Career as a Mortgage Advisor - please help

mikey123

I am seriously considering re-skilling to become a mortgage broker. However, in trying to assess whether this is a career for me I have received a number of mixed signals so I hope that someone here can please help me.

My background is in analytical position in a financial institution. I have a pretty good knowledge of economics, financial mathematics and statistics and am used to having to justify my analyses and conclusions.

To my mind these would be valuable skills for someone who is helping clients to make the most informed and rational decision possible for what is likely to be the largest financial commitment of their lives. Indeed this may help to differentiate me in what seems to be a very competitive industry.

This said, when I look at the job adverts for mortgage advisors the emphasis is almost exclusively on selling. While I realise that selling is key to this sort of business as it is to any other, I am concerned that employers prize the ability to push a product on a client above a serious analysis of the situation and a rational response to the client's needs?

Am I being naive or is this another industry where blagging is all-important? Any comments would be gratefully appreciated!!! (by the way, anythings I've said is not supposed to be offensive to anyone working in the mortgage industry!!!)

Also, some of these jobs promise OTE salaries in excess of £100,000. Is this realistic given that I understand many mortgages only pay an advisor fee of a couple of hundred quid. Again, I'd appreciate any comments or corrections.

Cheers!

Bernard_Coleslaw

In my view, being able to relate to people is just as important as the ability to display technical knowledge. If you're not a "people person", clients may not accept what you have to say, no matter how well researched and justified your recommendations are.

And don't fall into the trap of equating selling with "pushing product". Selling, done properly and with due concern for a customer's requirements, attitude and circumstances, is a valuable skill and shouldn't be underestimated.

Customers typically don't take advice from mathematicians, they take it from "normal" people (whatever that means ).

Best of luck if you do decide to take this further.

Scouse_Mick

Funnily enough was reading a book yesterday by a guy with an economics degree who got a job in a bank. He didn't do very well at it because he realised that his bank's products were rarely the best ones for his customers - and he told them as much!

I've just taken a mortgage out through a broker (London and Country) and they weren't pushy at all and got me a pretty good deal. I would guess some companies are more sales focused and pushy than others. I'd imagine that it would be hard to earn 100k plus without hounding a lot of people over the phone! Something to get a feel of at interview maybe?

Have you thought about being an Independent Financial Advisor including mortgages in your remit? Then you could spread your net a bit further and use your economic knowledge a bit more.

Good luck with it anyway.

AndrewSmith

Scouse_Mick wrote:

I would guess some companies are more sales focused and pushy than others. I'd imagine that it would be hard to earn 100k plus without hounding a lot of people over the phone! Something to get a feel of at interview maybe?

Good luck with it anyway.

Hi,

Sales focused does not necessarily mean being pushy, there is nothing wrong with being sales focused as, after all, we all have a living to earn.

Depending on how hard you work and how you conduct yourself it is not excessively difficult to earn £100k plus as an independant advisor without being pushy or houndig over the phone. In fact there are times when advisors will be turning business away due to being too busy. Rather that than trying to take on too much and only half doing the job for some people, this is something that some larger phone based companies tend to fall foul of as often seen on these boards.

Do the job properly and offer blunt, honest, straight forward advice to clients and you will never have to be pushy to obtain good business levels.

Andy

Scouse_Mick

AndrewSmith wrote:

Hi,

Sales focused does not necessarily mean being pushy, there is nothing wrong with being sales focused as, after all, we all have a living to earn.

Depending on how hard you work and how you conduct yourself it is not excessively difficult to earn £100k plus as an independant advisor without being pushy or houndig over the phone. In fact there are times when advisors will be turning business away due to being too busy. Rather that than trying to take on too much and only half doing the job for some people, this is something that some larger phone based companies tend to fall foul of as often seen on these boards.

Do the job properly and offer blunt, honest, straight forward advice to clients and you will never have to be pushy to obtain good business levels.

