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Rawson sets up their own mortgage division

2008-05-13

In a move that is likely to have reverberations throughout the real estate industry, Rawson Properties announced this week that they have decided to go it alone on mortgage bond origination and are setting up a new division, Rawson Finance, to provide this service.

According to the MD of Rawson Properties, Tony Clarke, this new division will provide in-house mortgage origination services for all Rawson clients, affording clients peace of mind because their transaction is being looked after in its entirety. The service also gives Rawson franchises and agents the ability to receive bond commissions unmatched in the industry.

Group Chairman, Bill Rawson, said this new evolution of the Rawson brand is a pivotal step in a growth strategy aimed at taking Rawson to its bold targets.

“The Rawson Finance offering has reinvented our franchise model, making it even more lucrative for our franchisees and agents, without taking anything away from our clients. In fact, the new offering empowers us to take even greater care of our clients and their transactions.”

Rawson Finance, said Rawson, is working in collaboration with origination giant, Betterbond.

Rawson MD, Tony Clarke, said that the motivation behind this move had been the dissatisfaction of agents throughout his group who had found that, after working hard for, and giving a personalised one-on-one service to, the client, there was a tendency for the clients to be treated as “mere numbers” when they applied to the big brand mortgage originators.

“We want to be able to tell our clients that we are right beside them fighting to achieve the best bonds in the quickest time. This will be far easier when handling with origination in-house, i.e. in an operation over which we have complete control.”

Clarke said that the group’s relationship with the banks had always been a good one and Rawson Finance is in a position to campaign on a client’s behalf.

“Previously, we had to rely on a different brand for our mortgage needs. This meant that the service and success levels could not be properly controlled. We believed it was time to ensure that the client got the service levels and turnaround times that they would expect when dealing with the Rawson Group,” Clarke said.

The division, he added, would facilitate the creation of a database of pre-qualified purchasers and this would expedite the buying and selling process, to the benefit of all Rawson clients.

“In the tighter market now evident,” he said, “the seller has sometimes to sell his home several times before he finds a buyer who qualifies for a bond. With the originator now working closely with the agent to achieve the same end, first offers are certain to be more successful.”

Clarke added that Rawsons had found that the purchaser was sometimes not guided correctly in his choice of other products, such as insurance, credit life and life insurance.

“We will now be able to advise the client a holistic approach to his investment.”

The Rawson origination team, he said, will handle all Rawson Properties sales in all franchises.

Rawson Finance will be based in Rondebosch, Cape Town and will have regional support structures nationally. The team is headed up by Gavin Zinn and Vivienne Ferguson who both have extensive banking industry experience.

“Each member of the Rawson Finance team has been hand-picked and identified as an industry champion. With our collective experience of over 100 years in the banking and property finance arena, the client should, we believe, feel there is only one choice for mortgage finance and property-related services,” said Zinn. “The plan is to grow Rawson Finance into a fully operational Call Centre, offering a bouquet of products and services to their client base, so that the consumer deals only with one brand from start to finish of the property transaction.”

According to Zinn, the South African origination industry currently relies on one of two strategies: the “secure channel strategy” or the “roaming model”.

“Rawson Finance brings to the market another dimension, which is far superior to the current market options. The difference lies in the totally focussed approach made possible by the branding of the model. The Rawson Group can now make a one-off, one-brand offering to their franchises and their clients, and this will enhance their whole property purchase experience.”