A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who brokers mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or companies that owns residential or commercial properties. They usually work with dozens of lenders, not as employees, but as freelance agents. As different banks and lenders have very different home loan acceptance criteria and coupled with increasingly unique profile and needs of different loan applicants, the idea of engaging a one-stop service provider like a mortgage broker becomes even more popular.

Think of mortgage brokers in Singapore as scouts with the specialist knowledge of a mobile loan banker. They find and evaluate home buyers, understands each borrower's need and credit situation to determine which lender is the best fit for that person's needs. The broker submits the property buyer's application to one or more lenders, and works with the chosen lender until the loan closes.

In Singapore, housing loan applicants usually do not have to pay for any advisory fee to the mortgage broker as the mortgage brokers are remunerated by the banks or lenders through the referral fees program give for each successful application.