Mortgage Broker Franchise Options and Costs 2026

A mortgage broker franchise suits a broker who wants an established brand and structured business support, and accepts the fees and operating restrictions. An independently branded brokerage suits an experienced broker who can generate enquiries and arrange the support they need. Compare the full operating cost and what happens to your client relationships when you leave before choosing either model.

The best mortgage broker franchise for a new operator can be a poor fit for someone with an established referral network. Aussie and Mortgage Choice have different advertised business models, while an independent arrangement lets you build your own brand alongside an aggregator. Buying an existing franchise adds a separate question: whether the business’s earnings and transferable rights justify its acquisition cost.

Compare Franchise and Independent Models

A franchise supplies a brand and business system, while aggregation supplies lender access and related broker services. Credit authorisation is the permission to conduct the relevant credit activities. A group can provide all these arrangements, but each has its own terms and responsibilities.

Relationship	What it does	What to identify in the arrangement
Franchise	Allows you to trade under another business’s brand and follow its system	Brand rights, territory, support obligations and operating rules
Aggregator	Connects the brokerage with its lender panel and provides agreed services	Available lenders, commission administration, technology and policy support
Credit licensee	Authorises the relevant credit activities and supervises its representatives	Legal entity, authorisation scope, file review and complaint handling
Brokerage	Works with the client and makes the recommendation	Responsible broker, records and ongoing client service

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) explains how credit licensees authorise credit representatives. Trading under a franchise brand doesn’t itself establish your authorisation. Identify whether your brokerage holds an Australian credit licence or acts under another licensee’s authorisation.

The mortgage broker’s best interests duty still applies to the client’s recommendation. A franchise manual, panel or policy answer doesn’t make the recommendation for you. Keep the reasons for the selected loan in the client file, including relevant limits in the options you can consider.

Business coaching helps with recruitment or local marketing. A policy-support contact helps interpret a lender’s requirements. The licensee’s supervision and your client’s recommendation need their own accountable people.

For the aggregation side of the decision, compare mortgage aggregator arrangements. An independent brand can still have an aggregator’s lender panel, technology and compliance support. Independence of branding doesn’t mean operating without those services.

Franchise Options and Their Practical Fit

As at October 2026, Aussie describes a retail franchise with a storefront and a team led by the franchisee. Aussie advertises onboarding, marketing and administrative support, with company-generated appointments alongside local referrals and walk-ins. That model fits a broker who wants to manage a visible local branch and can fund its premises and staff.

Aussie’s recruitment page separates acquisition costs from store establishment and ongoing expenditure. Location and scale affect the commercial proposal. Compare a retail branch with another retail branch, because a home-based independent brokerage has a different cost base.

Mortgage Choice’s franchise page, as at October 2026, describes mobile or home-based operation, opening an office and purchasing an established business. It advertises induction, coaching and marketing support, with access to the REA Group’s property-seeker audience. Mortgage Choice is an option for a broker seeking a branded model that includes a mobile operating route.

Those are advertised support arrangements, not promised settlement volumes. A named coach, scheduled file reviews and the lead-allocation terms in your agreement carry more weight than a general recruitment claim. Existing franchisees’ experience can help you judge delivery, but it doesn’t replace the obligations in your own contract.

Assess Support and Total Costs

Mortgage broker franchise cost is the entry commitment plus ongoing charges and the cost of running the brokerage. Compare what the agreement includes before treating a lower entry fee as the cheaper business.

Cost or support item	Franchise arrangement	Independently branded brokerage
Starting the business	Franchise entry fee, establishment requirements and any required fit-out	Brand development, setup and aggregator onboarding charges where applicable
Ongoing charges	Franchise fees, marketing contributions and any separate aggregation charges	Agreed aggregation charges plus services purchased separately
Leads	Allocation rules, any lead charges and your own local marketing	Your referral network and paid acquisition, plus any contracted lead service
Technology	Required systems, included access and additional users or services	Aggregator systems and separately chosen tools, subject to its agreement
People and premises	Required staffing, store hours, lease and presentation standards	Staffing and premises chosen for your model, subject to service and supervision needs
Review and training	Named mentoring, file-review scope and extra charges	Support included by the licensee or aggregator, with any external arrangements

Record whether each fee is fixed, a percentage of revenue or charged per lead or service. For commission deductions, use the lender’s gross payment as the starting point and identify every deduction before the brokerage receives cash. Include repayment exposure if a lender claws back commission after a loan ends early.

Keep advertised leads separate from revenue in the forecast. An enquiry still needs an appointment, a viable application and a settlement before it produces commission. Record who receives leads, how duplicates are handled and whether a lead carries a charge even when the loan doesn’t settle.

Use current written fee schedules with the relevant goods and services tax (GST) treatment. Add mandatory spending even when the supplier is paid directly, such as rent or insurance. Avoid counting a service twice where the franchise fee already includes it.

