CeMAP Vs CertMA

[Deleted User]

Hi

I was wondering if someone could advise me on what the main differences are between the CII CertMA and the IFS CeMAP qualifications please. For example is one more expensive than the other, do they both take around the same time to complete, is one more respected than the other, which is more popular etc etc.

Thanks

TEDDYRUKSPIN

No difference. CII you have to pay a yearly registration fee but in the long run but roughly the same. The only difference is the examination centres. IFS use Pearson centres. These are the Driving test examination schools. As for CII they have a specific time such as Dec or April to complete the exam. Down to you. Both are multiple choice but don't let that fool you! Both are as difficult!

bobdraper

Can anyone please explain how I go about taking the CEMAP exams? I am studying privately. I can't afford the training course fees. They direct me to the Pearsonvue site but that doesnt have the cemap qualification on it. Also mention is made of an IFS number. What if I didnt train with them?
Once I pass the exams does anyone have any tips on how to setup independently? How do I get access to the mortgage quotation software for instance?

_Andy_

bobdraper wrote: »

Can anyone please explain how I go about taking the CEMAP exams?

Google 'cemap' - its the first hit (IFS site)

I am studying privately. I can't afford the training course fees.

Many people, myself included, have done CeMAP without any training courses (although admittedly they would be beneficial if you weren't in financial services at the moment)

Once I pass the exams does anyone have any tips on how to setup independently? How do I get access to the mortgage quotation software for instance?

I think before you do anything you need to get an understanding of what the market is like.
Have you sold mortgages before?

Conrad

bobdraper wrote: »

Once I pass the exams does anyone have any tips on how to setup independently?

The problem you will have is finding new business.

Getting mortgages through is now very difficult, unless it's a straight forward low LTV case, but those people dont need brokers, they can simply do a couple of hours research online - it is'nt rocket science and furthermore, they can access deals that brokers cannot.

So, essentially your new potential clients will tend to be more complex cases, AND NO TRAINING IN THE WORLD WILL GIVE YOU THE KNOWLEDGE , CONTACTS OR SKILLS YOUR GOING TO NEED.

The broker community is predicted by some to contract by 70% and house prices wont go back to 2007 levels until about 2015.

What makes you want to join:o

bobdraper

Thanks for the information folks.
"Why did I decide to join?" I know a guy who has been doing extremely well until the subprime market collapsed last year. I looked at the material and I am sure I can learn it and get qualified quickly. Half of it i know already or it's obvious! I am old now 57 and I want a job i can manage myself and stop and start as I wish.
I am a very personable and honest guy and I am thinking as marketing myself as an ethical advisor. I utilised a broker once myself when i needed a bridge nad no one would give me it. He found me a cheap short term mortgage.
Basically I want to work for myself and earn a bit of money. At the moment I have no job but I'm intelligent.
Maybe I am living in cloud cookoo land!

TEDDYRUKSPIN

bob, do what you think is right!

It is very important that you do gain experience as well as completing the exams.

You must register with IFS in order to take the exams through Pearson. This costs £135 per module and you have 3 to complete.

PS. You can only be successful if you work for it! It is all down to you!

dunstonh

Bob, people will start up now and be successful. others will fail. Often it is not the good technical, advisers that survive but the ones with the business models that allow them to get in front of enough clients.

During the good years, the stats showed that over half of new advisers left the profession within 2 years and usually in a worse financial state than when they joined. If that is what it is like in the good years, God knows what it will be like in the bad.

Go into it with your eyes open, understand what the role is and make a decision then. Focus on where you will get clients. Remember that you cannot cold call or cold approach people. So, it has to be by other means.

Graeme7777

On a related point, can I ask what the longer-term prospects are for mortgage advisors? From what I hear (admittedly not from experts or people really in the know), many lenders are getting reluctant to pay commissions to intermediaries and borrowers, empowered by the internet etc, are increasingly able to make sound mortgage choices.

So is Mortgage Advice an industry in decline?

dunstonh

So is Mortgage Advice an industry in decline?

Absolutely. We could see more than half of the current advisers go. Plus, you will have a large influx of experienced mortgage advisers hitting the industry in 2012 when current IFAs can no longer give advice if they dont have the higher qualifications. I know a number of IFAs that have either already done this or plan to do it.

At the moment, many of the lenders want to reduce their lending. So, cutting out one of the distribution channels makes it easy for them. Forcing clients to use the branch means they keep costs down as staff are not so busy on the lending side so can handle the work. It is actually cheaper for a lender to use a mortgage broker but if you have staff doing very little in your branches, it makes more sense to push the business that way as you paying those staff anyway so they may as well do some work.

Another threat is that mortgages are slowly going the way of home insurance and car insurance. People are increasingly going direct or using the internet. At the moment mortgag brokers get around 75% of FTBs but there isnt many FTBs currently. That will probably continue in the future with not much of a reduction as FTBs like the hand holding.

Graeme7777

Thanks Dunstonh!

So do you think that people interested in entering a financial advisory career would be better served focusing on becoming IFA's, or another role where they give advice on investments and insurance, rather than on mortgages?