# REA goes into receivership



## plant43 (1 Oct 2008)

Just got an e-mail from the guy I dealt with in REA - they have gone into receivership as of a few hours ago.


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## Kerak (1 Oct 2008)

me 2, just in last 1/2 hour
pity they where grand to deal with


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## G123 (1 Oct 2008)

Depressing really.

Wonder how a 'discount broker' have been so badly hit in a downturn?


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## Brendan Burgess (1 Oct 2008)

That is a pity. They were good guys. 

I suppose with the huge drop in mortgages and the fall in commissions, they could not generate enough fee income to cover their fixed costs. 

Most other mortgage brokers also have significant income from pensions and investments advice. I don't think Rea got much of that.

Brendan


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## rmelly (1 Oct 2008)

G123 said:


> Wonder how a 'discount broker' have been so badly hit in a downturn?


 
Is this rhetorical?


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## LDFerguson (1 Oct 2008)

No I think it's a straight question. It would be reasonable to assume that when times are tough, people would make more of an effort to seek out the best deals and would therefore discover discount brokers.

Sorry to see Rea going - their model was innovative and their founder, Richard Eberle was genuinely customer-focused.


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## rmelly (1 Oct 2008)

LDFerguson said:


> No I think it's a straight question. It would be reasonable to assume that when times are tough, people would make more of an effort to seek out the best deals and would therefore discover discount brokers.


 
True, but the number of people out there looking must be a fraction of what it was 18 months ago, so how could we expect all brokers to survive, regardless of whether a disvount broker or not? I'm assuming that re-mortgages and switching has also falled significantly given dropping LTV, and higher rates etc?


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## LDFerguson (2 Oct 2008)

Undoubtedly mortgage business of all sorts has dropped greatly in recent times.  I just would have thought that a broker offering a better deal would be doing more business in hard times than a broker who offered an inferior deal.  Or in other words, I would have thought that other "non discount" brokers should by rights have gone into receivership first due to the downturn.  But I guess business doesn't work like that.


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## LadyJane (2 Oct 2008)

A loss for the Irish consumer. We got our mortgage with the help of Rea in Bray last year and I can't say anything bad about them. A genuine pity.


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## efm (2 Oct 2008)

Brendan said:


> That is a pity. They were good guys.
> 
> Brendan


 
I agree - I got my mortgage through them and they were excellent and nice to deal with - pity they're gone.


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## NorfBank (2 Oct 2008)

It is a sad day. I should disclose that I used to work for REA until I opened up on my own and not only was REA a good company to work for, it was a great place to learn. The staff were genuinely enthusiastic about helping clients and getting the best deal for them (even though I have read some people had bad experiences with them - I guess that's inevitable). Richard was a true innovator and his model should have worked but it seems the credit crunch has bitten another good guy.


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## Kemo_Sabe (2 Oct 2008)

anyone know what the impact of all the banks cutting their broker commissions have been on REA? tipping point for them?


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## NorfBank (2 Oct 2008)

Kemo_Sabe said:


> anyone know what the impact of all the banks cutting their broker commissions have been on REA? tipping point for them?



They survived back in the day when an average mortgage was about 50,000 punt so at 1% commission this was 500 punt. Average mortgage now is 400k so even at 0.5%, commission is €2000. 
Commission cuts would have had an impact but anyone here can only speculate as to what was the tipping point.


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## z105 (2 Oct 2008)

Sorry for the staff. Sign of the times ?


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## Bubbly Scot (2 Oct 2008)

Bless them. I feel for anyone who's losing a job or business. Unfortunatly I can also empathise.


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## eberle (2 Oct 2008)

It is a matter of great regret that REA Mortgage Choice is in the process of winding down our operations.  This is due to the dramatic downturn in the market.  Over the years REA has attempted to introduce choice and service into the Irish mortgage market and I am very proud of the level of service and innovation that REA advisors and administrators have brought to their clients.


We will maintain a skeleton staff to assist all REA clients with existing loan offers to get them through to check issue.  All clients will be emailed details of these arrangements very shortly.


Richard Eberle


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## fobs (2 Oct 2008)

Its a great pity they are going alright. THey made many a contribution on this site over the years and always offered impartial advice. They will be missed.


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## birdy (2 Oct 2008)

Also got my mortagage through Rea, pleasure to work with,made a very stressful time less stessful and hope the staff will be successful in getting new jobs.


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## ubiquitous (2 Oct 2008)

I think its a good time to thank Richard and his current and former colleagues in REA (SarahW springs to mind) for their generous and insightful contributions to AAM over the years. I hope everything works out well for you in the future.


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## Sarah W (2 Oct 2008)

I heard the news today and am devasted that such a honest, honourable, ethical and intelligent business has failed. It's not only a tragedy for the staff, who were my colleagues and good friends but for the Irish mortgage market which has lost perhaps it's only 100% customer focused brokerage.

My heart goes out to Richard and his family and all the staff.

It was an honour to have been part of REA.

Sarah.


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## bankrupt (2 Oct 2008)

What a pity.  I arranged my mortgage through REA seven years ago and the whole process just couldn't have been any easier, a great service from start to finish.


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## foxylady (3 Oct 2008)

Have only just seen this thread and am wondering where does this leave people who were currently being dealt with. I was only onto them on tuesday and nothing was mentioned.


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## ClubMan (3 Oct 2008)

foxylady said:


> Have only just seen this thread and am wondering where does this leave people who were currently being dealt with.


Did you read _Richard Eberle's _post earlier in the thread?


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## polaris (3 Oct 2008)

Full statement from Richard Eberle here:


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