For lender-policy research, first identify the support included by the group and its escalation route for unusual files. Bulma’s Policy Advisor also answers questions across 52+ lenders and quotes the policy wording you can retain in file notes. You still assess the recommendation and use the lender’s decision for final approval.

Read Territory and Exit Terms

The franchise agreement sets your operating territory and the rights you retain when you leave. Read those terms alongside the cost schedule, because a profitable branch can still have an expensive exit.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) explains the franchise disclosure documents and waiting period. Final documents generally trigger a mandatory 14-day period before the agreement can be entered into. Use the disclosure material and proposed agreement together, with independent advice on your purchase.

Check whether the territory is exclusive and how the agreement treats online enquiries or another branch’s existing clients. Record any trading-hour requirement, approved suppliers and required refurbishment. Review the expiry date, renewal process and any new fee or conditions that renewal brings.

Client relationships, record access and trail commission are separate rights. Trail commission is the ongoing payment linked to settled loans. Identify who receives it after termination, which deductions continue and whether a breach changes your entitlement.

For customer records, distinguish who controls the database from who can contact or service clients after exit. Read export rights and restrictions on using the brand’s phone number, email addresses or website. The ACCC’s guidance on ending a franchise agreement explains why the agreement’s exit provisions need attention before purchase.

A Fictional Branch Opening

Suppose Priya compares a retail franchise with a home-based independent brokerage. These fictional figures are in Australian dollars excluding GST. They aren’t either brand’s fees and cover selected operating expenses only.

Monthly operating expense	Fictional retail branch	Fictional home-based brokerage
Premises and utilities	$2,500	$300
Administrative employee, including employment costs	$4,000	$0, with Priya doing this work herself
Local marketing	$800	$800
Insurance and professional support allowance	$700	$700
Selected monthly total	$8,000	$1,800

The retail branch commits $6,200 more each month before franchise and aggregation charges. Over six months, that difference is $37,200. The independent option also leaves Priya doing administrative work, so its lower cash spending doesn’t mean equal capacity.

Priya adds entry fees, fit-out and working capital as separate opening costs. She records the technology inclusions and fee structure without treating them as free. She also asks which mentoring and pre-lodgement reviews the current disclosure package includes, with a separate allowance for support outside that scope.

Priya chooses the retail route only if the branch model and agreed support justify those commitments under a cautious settlement forecast. If the forecast depends on uncommitted leads, she keeps the home-based option in consideration. Use the mortgage broker business plan to model commission timing and cash reserves alongside these costs.

Choose by Business Situation

Choose a franchise when its contracted support and brand model address a business need you would otherwise have to fund or build yourself. Choose an independent brand when you already have the operating skills and referrals, and the freedom is worth arranging your own support.

For a new operator, prioritise named mentoring and practical file review before committing to a store. A mobile franchise can suit someone seeking a brand without a retail lease. A retail franchise fits a new owner only when the staffing and premises commitments leave enough cash to develop the business.

An experienced broker with repeat clients and referral partners has a stronger reason to retain their own brand. Compare the cost of buying individual services with the franchise’s deductions and restrictions. Franchise support can still justify its cost if the broker wants to build a branch team and reduce the work of creating its systems.

Buying a Mortgage Broker Franchise for Sale

An established franchise is attractive when transferable earnings and client-service capacity justify its price. The acquisition price buys a particular business, so compare its records with the cost and slower revenue development of starting a new franchise.

The ACCC states that a seller needs franchisor consent to transfer an agreement. Transfer can involve assignment conditions or a new agreement for the remaining term. Make the transaction’s conditions account for that approval and your required credit authorisation.

Before comparing the purchase with a new branch, examine these distinct items:

• The purchase price, transfer charges, required refurbishment and professional costs.
• Commission statements reconciled with business accounts, including deductions and past clawbacks.
• The trail book’s ongoing receipts, loan runoff and the contractual right to receive those payments after transfer.
• The remaining franchise term, renewal conditions and the buyer’s ongoing fee schedule.
• Staff obligations, lease assignment and the client-service work included in the purchase.
• Live applications and unresolved complaints, with the responsible licensee and broker identified for each.

A seller’s total commission is different from profit available to you. Allow for the seller’s own labour if you must hire someone to do it. A purchase also needs sufficient cash for servicing the acquired clients while new commission receipts develop.

Keep Client Service Working Through the Transfer

Agree a handover plan before the departing broker loses access to the systems. Each live application needs a named broker, its current stage, outstanding documents and the next client contact. Coordinate any change in authority with the licensee and lender so an application isn’t left without an authorised person to progress it.

Give unresolved complaints their own handover record, including correspondence, deadlines and the responsible licensee’s complaint process. Arrange record access and secure transfer under the applicable privacy and retention requirements. A commercial right to receive trail doesn’t itself determine who can access or use a client’s documents.

Notify clients of the servicing arrangement and give them a contact who can act on their file. Record which former operator remains responsible for historical matters and who handles ongoing service. Include those commitments in the purchase and exit arrangements before relying on the acquired book’s income.