Becoming a Mortgage Advisor - Any advice?

mikeyboy

shameless-about-money wrote: »

The Mortgage Adviser Trainee positions are around £16K - £22K, plus commission + benefits all over the country bar London

A word of advise re the NW - do not touch Cartel with a bargepole!

If you find a local Independent Mortgage Adviser, he/she might be willing to let you go to their office for a day or two to have a look to see the work involved.

Thanks for your reply Shameless, much appreciated. Yeah, i have heard the name Cartel, they are based in Salford i think? What's the story with them? i was phoned by an agency working on their behalf and it sounded all above board, but would be interested to hear about them...

So just to confirm, once i have passed the CeMAPs I can then join a Network without CAS status, and they take a cut and/or fee for each deal. In return they deal with the FSA and compliance support, and they will also monitor my deals and "sign me off" for CAS when appropiate?

Thanks again

shameless-about-money

Your network company will cover you for all of your necessary insurance, your registration with the FSA, the software, etc. Will cover you for all your compliance, provide you with training, monitor you , etc, and give you CAS when they think you are ready.

I got a list of the things my Company will cover me for.

Also, with a network company there is always someone there to help you out if you need it. It is their best interests to make sure that all is well.

Right from the first phone conversation I had with the Recruitment Manager, I got on really well and felt as if I belonged there. On going for an interview and seeing their offices, meeting the compliance office, the Manager and the Recruitment Manager I knew I belonged.

About Cartel -

You will be romanced by the recruiting agent - if it is EXPO, Expo IS Cartel!
Then they will invite you for an interview at Salford.

Interview????? You have got to be joking!!

You will be herded into a room - like sheep. There were 16 at mine.

You will be subject to a dragon of a woman who will stand at the front - with two companions sitting either side - as you stand one by one and talk about yourself. One girl was fully qualified CeMap who questioned the dragon about Cartel and their Sales strategy being forceful - the reply was "most certainly not, we do not pressure anyone into buying our product" and got very huffy about it!!! What they actually do is make the Mortgage Adviser go to the "factfind" with the computer and printer in tow and do the equivalent of two visits in one, requiring the client to sign there and then.

She will talk for half an hour about the Cartel "model" which, incidentally is one product for mortgage reduction.

She tells you that they have had 200 people for "interview" in the last month and that only 1 person was "suitable" for their purposes.

You will then be herded out for coffee whilst they scrutinise your health and financial information questionnaires.

They will then tell you that no-one has been chosen for an interview and that you will be told the reasons why by email later.

It took me four weeks to find out that my "personality was not suitable" .

I have worked in private practice for nearly 24 years - relying on my personality for my income!! Up until I finished work on health grounds I still had ALL of my clientele, I only lost clientele when they passed.

Total sharks. You are wasting your time, energy and money in transport going to the interview at the Salford Quays.

Do yourself a favour and go for a decent Company instead.


Unfortunately I got ensnared by Cartel last November, when I didn't really have a clue.

icklejulez

Can someone please explain what a network company is exactly. I get the jist of it but how do I find these companies? As you can tell I have not signed up for the course yet and this may be why I am acting so dumb but I do like to get all the background before forking out the costs so I can be sure. Does anyone know of any of these network companies in the NW and whether they are reliable?

J

MortgageMamma

You are correct about cartel shameless they are the dregs of the mortgage industry and do use pressure tactics. They try to hooks advisers in on a £1000 a month advance and what initially sounds like an easy to get and lucrative commissoin structure

A friend of mine is the director of one of manchesters leading recruitment agencies, cartel is nicknames the hamster wheel as thats what happens to all their recruits, they are put on a wheel and told to run and stuck in the same position giving more than a pound of flesh for nil results financially

No respectable recruitment agencies will touch them, they have the highest staff turnover in the mortgage industry in the north of england

Sorry you had to go through that, but thank your lucky stars ;-) that you didnt end up there!

mikeyboy

icklejulez wrote: »

Can someone please explain what a network company is exactly. I get the jist of it but how do I find these companies? As you can tell I have not signed up for the course yet and this may be why I am acting so dumb but I do like to get all the background before forking out the costs so I can be sure. Does anyone know of any of these network companies in the NW and whether they are reliable?

J

Hi Iclejulez,

As i understand it, to offer mortgage advice you have to be working to standards which are laid out and monitored by the FSA. You have 2 options:

1. Become directly authorised by the FSA.
2. Become what is known as a "appointed representitive" of a company which is directly authorised by the FSA,

The network ensure you work in line with the legislation and guidlines, provide support for compliance etc etc. In return you pay them a fee/give them a cut of your earnings.

shameless-about-money

MortgageForce operate in the NorthWest

MoneyMarketing too

Some networks have AR's all over the country, so you don't necessarily have to have one in your area, although it does help when you have to be at Head Office for meetings etc.

My Company head office is only 20 miles from me, so I consider myself to be lucky.

mikeyboy

Do all networks charge to join them? I know that Mortgage Force is quite £££ ( into thousands i think) and money marketing offer a franchise arrangement i think which again costs a lot of money.

I would assume that you get the benefit of their branding, company name etc when you buy a franchise.

Shameless, do you trade under your own company name and then state "an appointed representive of _____________ network."????

shameless-about-money

mikeyboy wrote: »

Hi Iclejulez,

As i understand it, to offer mortgage advice you have to be working to standards which are laid out and monitored by the FSA. You have 2 options:

1. Become directly authorised by the FSA.
2. Become what is known as a "appointed representitive" of a company which is directly authorised by the FSA,

The network ensure you work in line with the legislation and guidlines, provide support for compliance etc etc. In return you pay them a fee/give them a cut of your earnings.

As an Appointed Representative they give you -

Security
Knowledge and Guidance
Compliance

So, whilst you are self-employed, you have the support of their experience.

They will also have Whole of Market products.

One reason I didn't want to be with a bank/building society was because they only sell their own products!

Yes it would have been nice to have had a basic salary and I did have some interviews with companies but their commission was only about 40%. Since it is myself who is putting the backwork in, am worth more than 40%.

icklejulez

Thanks for everyone's advice. Ive just signed up for the first module in the CeMap course so if anyone has any advice or words of wisdom please PM me. Is anyone else just signing up for this course that I can turn to in an hour of need???

J

dunstonh

I use Sesame as my network. It was Countrywide Independent Advisers before it was bought and merged with the other big networks. I am currently looking at going directly authorised but using Sesame Direct.

Networks have pros and cons. Sesame for example get the best deals in general. However, their costs tend to be a bit higher. Their compliance requirements are quite strong nowadays and correctly focused in my opinion. Especially when I look at what other advisers with Personal Touch have to deal with. In my opinion, Personal Touch are awful. Indeed, its closer to a salesforce than a network in how they make their advisers work.

You must get the right network first time. Otherwise it can turn out to be a costly error. Every network will spin you a story that contains "errors" to make them look better. Most will slag off the others.

Some networks leave you alone apart from compliance, others will be more hands on and not give you the freedom you may wish.