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John Watts

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.

our-team

0418 716 033

136 Mulgrave Road, Westcourt Cairns, QLD, Australia

0418 716 033

136 Mulgrave Road, Westcourt Cairns, QLD, Australia

What Our Clients Have To Say

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.

Craig, Trinity Beach

We were recommended from friends to see Fei Chan to discuss buying investment property. He was very polite, friendly, sincere and honest. But most importantly, he has made it clearer for us on how to build our property portfolio for a better future. For that, I too highly recommend his service to others.

David Lo, Cairns

Billie is friendly and genuine. She is knowledgeable about the products she talks about and comes across as someone who will work hard to get you the best possible deal.

Claire, Manunda

My husband and I went to Astute today, firstly met with Shae at the front reception and had a chat with her. It was lovely to chat with such a friendly happy lady who made us feel welcome.

We went upstairs and met with John Watts for some financial advice. We have known John Watts for over 10 years now, and truly admire his honesty and ‘no beating around the bush business eiquette’. We would highly recommend anyone requiring financial advice and/or a financial bank loan to not look any further than that of the ASTUTE team. 🙂 Thanks Astute….

Kymmie Corbell, Cairns

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

Sara Patten & Patrick Moore, Smithfield

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.

Scott, Cairns

We recently had an appointment with Astute to help us sort out our mortgage needs. From the moment we stepped into the building we were made to feel welcome. From Shae on the front desk to Damian during our appointment. Damian went above and beyond to help us with our needs, explaining things simply and offering further support. It all makes so much more sense when you have someone who knows what they’re talking about! Thank you so much.

Tanya Greene, Cairns