First, Tania: Quite simply, a complete, caring professional. I am not sure where on the spectrum the amount of work she did to get us into our current home falls in her professional career (mind-blowingly easy, somewhat challenging, borderline impossible…), but to us it literally meant the world. The reason we came back to her (and Astute) is because of the level of care and attention she gave us–we don’t feel like a number, an account, a bottom line, or a percentage point. I would recommend her (and go back to her for advice) again and again and again; when we found ourselves in the position to invest and/or buy again, our first thought was we needed to talk to Tania before doing literally anything else.

Building on that, Astute: Again, I would (and do) recommend them to anyone when talk of buying a home or investing comes up. Long story short, I work for a guy named Scotty Garden, and there is very little under the Earth’s sun I would not do for him; ergo I take his advice on anything as gospel. When I causally mentioned a few years back that Michelle and I were thinking of buying a house, he enthusiastically recommended we talk to John Watts at Cairns Home Loans and we did, and John gave us solid, practical advice: Save a bit more and come back to us. And we did, because he looked after us as people (again not an account). He could have talked us into buying something we couldn’t afford, or buying something we didn’t really want, or (as one local branch of an unnamed John Symond-run group told us) we were grumpily told it was “unrealistic” to think of buying a home in our position. Working in tourism/hospitality, I appreciate the personal attention, as well as helping a local business continue doing what it does well.

Sorry to gush, but Michelle and I really do hold you and your whole team in the highest regard. Thank you again, and I will [not] try to stay out of trouble.

Russell & Michelle, Cairns

I had no understanding of how the insurance side of Astute worked. After my first visit with Peta I was blown away with how she explained everything to me. And what I didn’t understand she was happy to take the extra time to explain them again. I felt she was very thorough and when I left I was able to think about what suited my needs to make a decision on how I wanted to proceed. Thanks Peta for advice.

Michelle, Redlynch

I’ve given a lot of thought to feedback I can give to help improve our experience with Gus and Astute and I, honestly, cannot think of any.  However, I would like to share the positive experience we’ve had.

Gus is always honest and realistic about expectations – two things that are critical when buying a home.  This was our third home purchase through Gus and I’m disappointed that we’ve spent all our money and won’t be in a position to work with Gus again for quite a while.  When I say he’s honest, I don’t just mean with facts and figures, but he’s also honest about what he does not know.  For example, we received an unexpected letter from CommBank regarding our current mortgage right in the middle of our application process for the new mortgage.   Gus was honest that he had not seen one of those before and promised to get back to us as soon as he knew what was happening.  He chased it up and had a response that day.  I’d much rather have those approaches over a fast talker who simply says, “Yep, leave it with me”.

Gus sets realistic expectations with what the bank may or may not do so that there are never any surprises.  I also appreciate how he knows that when he speaks to me, I’m a bit more nervous than my husband, so he always takes the extra time to walk me through it and ensure I’m comfortable.  I never feel pressured into making decisions, but I always feel well informed and that Gus has provided me with all the details required to make the tough decisions.  A specific example of this is when Gus proposed to use as much of our cash and leverage less equity in other properties as a more conservative approach based on our prior discussions.  I asked him to re-run the numbers with leveraging all equity and allowing us to keep the cash in the offset account.  Gus objectively ran me through the risks and benefits of each approach and then immediately provided the figures.  I was able to weigh up both options and then choose either without feeling any pressure.  Another example is when I proposed to finance the costs of the renovations and Gus walked me through that process objectively, but in the context of our personal financial goals.

Gus has a great balance of being easy going and extremely proactive during a stressful time.  When dealing with real estate agents, solicitors, inspectors, etc. they all have a tone of extreme urgency and can add to the stress.  Gus always listens first, and then calmly responds without emotion or pressure.  His clear thinking and calm approach is exactly what’s needed when making such a huge financial decision.

Having Gus’s direct mobile and email also help to make the process such a positive one.  Our negotiations occurred over the Christmas break, so I was not bothering Gus with the details until we had a final agreement.  Gus knew this was happening and he still gave us a call during that week to make sure we were doing ok and didn’t need anything from him.  He was on holiday with his family when he called and I really feel that was unnecessarily going above and beyond, but at the same time, it was so appreciated.  Most of our business can easily be addressed during normal business hours, but it is such a relief to know that if something pops up on the weekend when we are out looking for houses, Gus is only a phone call away.

While this was our third home purchase, we’ve had a few other home loan approval applications for offers that weren’t accepted.  Gus applies the same level of commitment and professionalism each time, even though he knows that the contract may not go through and the approval may expire without us actually going under contract.  He’s never made me feel like we were wasting his time.  In fact, when I raised concerns about continuing to apply for approval without having an offer to make, he reassured me that we were well within reason and he’d let me know if the banks had concerns with the continued approval requests.

We’ve purchased both at auction and through the conditional contract process.  Gus walked us through both processes and gave us the confidence to know when to bid at auction, and when to buy conditional upon receiving approval for financing.

When the company switched from Cairns Home Loans to Astute, my husband and I moaned that our personalised service was about to become ‘corporate’.  I was worried that it wouldn’t feel like we were dealing with a local business anymore.  Luckily, none of those concerns were valid and the experience hasn’t changed at all – except that we now get to visit the amazing new office 🙂

We’ve recommended Gus many times and will continue to do so.  When I speak to friends and colleagues about their experiences with getting a mortgage, they always seem surprised by the exceptional service we receive from Gus and his team.

Michelle Masiello, Cairns

Astute are very professional & helpful. Would recommend these guys to anyone looking at refinancing or purchasing. Started with this team when they were in their little office, my how they have grown. Special thanks to Verena for all her help but all the staff are wonderful and great with the little ones as well 🙂 Thanks heaps.

Renee Melville, Cairns

First time we have used a mortgage broker and we will both recommend Billie.

All the staff at Astute are very professional and genuinely interested in making it easy – would be great to get this service everywhere I go 🙂

I give them two thumbs up! I always feel comfortable visiting the office because I know I’m in good hands!

Cara, Smithfield

My husband and I went to Astute today, firstly met with Shae at the front reception and had a chat with her. It was lovely to chat with such a friendly happy lady who made us feel welcome.

We went upstairs and met with John Watts for some financial advice. We have known John Watts for over 10 years now, and truly admire his honesty and ‘no beating around the bush business eiquette’. We would highly recommend anyone requiring financial advice and/or a financial bank loan to not look any further than that of the ASTUTE team. 🙂 Thanks Astute….

Kymmie Corbell, Cairns

Simon is fantastic! He explains and explains again if you don’t understand. He has helped us on a couple of occasions now and seriously, I wouldn’t go anywhere else or to anyone else.

Kaz, Cooya Beach