mortgage career - question

myright

kingstreet wrote: »

Are you talking about a salary of £25k, or earnings of £25k?

There's a big difference!

In my "employee" days, I never had a salary of more than £15k, but earned more than that, based on production.

Now, I'm completely self-employed, so no salary, but I work considerable less hours for the same overall earnings, or earn more for the same hours.

What kind of commission did you make on average in your employee days?

And as to you being self employed, I know you said you work less hours, but do you find it better than being employed? I mean atleast when you was empoyed yuo had a form of job security , a basic that you can rely on. Whereas now, you can go away with making nothng at all, has this ever happened to you?

myright

Bump0pppppppp

GMS

myright wrote: »

thanks for your sharing your experience ACG. Can you enlighten me with what kind of commission clawbacks have you encountered?

You can avoid clawbacks by taking commissions on a monthly basis rather than in a lump sum. I prefer this way as there won't be a request to pay back any funds.

For instance you may have a life policy which pays £1,000 in commission. Take the £1,000 up front and cross your fingers for 4 years that the client continues to keep it on risk. Alternatively you can take £20 per month and not have to pay it back should the policy lapse as the monthly commission will be paid once the insurer receives their premium from the client.

Obviously £1,000 in a lump is much better than £20 per month but the danger of having to pay it back is there.

If there is no option for monthly payment from the provider then there is always an option to 'self pay' by putting the lump sum into an account and only taking the monthly equivelant each month. That way if there was a big clawback the cash would still be there.

myright

ah I see, it makes alot of sense.

But do you think it's worth it, to get into the industry? atm I am earning 19k a year, which is a dead end job. So i really want to get into something that will atleast pay more than that. I dont want to invest time and money in something that wont even surpass the money I make now. I am more than happy to be working for a company too.

dunstonh

But do you think it's worth it, to get into the industry?

If you are in the top 20% then its a very financially rewarding industry. The next 20% will be comfortable and have a few good periods and a few bad. The other 60% are destined for failure. Whether it be quite quickly or a slow death. Over half of new advisers leave the industry in the first two years.

The most common reason for failure is lack of clients. So, where are you going to get your clients from? if you cannot answer that question then dont waste your time.

Thinking longer term, do you plan to move up the career scale? IFA for example? Many advisers start as mortgage and insurance and train on the job to become an IFA. That has a much higher income earning potential. However, it has exactly the same client issues. No clients = no income.

vectistim

Look at your area - how many competitors are there, how much business is available, what sort of business is available (mostly 'normal' people/lots of adverse/lots of high net worth, etc), how will you secure your fair share?

New entrant employment opportunities are going to be very limited as for the few jobs advertised there are likely to be lots of experienced people who've been made redundant against whom you would need to compete.

myright

dunstonh wrote: »

If you are in the top 20% then its a very financially rewarding industry. The next 20% will be comfortable and have a few good periods and a few bad. The other 60% are destined for failure. Whether it be quite quickly or a slow death. Over half of new advisers leave the industry in the first two years.

The most common reason for failure is lack of clients. So, where are you going to get your clients from? if you cannot answer that question then dont waste your time.

Thinking longer term, do you plan to move up the career scale? IFA for example? Many advisers start as mortgage and insurance and train on the job to become an IFA. That has a much higher income earning potential. However, it has exactly the same client issues. No clients = no income.

I was aware the industry was bad, but wasnt quite sure it was the bad!

and cheers vectism aswel.

My intention is not to be self emplyed but to work for a company.

Do any of you actually believe that the industry will pick up ever again? if not now, maybe in 2 years 5 years. Im not asking you to predict when, but my question is would it ever be the same again or atleast close to decent?

ACG

With the recent MMR announcements i would like to think it would pick up. But i think a lot depends on the lenders and what they do.

If the lenders decide to put actual qualified advisors in branch or on the phone, then it might not be as good for us as it could be. I dont think it will ever get to how it was but i think/hope it will improve.

dunstonh

It will pick up. Recessions come and go. Mortgage lending amounts go up and down. There is nothing unusual about this situation. Its just been a longer gap between the now and the last time. And like most bubble situations, the bigger the bubble, the bigger the bang when it bursts.

However, employed advisers typically get paid the least. I would expect an employed adviser to have a salary of £10k -£15k plus bonuses. They may quote on track earnings of higher amounts but that will likely be what the top earners are getting and showing you what is possible. Many salaried packages are also based on past earnings. A large adviser firm in our area uses employed advisers but they pay the salary based on their fee/commission income for the previous period. So, their salary is pretty variable. Plus, it equates to around 1/3rd of the income they bring in (ie. if they bring in £100k of fee/commission income they get £33k salary).

Conrad

myright wrote: »

Do any of you actually believe that the industry will pick up ever again? if not now, maybe in 2 years 5 years.

As Dunhston implied, some advisers make big bucks right now, well over £100,000 personal income, but the majority never get near this.

To be sucesful you need to have the behaviours and mindset of those that do well on The Apprentice show. Does that make sense?

In other words you have to be like a business generating dynamo.

£25k is very doable but you still need to be a dynamo generating business. It's no different to those getting into selling thier own paintings. Some do well, others fail.