Philippines gets new mortgage brokerage platform started by Australian National

Chris Elder, who moved from Australia to the Philippines nearly a decade ago, has developed one of the first mortgage brokerages in the country—a platform that is expected to elevate the Filipino real estate sector even higher.

“We help you compare banks, side by side. We help you secure the best bank for you and your circumstance,” says Chris Elder, the Founder and CEO of Nook Asia Pacific Limited, a company based in Eastwood, Quezon City.

Nook Asia Pacific Limited is a property financial technology company that helps Filipinos find, compare loan products and experience a seamless loan application process online. It serves as an intermediary between mortgage loan applicants and banks. Mortgage refers to a loan secured by an individual from a bank to purchase a house, land or condominium unit.

“Our model is based on mortgage brokering which globally is a multi-billion-dollar industry. What we are simply doing is bringing an already existing successful model to the Philippines. This is not new. We are not inventing anything new. We just bring it to the Philippines, and we are adding technology to make it much quicker and easier,” he says.

He says Filipinos are still intimidated to start their home loan search because of various reasons, including not knowing whether they are qualified to borrow from any of the local banks for a housing loan. Nook, therefore, was designed to make applying for a home loan simpler and easier through its website, which allows users to evaluate the most optimal loan option for their target properties. 

“Applying for a home loan here in the Philippines can be a tedious and intimidating process. Before prospective clients even begin, they are already overwhelmed with the long list of requirements or the time they need to set aside to accomplish all the application steps. We aim to address this with Nook. We offer users an end-to-end platform, from property search to bank approvals, empowering more Filipinos to gain seamless access to financial options available to them,” he says.

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