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We started Astute North Queensland because I was disappointed with the way banks had done away with ‘Old School’ bank managers that expressed compassion, knowledge and authority. So we developed a company to fill the gap. I believe the best thing we do is explain the process to the customer in a simple and easy manner; it is this philosophy that has made Astute North Queensland the success it is today. 20 years on and with a number of subsidiary companies, including Equipment Finance, General Insurance, Financial Planning, Accounting and Bookkeeping we have group of individuals that genuinely build relationships with our customers.
Originally born and raised in South-West Queensland, I went to school at Churchie as a boarder in Brisbane. After school I worked in Gove NT, the Kimberly’s WA and Barcaldine Central Queensland, working in the mining and rural industries. I then moved to Toowoomba to work in Real Estate as an Auctioneer and Salesperson, moving back to Cairns in 1996 to continue my real estate career with First National.
If you want to deal with someone the way bank managers were in the old days, contact us.
john.watts@astutefinancial.com.au
136 Mulgrave Road, Westcourt Cairns, QLD, Australia
john.watts@astutefinancial.com.au
136 Mulgrave Road, Westcourt Cairns, QLD, Australia
Being self employed is always a bit of a struggle when it comes to home loans. The amazing team at Astute made this happen for us. Their down to earth yet professional approach is very reassuring. Excellent customer service and follow up throughout the process that made it less nerve racking. Call them or pop in, make the first step and I can gguaranteethey will do their best to make it possible. A big thank you to John, Damian and the amazing Shae- Shae who could teach a few things to hospitality people. Cannot thank you enough so I recommend you to everyone in need of a loan
I found every time I rang the office with a query the phone was answered promptly. Gus and his team stayed in contact at all times either by email or phone just to make sure I had complete understanding of the forms I was signing and the procedures they were taking to finalise the loan. I was never left wondering what happens next.
Friendly and very knowledgeable. Made the whole process of getting our first mortgage easy and relatively stress free. Very prompt communication and excellent rates provided on our mortgage.
Excellent team, all staff were professional and friendly, will definitely use their expertise again and recommend to friends and family.
Being newbies to town & the housing market, it was reassuring to have the guidance of Liam from Astute. We felt like one of his family by the extent of his efforts. His honesty, calming persona, knowledge & ability to explain the scary & unknown house buying process in our ‘speak’ was invaluable. Not to mention the fantastic custom home loan we have secured. I would highly recommend, and already have recommended, his services. Thank you again Liam and the Astute Team.
We have been using John since we bought our first house in 2008 and taken sound advice from him in all our finance dealing ever since; which has included, opening a business, building our second house and now purchasing an investment property. We trust the advice given to us and not understanding the finance world hugely rely on the knowledge given to us in making decisions. We thank Verena very much with her patience throughout each deal and her simple way of explaining the overwhelming fluff that the banks put on paper. Johns stickmen and drawings helped us immensely 🙂 We really feel like we have actually made some good friends when dealing with Astute.
Myself and my partner Patrick are currently in the final stages of the settlement of our first home and as you can imagine it can be a very stressful and difficult time for any new potential home owner. Add to the fact that we are only in our early 20’s, both working full time jobs and both studying full time as well as trying to save to be financially ready to own our own home.
When we were financially ready to go ahead with the first loan process (through a bank, independently) we were absolutely disheartened as we were knocked back and told that we could not get a home loan. As you could imagine two young people scrapping every cent together for a year and to be told no made us feel as if all the hard work we had strived for was for nothing. I then approached my dad asking him what we should do next. He took me to a lady that he had dealt with when he brought his house through commonwealth that had now opened an Astute office.
When Billie welcomed us warmly into her store it felt as if all the stress, worry and confusion were lifted off our shoulders as she went through all the different options that she would try for us in successfully getting a loan for our first house. She really did connect with us through her friendly personality and strived to do the very best for us (not many companies are like that these days). Even after that first initial meeting and the ones that followed she was so caring and supporting throughout the whole process. I don’t think we would have been capable of going through with getting a house loan without Billie helping us. With every silly little question (there were a lot of them) Billie would always respond straight away and would always make us feel that we were a priority to her and in the world we live in, that isn’t always the case. Billie was also always happy to help us out if we were unsure of anything else during the long process and would always say to us to just give her a ring if there was anything else we needed. As clients of Billies we just wanted to pass on to you how much gratitude we have for the support and care she has given us. We are more than impressed with Billie and hope she receives this feedback and that she continues to do the amazing job she already does. From the bottom of our hearts Billie we thank you so much for the continued support. As well as your lovely other staff that have been fantastic to deal with – Seto, Phoebe & Becky!
Thank you for having such a hardworking, fun loving team John. We really appreciated all that you have done, Thank you
We just wanted to say thank you for all your help & hard work!
We would have been lost in this whole process without you.
