Red flags to watch for when you're getting quoted (we've seen it all)

Most finance brokers in Australia are decent operators doing their best for their clients. Some aren't. The distance between the two groups isn't always obvious from the outside, especially if you've never had to compare brokers before.

What follows is a short list of lines we've heard from competitors over the years that should make you close the laptop, end the call, or walk out of the office. Each of them is a marker for a deeper problem — either with the broker's incentives, their competence, or their honesty.

1. "We can definitely get you approved. Just sign the application."

A confident broker is a good thing. A broker who promises approval before they've seen your bank statements, your credit file, or the asset details is not confident. They're either guessing or, more often, working a volume model where every applicant gets sent to a lender and the broker keeps whichever ones approve.

That model bleeds your credit file. Each lender enquiry leaves a footprint, and a string of footprints in a short window is itself a flag to the next lender. Brokers playing the spray-and-pray game can wreck a clean credit profile in a fortnight.

A good broker tells you the truth: "Based on what you've sent me, here's the range I expect, and here are the lenders I'd target for your profile." They don't promise — they assess.

2. "Don't worry about the comparison rate. The interest rate is what matters."

This is the line of someone hoping you won't notice the fees. The comparison rate exists specifically because the interest rate alone is misleading — it's a regulated number designed to express the all-in cost of the loan.

A broker steering you away from the comparison rate is steering you away from information that would help you make the decision. There's no good reason for that.

3. "I'll get you a great rate — just trust me, you don't need to see the other quotes."

Asset finance is competitive. If a broker is genuinely getting you a great rate, they have nothing to hide by showing you the alternatives. The line "you don't need to see them" is almost always a sign that the alternatives would be unflattering.

The fix is simple: ask for the comparison. A broker should be able to show you the two or three lenders they've considered, the rates and structures each offered, and the reasoning for the one they're recommending. If they can't (or won't), you're in a one-lender pipeline, not a market.

4. "There's a small documentation fee — it's standard."

The doc fee on most asset finance deals sits in a band of about $300–$595. "Standard" is genuinely a range, but a broker quoting $900, $1,200, or $1,500 and waving you off with "it's standard" is either misinformed or hoping you don't ask.

Always ask for the doc fee as a separate line item, in writing. If it's at the top of the range, ask what's included. There are legitimate reasons for higher fees (complex structures, specialist assets, multi-asset deals), but they should be explainable, not waved away.

5. "Settlement has to happen by the end of the week or the rate disappears."

Rate-expiry tactics belong on cars at a Boxing Day sale, not on asset finance. Lenders do reprice — sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly — but the difference between a Tuesday and a Friday settlement is almost never the difference between "great rate" and "rate gone."

A broker pressuring you to sign in 48 hours because the rate will "disappear" is usually pressuring you because they've got a month-end target, a referral relationship to maintain, or a deal they're worried will fall over if you take it to a second opinion.

The honest version is "the rate I quoted you is valid for the next 14 days, and if there's a market move it might shift slightly, but it won't disappear." Anything more urgent than that is a sales tactic.

And one bonus: the silent red flag

The last one isn't a line. It's the absence of one.

If your broker hasn't asked you any of:

• How long has your ABN been active?
• Is your BAS up to date?
• What's the asset, who's the dealer, and what's the price?
• Are there any marks on your credit file you know about?
• What's the purpose of the asset — pure business, mixed use, or personal?

...then they're not doing the work. They're filling in an application template and sending it somewhere.

A good broker spends 10–15 minutes on a real conversation before they touch a lender. A bad one spends 90 seconds on a form. The difference shows up in the approval rate, the rate you're offered, and the bumps along the way.

What a good broker does instead

To put a positive frame on it — when you're talking to a broker who knows what they're doing:

• They ask about your bank statements, ABN history, and asset details before they quote anything
• They tell you the range you should expect, not a single magic number
• They show you the comparison rate alongside the headline rate
• They walk you through the doc fee, the term, the balloon, and the security registration
• They name the lenders they're targeting and explain why
• They tell you which deals they think you should walk away from, not just which ones they think will approve

The standard is honestly not that high — but it's higher than the bottom of the market reaches.

If you've got a quote from a broker that looks off and you want a second opinion, tap any asset on the home page or drop us a line. We'll look at your current deal and tell you straight whether it's competitive, fair, or worth walking from.