The Boat Shows are coming- ring Finlease!

by Jardine Media on 3 May 2009 Two of Australia’s biggest boat shows are coming and so it’s time to sort out your boat finance arrangements.

Specialist boat finance provider Finlease will be an active presence at both the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show (Thursday 21st May-Sunday 24th May) and Sydney International Boat Show (Thursday 30th July-Monday 3rd August).

Expect to see the well known Finlease houseboat office open everyday at SIBS from 10am to late- it’s just like having a bank at the marina. And the good news is that if you see the boat of your dreams at either show there’s a good chance Finlease can get you an offer of finance within 24-48 hours.

‘A three to four minute conversation with one of my people is going to give you an indication of what sort of payments would be involved in that sort of purchase and the likelihood of an approval’ explained Finlease principal Mark O’Donoghue.

‘I would say in 85% of cases we can say to a client ‘if everything you’ve told me is correct, then you’ll be approved.’ You can leave us with great confidence that if you want to buy that boat, yes you can.’

Once you contact Finlease and let them know your requirements they will search out the best boat loan product from over twenty different finance providers. Then it’s up to you whether you choose to go ahead with it or not. If you decide not to go ahead with the loan, there is no charge- it’s a free service.

‘We happily seek approvals and deliver results to clients, then they can decide whether they want to use them or not’ said O’Donoghue. ‘We’re happy to do the work because we know that in the vast majority of cases it’s taken up.’

Although Finlease is known primarily as a marine industry financier, boat loans only make up 15% of their annual turnover. O’Donoghue started Finlease back in 1989 as a machinery and equipment financier for manufacturing companies and now has an annual turnover in excess of $300 million. To many of Finlease’s long term clients the company has become something like a private bank.

‘We’ve have clients that we’ve had for twenty years. We’ve financed everything that they require; we’ve done all of their machinery, all of their property finance, all their motor cars and if they needed debtor discounting we’ve done that too. We’ve pretty well operated as their entire bank…’

O’Donoghue stresses that a key aspect of Finlease’s service is their advocacy role- they will negotiate on your behalf with a range of lenders to ensure that you get the best deal. Once you have provided them with your financial information it’s easy for them to approach a range of lenders and argue your case‘We spread their requirements over a number of financiers so they don’t have one bad marriage- they have a series of good relationships.’

Dealing with just one lender can create a situation where there is an unequal power relationship between the client and the finance provider. O’Donoghue is acutely aware of this and drew an analogy between an unsatisfactory financial relationship with one lender and a bad marriage; people stay in a situation they are unhappy with simply because of the complexities and expense of extricating themselves.

‘If you’ve got all of your things with one bank, you tend to find that the tail wags the dog.’

Then there is the associated problem of a lender providing a client with financial advice or options that may not always be in the client’s best interest. Finally there is the fact that brokers such as Finlease use their buying power in the market to facilitate competition between lenders, driving a higher standard of customer service and usually a better outcome for the client than they can source directly.[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]

See http://www.finlease.com.au for further details, call their friendly team on 1800 358 658 or see them dockside at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show (At the entry to Arm A) and Sydney International Boat Show at the Finlease Houseboat in the North Eastern corner of the Marina next to the bridge