Not All Advice Is Created Equal
Most people assume that all mortgage advice is basically the same.
That if someone’s qualified and trying their best, they’ll get you the right outcome
The quality of advice doesn’t always just come down to effort. It comes down to experience, exposure and whether the advisor knew what to look for in the first place.
Pete Mugleston
Managing Director
And the problem is this
- You might not find out what was missed until it’s too late
- You may never find out
Channel expertise isn’t a buzzword – it’s a fundamentally different way of giving advice that solves missteps most people don’t even realise they’re walking into.
The risk of not using a channel expert is real.
What is a Channel Expert?
Note
A channel expert is an advisor who specialises exclusively in any specific subset of the mortgage market – what we call a “channel”.
They’re not just comfortable with the complexity. They’re immersed in it.
It’s not something they occasionally work on. That’s all they do – day in, day out. Which means helping people in your situation isn’t just something they can do. It’s second nature.
Channel expertise isn’t just a title – it’s a standard.
To be recognised as a channel expert within our model, an advisor must:
- Demonstrate consistent success within their specific area
- Pass deep knowledge assessments on lender criteria and channel-specific patterns
- Maintain real relationships with key lender BDMs and underwriters
- Score a minimum AdvisorScore of 4.5 stars
- Maintain an approval rate significantly above the industry average
- Participate in ongoing training and market discussions
- Customer-orientated KPIs managed tightly – anybody falling below expectations after initial support will be removed
- Have success rates 2x above the average for the mortgage network we belong to
- Contribute to guides, videos, and market insights
All of this is overseen by a senior leadership team with 15+ years of experience building and coaching high-performing mortgage advisors.
Because they’re so embedded in their channel, they don’t waste time figuring out where to start or which lenders might be open to it – they already know. Their time goes where it counts:
- They already know what might to go wrong – and will take proactive steps to mitigate setbacks
- They know which lenders are suitable and which are a waste of time
- Pushing for that best-case, edge-case mortgage deal that’s the best possible outcome
- Catching nuances others wouldn’t know to look for
They don’t start from scratch. They start from experience.
They also stay right at the front of the market. Lender criteria changes constantly – and no tool or database can fully reflect what’s actually going on in practice. But a channel expert lives it. They know the difference between what a lender says on paper and how they really behave in the real world.
The benefits are self-reinforcing: because they’re more accurate, things go wrong less often. And because they’re not constantly firefighting, they have more time to stay sharp, keep their knowledge at the forefront and deliver great advice.
They’re also not working in isolation. Our channel experts collaborate closely with each other – keeping each other at the top of their game
We hold them to a high standard. This isn’t a “free for all” – it’s a deliberate built service model. No one becomes a channel expert with us without being vetted and proven.
And they don’t just help our customers – they shape the content on our site too, to make sure what we publish reflects what’s really happening on the ground.
The result: real answers, fewer missteps, and better outcomes
Speak to an expert
Get The Right Expert For You
We don’t triage customers based on availability alone. We triage to ensure the right advisor sees the case.
If your situation fits a single channel:
- You’ll be matched with a channel expert who lives and breathes that space
- Or you can browse expert profiles and book with someone directly
If your situation spans multiple channels:
- We’ll check for advisors who are cross-specialised
- If we can’t cover both within one person, we’ll assign a primary expert based on the most complex or risk-prone part
- A secondary advisor will support on the remaining issues
The experience is still seamless. The support is just more focused.
Not everyone who handles tricky situations is a specialist. Here’s how to spot the difference when you’re speaking to one:
They stay calm under pressure.
Even if you’re describing something unusual or fraught, they won’t sound surprised or thrown. They will have seen it before – or something very close to it.
They start with the right questions.
For example, if you asked about buying a prefab property, a true specialist might immediately ask about the year of build, whether it’s been reinforced, and if the adjoining properties have been too. That’s not guesswork – it’s second-nature, depth of knowledge. Whilst others might say “Let me go and do some research and come back to you,” a specialist is already filtering options in their head during the first call.
They give you a clear picture, fast.
By the end of the first chat, you’ll have a ballpark idea of rates, repayments, and maximum borrowing. If anything’s missing, they’ll explain exactly what you need to find out, why it matters, and how it could impact your options – not just that it’s needed.
Generalist advisors tend to deal with more straightforward applications – and often, that’s all they see. When something unusual comes up, they may not recognise the issue at all, or know where to start.
They may try to help a little: they do a bit of research, call a few lenders, send off an application and see what happens.
But that guesswork can be risky. It can mean:
- Apply and hope for the best rejections and unnecessary credit checks
- Last-minute failures that leave people in limbo
- Being wrongly told “you can’t get a mortgage” when the real answer is “I can’t get you a mortgage”
- Paying for more every month than you need to
And the customer never knows what they missed!
Open Door Advisors
Open-Door advisors do better – they don’t say no often, ‘have a go’ and to help whoever comes through the door. They will focus on tricky cases and are more comfortable navigating complexity.
But their experience is usually spread across lots of different types of problems. So while they might know about your situation, it’s rarely something they deal with every day.
They’re often willing to “have a go” at anything – which sounds helpful, but can mean they spend time figuring things out on your case, rather than knowing it inside out from the start. And you might end up paying a high fee for their learning curve.
They’re not generalists – they’re helpers. They often consider themselves to be specialists, but in reality their expertise is scattered.
This is what we see time and time again:
Paying higher interest or deposit than you should
- We regularly find out from customers asking for a second opinion from us and find they’ve been quoted a deal at a much higher interest rate than is necessary.
