"A broker for what?" It is with a touch of provocation that Crédit Agricole Languedoc puts its feet in the dish. In an article published on its site, the Caisse Régionale, located in the departments of Aude, Gard, Hérault and Lozère, questions its clients about the role of the mortgage broker, "an intermediary, and in no case a decision maker ”.
If many banks would like to do without brokers, they have become over the years almost unavoidable. "37% of French people used a broker for their mortgage in 2019, an increase of 8 points since 2015 and which even climbs to 67% among 18-34 year olds", according to a recent OpinionWay survey for the broker Vousfinancer. However, with the persistently low interest rates, their usefulness is called into question. Decryption.
Application fees, broker's commission: negotiate
In most cases, a real estate broker invoices his client for fees of approximately 1% of the amount of the loan obtained, a sum that varies according to the amount of the loan that many brokers cap (around € 3,000). In 2019, the average amount of a mortgage amounted to almost € 173,000, according to the French Prudential Supervisory Authority (ACPR), which represents brokerage fees of nearly € 1,700. An amount that should not be hesitated to negotiate.
"With us, these costs amounted to € 1,575 on average in 2019 for an average loan of € 194,174," said Sandrine Allonier, director of bank relations at Vousfinancer. In comparison, a bank only claims administrative fees (varying from € 1,000 to € 2,500), which are also negotiable. Note that the broker only gets paid if the loan is signed, which is the case for 20% to 50% of the files only, because not all of them succeed.
Remember to take into account borrower insurance
The average interest rate remained low in January, at 1.13% (excluding insurance), according to the Housing Credit Observatory / CSA. "In this context, what can be the flexibility of a broker? How can you be sure to save at least the brokerage fees? ", Launches a banker, before concluding that there would be" more interest to go through a broker ".
A point of view which is obviously disputed by the main stakeholders. "A borrower saves on average € 9,000 by changing borrower insurance through us, this represents a gain of € 50 per month," says Astrid Cousin, spokesperson for the comparator Magnolia.fr.
Competition or relationship of trust
The advantage of using a broker is to use competition between banks to get the most competitive interest rate. "Impossible for a broker to list all the banks, so you will never have the best offer on the market, but the best offer from your broker," warns a banker. It is essential that a broker has a large number of banks in the portfolio and is volume.
Like Crédit Agricole du Languedoc, other banks could decide to stop working with all or certain brokers ... "It's always possible, but very unlikely," says a broker. A few years ago, a large bank boycotted us, but it quickly came back to us because we could not offer our services and were unable to recruit a large number of customers. "
In terms of services, the broker is responsible for "putting together" a file, that is to say, to constitute the credit request, to propose it to the banks and to negotiate with them the lowest rate for the loan as for borrower insurance.
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“The broker helps to compare rate offers, but not only; it supports you in the field throughout the entire financing process: rates, insurance, guarantee, ”recalls Maël Bernier, spokesperson for Meilleurtaux. No need to be put in competition with other establishments to "offer the same support while favoring the relationship of trust around the rate most suited to the client's profile," says a banker.
In fact, future borrowers often have an interest in handling both the broker's sting and the argument of loyalty to their bank. And to judge on pieces.
Frictions between brokers and bankers
We often ignore it, but a broker does not only charge fees to his private clients; he also invoices the bank issuing the credit. "This commission is between 0.8% to 1%," said a broker. And in the case where the client comes from a business provider - promoter or real estate agent -, the broker gives him a share of this percentage, about half (0.3% to 0.5%). This is at least the rule in force until now. And it could evolve in the coming weeks, because the banking establishments are very up.
"The fact that brokers are paid on both sides is very annoying for banks, who do not make much money on the mortgage they produce in this period of low rates," said a banker under anonymity. It is all the more annoying for the banks that, because of these low rates, customers are no longer shy about going through their door in order to take out or renegotiate a loan. “What is the point of paying an intermediary if customers come naturally to us? "Asks an exasperated banker.
It is in this tense context that several banks have called since the beginning of the year brokers to renegotiate their agreements downwards. Instead of traditionally paying almost 1% of the loan amount in commission per transaction, the banks propose to lower their remuneration, depending on the establishment, between 0.3% to 0.8%. Some brokers have already accepted this drop in exchange for an annual volume of insured loans. But many major national players firmly refuse to do so. Negotiations continue behind the scenes ... Whatever the outcome, it should hardly impact the client. It seems unlikely that brokers will increase their fees to compensate for the loss of commissions paid by banks.