Despite doomsday prophecies about the crash in Ireland’s housing boom, The Mortgage Shop, based at the new Westbury Centre in Corbally, is riding the storm to get to know their customers’ individual needs and to provide them with superior mortgage solutions.

“Obviously there is perceived difficulties in the housing market at the moment but there is still a need for houses from first-time-buyers, so it’s business as usual for us and business is good,” said Managing Director of the Corbally franchise of The Mortgage Shop, Kieran O’Halloran.

“People who are paying €1,000 on renting accommodation could be paying the same money on a mortgage and that impetus has come back into the business. If you are paying €12,000 on rent why not pay that same money on a mortgage for your own home instead?” the Cratloe man asked.

With exemptions on stamp duty for first-time-buyers, those looking for a starter-home are taking advantage of this relief to get themselves as high up the property ladder as they can from the off, said Mr O’Halloran. The other advantage, he claimed, is that the banks are still lending despite media reports.

With offices at the impressive Westbury Centre in Corbally, Mr O’Halloran and his team at Mortgage Shop, including Niall Ward, mortgage manager and Alison Worrell, office manager, aim to help home-buyers arrange mortgage finance in the most simple and straightforward way possible, explaining the complicated procedure of house purchase in the simplest of terms.

“All our customers needs are individual and so are the solutions we provide. We listen to them to gain a full understanding of their circumstances and objectives and then find them the best mortgage to suit their needs. This is the way to go as we can source the best deal for each individual customer and talk them through the possible pitfalls,” he added.

The Mortgage Shop was founded in Northern Ireland in 1992 by Siobhan McAleer, and has grown to become one of the country’s leading brokers and the only all-island mortgage intermediary. With 30 shops in the north and 23 in the Republic, the Mortgage Shop is the largest mortgage broker in the country and the only broker to have a sizable operational presence on both sides of the border.

Official figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders indicated that the Mortgage Shop placed one in ten mortgages in Northern Ireland in 2005, and that this figure has risen to one in eight by mid-2007.

The growth reflects The Mortgage Shop’s high standards of professionalism, efficiency and quality of services along with their dedication to helping each individual find the best mortgage solution to suit their individual lifestyle.

The Corbally franchise of The Mortgage Shop opened at the Westbury Centre one year ago, and Mr O’Halloran is enthused about their base in this new hub on the outskirts of the city. His plans for the future for the company, he announced, include stationing an auctioneer out of their offices in the near future.

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