Have you considered a career as a mortgage adviser, or want to know more about what’s involved?
My name is Stuart Wills and it’s something that I personally have been doing for 25+ years now.
I sort of fell into it to start with. Coming from doing insurances, to helping people who had enquiries about getting a home loan.
When I first started we were known as mortgage brokers and generally we’re dealing with people that could not get bank loans – we used a lot of non-bank lenders then.
Over the last 25 years this has changed significantly we had the majority of the lending that we source for clients is now through the banks. It’s dealing with people who could probably source a mortgage directly from a bank, but who understand the value of advice from somebody such as a mortgage adviser. We still do quite a number of non-bank deals, but mostly bank lending.
In Australia approximately 70% of all mortgages are done by advisers, and in New Zealand we don’t have the figures but we expect that over 50% of all mortgages are now done by advisers.
The banks here have generally seen the advantage of outsourcing the mortgage application process to advisers rather than having a large in-house team.
So what’s really happening is the banks are moving more to being suppliers of the mortgage and leaving mortgage advisers to deal with the clients – to source the business for them (the banks).
The good news for mortgage advisers is that the industry has become a lot more respected as a profession and it’s a growing industry too.
What I Like About Being A Mortgage Advisor
Like all jobs, being a mortgage adviser can be very satisfying but also can be challenging.
Most mortgage advisers love working with people and getting good outcomes.
We work with a first home buyer who has a dream of owning their own home, and by arranging the mortgage we can facilitate this for them – it’s immensely satisfying.
We can offer good advice to people which can save them thousands of dollars, and even turn their life around.
Of course it can be challenging too dealing with the banks and other lenders; however it’s pretty awesome when you can overcome those challenges and provide clients with some really positive outcomes.
Unlike most jobs, being a mortgage adviser enables you to choose the clients whom you wish to work with.
When you are organised and have the correct support then you can also make some pretty reasonable money too!
They Say Experience Counts
Most people want to know that they’re dealing with an experienced mortgage adviser and so sometimes that may seem difficult when you’re first starting out.
Most mortgage advisers in New Zealand are ex-banking staff and it’s that experience which they use to promote themselves as being “experienced” and while technically they may know about banking and mortgages there is a bit more to it than that.
I’ve personally never worked in a bank and most of our team never has either and we do not see that as a negative – in many ways it’s a positive as it means we start with an open mind.
In our business we do very much work as a team and therefore everybody has access to other people’s experience and we find that our clients are very happy with that approach.
Individually you do not need to have banking experience, and after one or two years you would have learned most of what you need to know albeit things are all always changing and we’re needing to continue to learn on the job and from within our business networks.
When we employ somebody new we are not looking for banking experience but we are looking for people who can form relationships and have a good work ethic.
How Much Can You Earn As A Mortgage Advisor?
Most mortgage advisors in New Zealand are commission based, have to source their own clients and get paid by the banks when a mortgage is settled. The commission amounts and support offered to advisers varies enormously from business to business.
The biggest challenge for most mortgage advisers is getting leads (getting new people to work with) but that’s not really a problem that we have within our business.
The structure within our business is commission based but it’s a little different to how most adviser companies work, and potentially a lot easier to get started.
In summary:
- we provide leads to you so you’re not spending all of your time trying to source your own. In fact we have too many leads and one that’s one of the reasons then I decided to write this in the hope that we might find some people who are willing to join us as moving proposals.
- we provide a lot of training and support within the business including all the software required to do the job
- we provide a desk in our Hobsonville offices where you can work and learn with our team, but also it’s the type of job that you can do a lot of the work from home which most of our advisers do to at times.
- we have a competitive commission structure which enables you to earn a good income. We would expect that most mortgage advisers would be earning in excess of $100,000 per year and if you put in the effort and are well organised it’s not hard to earn over $200,000 per year.
- you work as a self-employed contractor and need to supply a good work ethic and willingness to learn, an entry qualification (NZ Certificate in Financial Services with Residential Lending strand) which you can do while on the job plus you will need a laptop and a phone.
We are open to having experienced mortgage advisers whom are looking for a change, people with banking experience and as mentioned anyone that can form relationships and has a good work ethic.
Age is not a barrier either – it’s the type of work you can do when young, but also as you get older it’s something that you can continue to do.
There are not many careers that are this flexible and where you are supported to this level.
Want To Know More?
As you can probably tell I’m pretty passionate about the industry and helping people getting good advice around finance.
I’ve been doing this now for over 25 years and cannot really think of anything that I’d rather do.
I still find it wonderful when I’m able to help somebody achieved their dream of home ownership or to put somebody onto the path or better financial management. It’s a career that allows me to change peoples lives for the better and I don’t know many other careers that have the same impact on a person.
If you want to know more about a career as a mortgage adviser then the easiest thing to do is to contact me and we can discuss in more detail.
I’d love to show you what can be achieved and I’m really looking forward to introducing a few more people to the industry and to our business.
