In a crowded market where many borrowers still think of mortgage brokers as “loan arrangers,” Julian Choo (pictured) of Loan Market is quietly rewriting the job description.
Instead of seeing his role as ending at pre-approval, Choo positions himself as a coach and strategist, walking clients from first conversation all the way through to settlement – and often beyond. His approach reflects a broader shift in modern broking: from transactional, product-driven service to holistic guidance that helps buyers actually win – not just qualify.
Choo’s path into broking helps explain why he sees the role as so much more than getting a loan over the line.
“My finance journey started in 2017, but in many ways I’ve been building towards it since graduating in 2012,” the 2025 Australian Mortgage Awards excellence awardee says. “I've worked across both real estate and banking roles, which gave me a strong understanding of how property and finance decisions connect — and where people can unintentionally make expensive mistakes if they don’t have the right guidance.”
That combination of real estate and banking experience means Choo has seen deals from every angle: off-the-plan and established property sales, development finance, business banking, and private wealth. It’s given him a front‑row view of how buyers behave, how lenders think, and where things most commonly go wrong.
But the turning point wasn’t technical; it was personal.
“The moment I knew I wanted to move into broking was when I realised I didn’t just want to be involved in one part of the process — I wanted to support clients through the whole journey,” Choo says. “Not just securing a loan, but helping them understand their options, plan ahead, and make decisions that actually move them closer to their long-term goals.”
Choo sees mortgage broking as a platform to blend strategy, education, and advocacy in a way that simplifies complex decisions for everyday borrowers.
“I’ve always enjoyed taking complex information and making it feel clear and manageable, and mortgage broking gave me the platform to combine strategy, education, and advocacy in a way that genuinely benefits clients,” he says.
Rather than focusing purely on rates or products, he starts with where clients want to be in the long term: their lifestyle, goals, and appetite for risk. From there, finance becomes a tool – not the end goal.
At the core is a simple vision: “My vision is to make financing as simple and stress-free as possible,” Choo says.
One major regulatory change has accelerated this shift: Best Interests Duty (BID).
“It fundamentally changed what borrowers can expect from their broker,” Choo says.
He is clear about why BID matters: it draws a stark line between brokers and bankers.
“This development highlights a key difference borrowers don’t always realise: bankers don't have this obligation, whereas brokers are required to step back, compare options, and recommend what’s best for the client,” Choo says.
In a market where policy and pricing can change rapidly and fine print can carry long‑term consequences, that obligation to act in the client’s best interests makes the advisory, coaching‑style approach not just valuable – but necessary.
“BID has clarified our role, reinforced our value proposition, and cemented why brokers are often the best choice for borrowers: independent, duty-bound, and focused on outcomes that genuinely serve the client’s best interests over the long term,” Choo says.
Nowhere is Choo’s whole‑journey philosophy more visible than with first-home buyers – a group he says is especially vulnerable to “getting lost” between pre‑approval and purchase.
“We are currently dealing with a lot of first-home buyers since the 5% deposit scheme expansion took effect last year. A key challenge I see is that buyers often don’t know where to start — and many begin their journey with well-meaning but unhelpful advice,” he says.
Even when they do the hard work to secure pre‑approval, many are effectively left on their own.
“Even once they secure pre-approval, they’re frequently left to navigate the property market alone, relying on real estate agents and guesswork to bridge the gap between finance and actually buying a home,” Choo says.
That’s the gap he is obsessed with closing – and it’s where his role diverges most sharply from the traditional perception of a mortgage broker.
For Choo, the loan approval is the midpoint, not the finish line. He has built a service model that focuses on the decisions buyers make after finance is in place – the ones that can make or break their purchase and their confidence.
“The solution is to provide structured, practical support that helps clients move confidently from pre-approval to settlement,” he says.
That support doesn’t live in a brochure; it shows up in specific, practical ways. Choo says it ranges from “personalised coaching” to “guidance on negotiating offers, and education on strategic decision-making across both private treaty and auction campaigns,” all designed to help buyers through “the parts of the journey where most uncertainty and mistakes happen.”
From there, he breaks it into a few pillars. He helps clients set a clear buying strategy around their budget and timing, coaches them on pricing and when to walk away, and prepares them to bid confidently at auction. He also streamlines their search with targeted alerts on realestate.com.au and domain.com.au, and stays close from pre-approval to settlement so they keep moving instead of second‑guessing.
Taken together, that turns a lonely, stressful process into a guided journey – with the broker acting as strategist, negotiator and educator, not just a loan writer.
Offering that much hands‑on support requires capacity, and Choo is candid about the business challenge behind delivering a high‑touch model: you can’t do it alone forever.
“One of the most memorable experiences in my broking career was bringing on my first hire,” he says.
Like many brokers, he started out doing everything himself – client meetings, lender conversations, paperwork, and processing. The turning point came when he realised that trying to sustain that while also scaling his impact was unsustainable.
“What I learned is that waiting until you’re overwhelmed is too late. If you hire only when you’re already at capacity, you’re making the decision under pressure — your turnaround times slip, your client experience suffers, and you end up reacting instead of leading,” Choo says.
His key lesson is one that many growing brokers can relate to:
“The lesson was clear: hire before the need becomes urgent. Even a part-time or staged support role can create immediate leverage — freeing you up to focus on high-value work like client strategy, relationship building, and business development,” Choo says.
For those entering the industry, Choo’s guidance mirrors the way he works with clients: practical, honest, and focused on long‑term success.
First, he encourages new brokers to embrace sheer volume of interaction.
“Have more conversations — Early on, your biggest advantage isn’t having the perfect script or the deepest product knowledge, it’s volume and consistency,” Choo says.
He wants new brokers to stop fearing rejection and instead see it as proof they’re in the arena.
“Stop fearing the ‘no’ and start collecting them. Every ‘no’ means you’re doing the work and moving closer to the next ‘yes.’ The brokers who win long-term are the ones who can handle rejection, take feedback without ego, and keep showing up daily,” Choo says.
Second, he’s a strong advocate for specialising.
“Get exceptionally good by choosing a niche and dominating it — broking becomes much easier when you stop trying to be everything to everyone,” Choo says.
By seeing similar scenarios repeatedly, brokers can deepen expertise, speed up decision‑making, and become the go‑to name for a particular type of client or scenario.
Finally, Choo stresses the importance of showing up as an educator – and as yourself.
“Be unapologetically yourself and shout it from the rooftops — The best brokers of tomorrow are not just ‘loan arrangers’, they’re trusted educators. Be consistent in how you show up, communicate, and educate on socials — because our style becomes our brand,” he says.
It’s a fitting summary of the way he’s repositioning the broker role: visible, educational, and deeply client‑centred.
Get the hottest and freshest mortgage news delivered right into your inbox. Subscribe now to our FREE daily newsletter.
