A Melbourne-based mortgage broker has launched The Brokers Bible – an online membership platform designed to support and empower mortgage brokers in Australia.
Available now with further expansions expected in 2024, the mortgage platform offers a vast library of policy and lender information, tools, and resources, providing support and added value to mortgage broking businesses across Australia.
“This platform serves as a valuable source of truth for brokers at all stages of their careers,” mortgage broker Katherine Persoglia (pictured above) said during a recent podcast with AB Talk.
“Updated daily with new content, The Brokers Bible aims to save brokers time, enhance their knowledge, and enable them to provide exceptional service to their clients.”
Property Before Prada: Persoglia’s focus on empowering women
From a young age, property and finance held a special place in Persoglia's heart.
At 19, she became a homeowner, sparking a passion that would guide her career path. In 2002, she turned this passion into a reality, starting her own mortgage franchise.
Five years ago, a shift occurred when Persoglia observed a growing trend of instant gratification and fleeting materialism in social media culture. This ignited a new mission: empowering women through financial education.
Through her brokerage, Property Before Prada, Persoglia shifted away from simply facilitating mortgages, instead focusing on educating women about making smart financial choices.
She encouraged them to prioritise investments like property over fleeting trends, reminding them, “you can still invest and wear Prada, but you need to get your priorities straight”.
Her efforts have been transformative, guiding hundreds of women towards financial stability and independence through informed property ownership.
Now, armed with invaluable insights into women's financial needs and aspirations, Persoglia is returning her focus to the broader broking industry, ready to contribute to its growth and ensure brokers have the tools to help others reach a secure future.
“There's a big opportunity for brokers to be a role model and help to mentor others in the community so that they can make some good financial decisions, especially when they're younger.”
The Brokers Bible: Mortgage tool designed to reduce workload
With over two decades’ experience as a mortgage broker, Persoglia knows firsthand the ever-increasing burden of compliance and paperwork.
“We need compliance, but the additional work involved in putting together an application is extensive,” Persoglia said. “As we scale our businesses, we wear so many hats – we’re brokers, business owners, HR personnel, accountants, marketers, and it can be overwhelming.”
Recognising the precious resource of time, Persoglia, juggling her own business, team, and personal life, realised something had to give. This realisation led to the birth of The Brokers Bible: a platform designed to address the major time-consuming tasks for brokers.
Specifically, it tackles the time spent researching lender policies and contacting BDMs to find the right fit for each client’s scenario.
“I wanted to fill that gap and provide a trusted, reliable, and accurate tool that's not only valuable to brokers but also their support teams,” Persoglia said. The Brokers Bible already contains policy information for more than 100 residential lenders, including different scenarios.
“Basically, you can go in and type in a search word and it will bring up a plethora of lenders that have an appetite for that particular policy,” Persoglia said.
Unlike other platforms that will bring up policy information regardless of whether the lender will do it or not, The Brokers Bible only displays information that the lender will accept in that scenario.
“We cut through the mountains of information and deliver accurate, lender-specific results in seconds,” Persoglia said. “Our team updates this data daily, eliminating the need for you to sift through pages of information or waste time on phone calls with BDMs and hotlines.”
What does The Brokers Bible have in store for 2024?
While the platform's initial focus is on residential loans, which was released on October 31, Persoglia hopes to expand it across commercial business assets, solicitor funds, private lending, and development funding in 2024.
“We want to ensure we nail this platform first,” said Persoglia. “The initial emphasis is on getting residential right, and then we will expand to include these other funding types.”
Persoglia said the process had already begun to create a short educational for each policy in The Brokers Bible.
The videos are designed to assist and guide brokers, CSMs, and support staff, Persoglia said.
“Each video is concise, lasting around 20 to 30 seconds, providing essential information for a particular scenario. This additional resource is intended to ensure that users are equipped with the right knowledge before submitting a loan application to the bank.”
To hear more about The Brokers Bible and the additional resources it provides brokers, click here to listen to the full interview with Katherine Persoglia on AB Talk.
