, and it proves nothing.
EFPA certification, on the other hand, is organized by banks and investment firms. Although it requires preparation, its value is debatable. It’s like a promotion to a higher position at a bank. As for a mortgage expert, no kind of certification exists at all.
A licensed investment advisor
A completely different matter, which shouldn’t be mixed into the topic of financial advice, is the investment advisor or broker license. Here, without a doubt, we’re talking about a certificate confirming the highest professionalism, but not in financial advice – in investment advice.
The exam organized by the KNF (the Polish Financial Supervision Authority) is extremely difficult, but passing it opens the door to well-paid positions at brokerage houses, investment firms or banks, with earnings of around 50,000 PLN a month.
People who have earned this license generally don’t advise individual clients. They have other, more lucrative occupations. There are only a few hundred licensed investment advisors in Poland. An investment advisor’s earnings are many times what a financial advisor earns. The two professions are incomparable – like a neurosurgeon and a psychologist.
To sum up, in Poland no certificate or license really proves the professionalism of the person you’re talking to about personal finance. Instead of looking at pieces of paper, pay attention to the advisor’s experience, their approach to the client and their transparency. Especially when we’re talking about a mortgage advisor. In this area no certificates or any official confirmation of qualifications exist.
Remember that a reliable financial advisor is someone who puts your interests first and doesn’t try to sell you products you don’t need. Find an advisor who truly understands your needs and can respond to them. Someone you simply trust and who’s on the same wavelength as you.
Transparency and honesty
When choosing a mortgage advisor, transparency and honesty are the most important factors to look at. After all, if someone is going to manage your finances, you have to fully trust them. So instead of wondering how much a mortgage advisor earns, think about how to build trust between you. And here my advice is simple: listen to your instinct.
If, while talking to an advisor, you get the feeling that you’re on the same wavelength, you understand each other well and that this person inspires your trust – that’s a good sign. The chemistry between you is crucial.
A transparent mortgage advisor clearly explains the cost you’ll bear in carrying out your plans. That cost includes not only all the commissions, taxes and fees, but also the potential risks that may arise. Honesty, in turn, is the willingness to tell the truth, even when it’s hard.
And you also need to know that while for a real-estate agent location and knowledge of the local market are key, in the case of a loan you don’t have to worry about where your mortgage advisor is from. Wrocław, Przemyśl and Gdańsk may have different property prices, but the terms of a mortgage will be identical.
After all, banks don’t differentiate their offers by location – no matter where you live, the loan offer is the same. And don’t worry about the loan process either; a mortgage advisor from Wrocław (or at least I will) will drive to Białystok for a loan application without hesitation.
Listen to your gut, look for chemistry and choose people who inspire your trust. That way you’ll find an advisor who will truly support you at every stage of your financial journey.
Summary
How much does a mortgage advisor charge? Really, nothing. I’ll go further: a good mortgage advisor, for free, can not only help you get the best possible mortgage, but also sort out your finances, help you start investing or set money aside for goals that matter to you.
For that to happen, though, the right choice of mortgage advisor is crucial. It’s a decision that can have a huge impact on your finances and peace of mind.
Fortunately, you have a huge choice, because you don’t have to go by location when choosing a financial advisor. Wrocław, Warsaw or Kraków – the loan offer is the same across the whole of Poland, and the loan process is remote. The only question is whether a financial advisor from Wrocław will travel to you, to Szczecin. I will.
Who pays the mortgage advisor also doesn’t have to keep you up at night. A mortgage advisor is free because banks turn the fixed costs of keeping expensive mortgage specialists into variable costs – that is, commissions tied to the disbursement of the loan. There are no catches here; this model of granting mortgages is simply the most profitable for the banks.
To find a good financial advisor, you need to know the advantages and disadvantages of such a system. The advantage is that a good advisor will bring you unrivaled benefits. You do, however, have to pay particular attention to their transparency, honesty and experience, as well as to whether you’re on the same wavelength.
If your advisor is transparent, honest and acts in your interest, you can be sure you’re in good hands. Such support will make financial decisions simpler and less stressful, and you’ll be able to focus on making your dreams come true.
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