- At other times, these same borrowers get told they need to pay much more deposit than is actually necessary. This can sometimes mean they end up waiting to save up to buy a house, completely unnecessarily.
Missed opportunities and wrong answers
- They miss better rates or options because the advisor didn’t know they existed
- Customers get told “you can’t get a mortgage” – when the truth is “I don’t know how to get you one”
- A generalist may try a few obvious lenders, give up, and assume there’s nothing else
False hope and unnecessary rejections
- Applications sent without truly understanding the criteria, leading to rejections
- Unnecessary credit checks that could’ve been avoided
- A fragile approval that later falls apart when underwritten properly
Delays and last-minute breakdowns
- Problems aren’t spotted early, so they crop up at the worst possible time
- Stress and disappointment when things fall apart after hopes have been raised
Time and emotional cost
- Customers are left confused, stuck, or forced to start again from scratch
- Emotional whiplash from being given hope, then dropped without a clear answer
- Judgement or a lack of understanding of you and your needs
Advisors working outside their lane and charging high fees
- Customers become the test case – the learning curve happens on their time
- “Open-Door Advisors” who dabble across too many areas often charge higher fees to justify the extra research – but still don’t have the depth of a true expert
Following the wrong rules entirely
- An advisor who isn’t familiar with that world may stick to standard processes when the rules no longer apply
- As a result, the customer misses access to private lenders, tailored solutions, or faster approvals they were fully eligible for
- For example: some customers qualify as “high net worth” in a lender’s eyes – and that changes everything. But the vast majority of advisors don’t even know that or, if they do, where to begin looking.
And the worst part?
Most borrowers (and advisors) are completely unaware of the size of this problem.
A generalist may work hard. A specialist may have good instincts.
But only a channel expert has seen your situation play out, over and over again – and knows what to do on the first phone call.
We didn’t stumble into this approach. We built it deliberately – because we saw the damage vague or mismatched advice can cause.
When we started, we trained every advisor ourselves. We kept the bar high. Pete, our founder, led training personally.
As we grew, we lost some of that. We became a network of good people – but stretched too wide across too many types of cases.
So we made a decision:
- To go back to our roots
- To form our own brokerage
- To take full control – and rebuild around the thing we believed in from day one: the right advice, from the right person, for everybody.
People deserve better than close-enough advice. This is our way of delivering it.
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The guides, explainers and tools on this website are shaped and reviewed by the same channel experts who handle real cases every day.
You’ll see experts listed as a reviewer next to the author – not just as a name, but as the expert reviewer.
Their job is to make sure everything is accurate, current, and genuinely useful.
- They don’t just check the facts.
- They flag what’s missing.
- They push us to highlight their unique insights more clearly.
- They spot the “yes, but…” edge cases that most sites leave out.
We’re not outsourcing accuracy, we’re ensuring it.
And we plan to do much more.
Soon, they’ll be adding market updates, answering customer questions directly in content, and appearing on video – so you can hear insight straight from the source.
We’re not trying to write like the experts. We’re writing with them.
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Frequently Asked Questions
That’s common – and we’re set up for it.
First, we’ll check if we have a channel expert who covers both areas. Some do (though we still limit this to keep their focus sharp).
If not, we’ll assign your primary advisor based on the most complex or high-risk part of your case – and they’ll bring in support from a second expert for the rest.
They work together closely, so you still get one joined-up experience with no gaps in knowledge.
We usually assign the right expert for your situation – based on the details you share.
But if you’d rather choose for yourself, you can.
All of our channel experts have public profiles, and you’re welcome to contact them directly or book into their calendars.
Either way, the goal is the same: getting you the right advice from the right person.
It’s a fair question. If channel expertise leads to better outcomes – why don’t all brokerages work this way?
In short: because it’s harder.
A more generalist approach is easier to manage. They’re flexible. You can plug any advisor into any case, and keep things moving – even if it’s not the best match for the customer.
Building a team of true channel experts is harder. It means:
- Turning down the idea of “one-size-fits-all”
- Doing something slower, more complex, and more deliberate
- Letting go of efficiency in favour of fit
It also means giving up control. Most advisors in this space are self-employed – and many firms are hesitant to set high standards or enforce consistent processes. Everyone works differently. There’s no shared playbook.
Call any firm and ask the person on the phone:
“Who’s your go-to person for timber framed properties?”
They won’t be able to answer.
We wanted to do better than that. So we built a model that trades flexibility for focus – because that’s what actually helps people.
Because high fees don’t always mean high expertise.
Some advisors charge more because they need to – they’re researching as they go, figuring out lenders and criteria on your time. You’re paying for their learning curve.
Channel experts don’t work that way
- They already know the lenders.
- They already know what’s possible.
- Their time is spent pushing for the best outcome – not finding their footing.
As a general rule
- We may charge a fee, depending on the complexity of your case
- We usually cost more than generalist advisors (some of whom are “free” but often can’t justify the time or effort for complex cases)
- We’re often cheaper than Open-Door Advisors – because we’re not spending hours researching or experimenting. We’ve already done the work hundreds of times before.
We charge fairly, based on the work involved – and we’re always transparent about it upfront.
Yes! We’re always keen to hear from brilliant advisors who are passionate about doing things properly. If you’re an employed or self-employed mortgage advisor looking for a new opportunity, email [email protected] to ge the ball rolling.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to join a fast-growing but experienced business and a great environment to thrive in your career.
However – we’re very selective and have an unwavering commitment to customer outcomes. Unlike some other firms, it’s not a “free-for-all”.
We have a rigorous vetting process, and only work with advisors who share our high standards for process, service, and care. If that sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you.