Meet The Team

Victor Kalinowski

Victor Kalinowski Mortgage Broker and Founder of Blackk

Bachelor Commerce (Finance), Certificate IV Financial Services (Finance/Mortgage Broking)

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Do you remember playing monopoly as a kid with your siblings and friends? Did you find that the same person was always the banker? And does that person work with money and numbers today?

Well, I was that kid. I’ve fortunately been able to combine my love of property AND finance in my career as a mortgage broker. I bought my first home at age 22 and I’ve since bought 12 properties. As a result, I have a lot of personal experience from being in the same situations I see my clients face every day.

Property and money are two things I’ve really focused on since I was young. When I turned 13, my dad bought me a second-hand copy of the book More Money with Noel Whittaker, which is where my obsession with property (and monopoly) started.

I was totally engrossed by the stories and simple solutions toward money and investing. After that I was hooked and my library includes hundreds of books, newsletters, and blogs on finance, economics, investing and buying property.

After finishing high school in Alstonville, NSW, I moved to the big smoke, Brisbane, to study a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Queensland. Towards the end of my studies, I bought my first property: a two-bedroom post war ‘fixer-upper’ in Mount Gravatt.

Like many people I bought it with family – my parents and younger brother Simon all owned a share. Together we renovated, painted, replaced the kitchen and landscaped to improve the little home’s rental return. I saved hard for my share of the deposit, working as a farm labourer – often starting at sunrise and working till sunset – six-days a week. I can still remember the satisfaction I felt seeing my savings grow: first by $200, then $500 and then $1000. Today I get a real buzz watching our clients who do the same. They start with a dream and then work hard to make it happen.

Over the years, I’ve continued my love of property, buying and selling homes around Brisbane. After enjoying a successful career in finance, it was a natural next step to get my mortgage brokering qualifications. It allowed me to start sharing my expertise on how to choose a home loan and what pitfalls to avoid. I started out just helping friends with their loans. This quickly turned into friends-of-friends and snowballed into helping thousands of clients from various backgrounds and walks of life.

Unfortunately, I’ve also seen the stress and financial hardship some people go through because of poor advice at the hands of others in the industry. I realised it was very rare for people to actually talk about or educate others regarding money – neither at school nor university. No-one explains how money works: how to save, why you should save, how loans work or how to use your money effectively to improve your financial future. This means that from a young age we just aren’t educated about money or investments.

This leaves us open to making poor financial decisions that can have a big impact on our lives – not because of deliberate choices that we make but as a result of not knowing our options.

So I Now Have a Clear Mission. I want to see you progress towards paying off your home and watching your bank balances grow. I do this by giving you a plan to pay your home loan off sooner. I teach you better money management and give you a mortgage education, which is critical if you want to grow your wealth through property.

Razel Casimero

Razel - Blackk Finance

Home Loan Assistant

Bachelor of Science in Commerce, Major in Management Accounting

I work closely with Victor to get your home loan application completed and approved in time for settlement. Everyday I am in contact with the banks following up and pushing things along so you have a really smooth experience with us.

Having spent several years now working in finance, my strength is in the numbers and calculations which make up your home loan.

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Lyn Tero

Lyn Tero

Home Loan Assistant

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Associate in Computer Science

I support Victor in getting your home loan application submitted and approved. I revel in getting stuck into the detail to get it right for you first time.

I have a passion for giving our clients the best customer service. I get back to you quickly and regularly keep you updated on where your home loan application is at. Having studied business and with my background in customer service, I really enjoy making sure your home loan experience with Blackk is helpful and efficient.

[email protected]

Amanda Clegg

Amanda Clegg

Marketing and Customer Experience

Bachelor Commerce (Marketing and Economics), Graduate Diploma (Marketing)

I work behind the scenes at Blackk ensuring that everything runs as smoothly as possible.

I love finding out what makes our clients’ happy and ensuring that happens again and again so their experience with us gets better each time.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than knowing the people we’ve helped to buy a home have an easy, fast and stress-free experience with their home loan.

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Christal Hawkins

Client Concierge

Diploma of Business Administration

If you choose to work with us here at Blackk Mortgage Brokers you will get to know my voice well. My focus is on making sure you feel comfortable and assured that you and your home loan are in good hands. I work closely with Victor on your home loan application and it’s my job to keep you updated as to when your home loan will be approved.  Please feel free to contact me anytime, I would love to hear from you.