What exactly does a credit broker do?
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A broker connects someone looking for finance with the lenders able to provide it. In practice: we gather your documents once, put your case to the partner banks that make sense for your profile, compare the offers that come back and explain where the real differences lie. We then run the application through to completion, dealing with the bank, the surveyor, the estate agent and the notary. We do not lend the money — that is the bank’s decision — but we decide together whom to ask and how to present it.
Why not go straight to my bank?
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You can, and for very straightforward situations that is a reasonable route. The point is that any branch can only offer its own products, so to get a real comparison you have to repeat the round: same story, same documents, office hours, three or four times over. People come to us usually not because they do not know how to proceed, but because that time is worth more than the cost of delegating it, and because they want the offers read by someone who reads a hundred a year.
What does your advice cost?
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The initial assessment is free and commits you to nothing. If we decide to go ahead, the broker fee is confirmed to you in writing before we start and is set out in the pre-contract documents, together with every cost charged by the bank. It is a rule of ours that no charge appears afterwards.
My bank said no: can I still get a mortgage?
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Often yes. Every lender assesses by its own criteria — type of contract, length of service, payment-to-income ratio, nature of the property — and an application turned down at one branch is regularly approved elsewhere. We cannot guarantee the outcome, but we know whom to put it to and how. The exception is an active adverse credit record, which no bank will accept.
Can you borrow more than 80% of the value of the property?
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Yes, in a number of cases. The First-Home Guarantee Fund run by Consap covers part of the capital and allows several lenders to reach 95%, in some situations 100%. The requirements concern a first home that is not a luxury property (cadastral categories A/1, A/8 and A/9 are excluded) and buyers who do not already own another residential property; for the priority categories set out in law the terms are better. The final decision still rests with the bank: we check the requirements and put the application to lenders who are genuinely lending at that moment.
How long does approval take?
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Roughly four to eight weeks from submission, depending on the lender and on how complete your documents are. When the completion date is tight we tell the bank at the outset and choose accordingly: some lenders are structurally faster than others, and that is exactly the kind of knowledge our job exists for.
Do you work with clients who are not Italian?
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Yes, it is a substantial part of what this branch does. Banks look at how stable your income is and whether your residence is in order, not at your nationality; many ask for long-term residence status or a certain number of years living in Italy. We tell you which lenders are more open, which documents to prepare and what to expect at each stage. The contract paperwork remains in Italian, as it must — but you will not be facing it alone.
Which areas do you cover?
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Turin and its province — Moncalieri, Collegno, Rivoli, Grugliasco, Nichelino, Settimo Torinese, Venaria Reale, Orbassano, Chieri, Pinerolo, Ivrea, Carmagnola — and the rest of Piedmont: Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Vercelli and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. We also cover the Aosta Valley. We see clients by appointment at Via Matilde Serao 20/D.