Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), one of the UK's leading mortgage advice services has agreed a partnership with West Wales Properties, the largest, independent sales and letting agency in the region.
The agreement comes after a series of talks between the two companies as MAB sought to grow their network of partners and access different markets.
David Lewis, director of MAB Swansea said, "While the regional head office remains in Swansea, we have been actively looking to expand our business west into Carmarthenshire and this partnership unlocks the entire region for us thanks to West Wales Properties extensive network of offices."
The Partnership will see a West Wales sub-brand of MAB as well as team members located in several of the property agents offices, something that was an appeal to Alison Richards, Sales Director at West Wales Properties.
"We are frequently asked for mortgage advice," said Alison,"and we are always referring people to banks and other mortgage providers, so to now have the ability to offer mortgage advice "in-house" from any of our 10 branches is a real game changer for us."
A significant benefit of the partnership will be MAB's unique estate agency portal which allows agents to log-in and see the progress of the mortgage application in real time.
Neil Evans, owner of West Wales Properties commented, "We pride ourselves on the excellent customer service we offer and integral to this is regular communication between buyers and sellers, so the portal will allow us to give more accurate communication to keep everyone in the loop."
The deal will also see West Wales Properties help more customers from different financial backgrounds thanks to MAB's whole-of-market service.
Richard Hullin, director of MAB Swansea said, "Unlike some lenders, we are not restricted to a handful of mortgage products but have direct access to hundreds of regulated mortgage providers, including specialist lenders who work with self-employed individuals or those who are first-time buyers."
This whole-of-market access also increases the speed of the mortgage process, so the time between mortgage application and an offer is usually a few days, sometimes a few hours, and this speed will be a key feature of West Wales Properties as the business continues to grow.
"We have over 40 staff in 10 branches across the region from Llanelli to Cardigan in addition to Pembrokeshire and operate 7-days-a-week," said Neil, "and we are always looking at new ways to improve our business and the service we offer to our customers, so the partnership with MAB is a great step forward for us and one I'm sure will be fruitful."