Andy

Fair enough Andy. You obviously know more about this than me. I did say that my experience of using a mortgage broker was a good one. I guess I'm just distrustful of commission-based jobs as in my job I regularly get hounded by pushy salesmen.

As you say pushy and sales-focused are not necessarily the same. Apologies for that. What I meant was companies that just concentrate on the numbers and don't give a fig about harrassing people into unsuitable deals. I'm guessing that this is what Mike was worried about but I'm sure your advice will reassure him.

Good luck with your decision Mike.

AndrewSmith

Thanks for that Scouse Mick, and I second your wishes of good luck to Mikey

dunstonh

There are different business models in financial services and some are very sales based where as others are service based. You tend to find the salesforce model cannot sustain ongoing servicing at low cost and relies on a maximum sales basis. There is some doubt to whether this model will survive much longer. Most of the old salesforces have gone already and many of those left rely on big commission paying products. The service based ones get a steady, reliable and increasing income by providing service above sales. However, that takes time and many of those with a servicing model did start out with salesforce model but were able to adapt over time.

A mortgage adviser is unlikely to earn as much as a financial adviser but you can still make a good living out of it depending on whom you work for and how.

stanmoresaver

dunstonh wrote:

A mortgage adviser is unlikely to earn as much as a financial adviser but you can still make a good living out of it depending on whom you work for and how.

I venture to suggest that this is irrelevant to the OP and also depends on the business model of the business's concerned- I personally know many many (good quality)Financial Adviser's ( from both tied and independant sectors) who have consiously chosen to stop operating in the Investment markets ( Investment/ Pension) due to the unprofitable ( and it will be, unless most of the commission is retained) nature of these areas.

I also feel that an area of specialisation in the FS industry is absolutely essential nowadays- and personally i prefer to refer investment cases to an IFA so that i can continue to provide the required service levels to my mortgage clients.

Mikey123- the mortgage market is a good business where you can really help people- the biggest choice you have to make is whether to build a business (and therefore a clientbank) or work for someone else who ultimately will call the shots!

Good luck with which route you choose!

MortgageMamma

stanmoresaver wrote:

I venture to suggest that this is irrelevant to the OP and also depends on the business model of the business's concerned- I personally know many many (good quality)Financial Adviser's ( from both tied and independant sectors) who have consiously chosen to stop operating in the Investment markets ( Investment/ Pension) due to the unprofitable ( and it will be, unless most of the commission is retained) nature of these areas.

I also feel that an area of specialisation in the FS industry is absolutely essential nowadays- and personally i prefer to refer investment cases to an IFA so that i can continue to provide the required service levels to my mortgage clients.

Mikey123- the mortgage market is a good business where you can really help people- the biggest choice you have to make is whether to build a business (and therefore a clientbank) or work for someone else who ultimately will call the shots!

Good luck with which route you choose!

I agree with SS Mikey, you can make a VERY good living out of mortgages but one thing I would emphasise is that you will never make a decent living out of it whilst working for someone else. In order to maximise your time spent working in relation to income you need to be self employed, and I would venture to suggest something that I will probably have my head jumped on for. YOU NEED TO CHARGE A FEE> The reason I say this is so that you dont have to be a cut throat salesperson and you don;'t need to kill yourself doing to many cases. The difficulty you will face is being newly qualified (eventually) you will need to work somewhere for at least a year before you can achieve CAS status (competent advisor status) and not many mortgage networks will take on trainee's. I think your mathmatical skills will put you in excellent stead but as has already been said there is a lot more to it than that. Its a shame you can't shadow an advisor for a week to see if you would really like the job before commiting to it.

Good luck anyway mate.

MM

mikey123

Thank you all very much for your feedback - much appreciated!!!

Tiggs_2

its a sales job....dont forget that! thats why the adverts show OTE of £100k, you dont get £100k for being a techy!

you should regard your lnowledge as a handy tool in your box but in day to day life as an adviser it may not be the one you draw on most often.....you will need people/sales skills a whole lot more and those skills are a wlot harder to get....which is why they pay so much to those that have them.