Training to become a Mortgage Broker / IFA advice please!

Extroversion

I am about to start a course to train to become a Mortgage Broker - ideally I would like to pursue a career as an IFA and the initial FSA course module is the starting step for both of these qualifications. However, the IFA qualifications are more complicated and take longer to complete.

Can anyone please give advice on how to get into the Mortgage Broking profession - the training providers allow you to work for them, generating your own sales, and they supervise and monitor you to competent advisor status. However, starting from scratch (my background is as a Conveyancing Legal secretary and I have also worked in Financial Administration) in the mortgage broker business is extremely daunting and I would prefer to work for a company but definitely not as a tied broker. However, the training company then go on to provide free training to be come an IFA and an advanced Mortgage Broker and Protection specialist (enabling you to sell life time mortgages etc) if you join their 'Stepping Stones' programme to set up your own mortgage broking business which they provide lots of business training for. The training would cost £1000 + course fees with out their support. They also pointed out that any mortgage broker will be expected to generate leads. The training company is an approved partner for Armed Forces resettlement training and in the testimonials section of their site there are a few stories posted by Armed Forces people who have trained through them and set up their own businesses.

Will mortgage broking companies look positively on the fact that I will have done the CeMAP training independently and will that help to outweigh my lack of solid sales experience? Or would it be worth training from the beginning for IFA status. I currently work through a temping agency which provides quite regular work so I can continue to do this while studying but I would like to get into the industry as soon as I can.

Any comments/thoughts/advice would be much appreciated.

dunstonh

owever, starting from scratch (my background is as a Conveyancing Legal secretary and I have also worked in Financial Administration) in the mortgage broker business is extremely daunting and I would prefer to work for a company but definitely not as a tied broker.

You may not have a lot of choice. The best training nowadays comes from the banks and with their footfall you never find it hard to get business.

Over half of all trainees leave the industry within 2 years, often in a debt, because they could not make a go of it. The most common reason is lack of clients.

If you go to independent companies, they will be looking at what you can bring to the party. As a complete newbie, you will have no clients, no skills and no qualifications. That doesnt make you very attractive to the small independent firms unless you have the personality and the owner or recruiters see something in you.

Larger salesforces are more willing to take people on from scratch but they are more interested in your sales ability than anything else. The salesforce environment can be quite horrible although some do enjoy it. Often you have to serve time with a salesforce to get hold of a client bank you can look after and then take many of the clients with you later on.

Will mortgage broking companies look positively on the fact that I will have done the CeMAP training independently and will that help to outweigh my lack of solid sales experience?

It depends on the company you approach. I have seen so many highly technical advisers with top qualifications fail and not get jobs elsewhere as that knowledge is just one part of the job. The business model for the firms you approach may be order takers where they have people contacting them all the time to do business or they may be sales outfits where selling skills are more important and you have to generate your own business.

It's very hard not to be a little negative but you find that a lot of these recruitment staff and training companies dont point out the harsh realities of the job. That is possibly why so many fail. It is a career that can earn you hundreds of thousands a year in time with a bit of luck and being in the right place at the right time but if you go to a company with no experience and no clients and they want you to self gen business then you are going to fail unless you are excellent in sales. Remembering that you cannot cold call for mortgages. So, doing your time with a bank or building society or other salesforce that provides leads can often be the necessary evil.


You also need to look at what you want to earn and what is realistic. A couple of days ago someone posted that they were happy with a earnings amount. They may be happy with that but their sales manager or employer is unlikely to be. The level they were happy with a year was closer to a monthly income I would expect from anyone I took on. You also need to look at your area. If house values are low, then so are mortgage amounts and your commission with it. So those mortgage advisers in cheap areas may have to do 2 to 3 times the number of mortgages that a town/city based adviser would have to do.

There are other advisers that will be more positive so consider me the realistic poster. The longer established advisers have seen people come and go over the years so just make sure that if you are going to do it, you are one of those that gets it right.

knowlesey

Dunstonh
Looking into this field myself. My question is slightly different. I understand that the cemap 1,2 and 3 are required to be able to practice the trade. However, what is 'competent advisor status' and does this have to be attained by working for another broker or can it be bypassed. I can't seem to find any information as to how this status is quantified and it strikes me that it may be possible to self train in this field if you have a financial background.

Additionally, the program that all mortgage brokers use which has all the up to date rates and criteria. How does one attain access to this system as this seems to be the main medium by which all business is conducted. Is it a subscription system or is this information obtained during the courses

Thanks in advance for your help
D

dunstonh

However, what is 'competent advisor status' and does this have to be attained by working for another broker or can it be bypassed.

When you are taken on you are a trainee. You have to have higher supervision until it is evidenced that you are competent. At that point you can get signed off as a competent adviser.

You need a supervisor to do this and it cannot be got round by other means. Networks will usually take on the supervisor role.

Additionally, the program that all mortgage brokers use which has all the up to date rates and criteria. How does one attain access to this system as this seems to be the main medium by which all business is conducted. Is it a subscription system or is this information obtained during the courses

For the mortgages, you are typically looking at Trigold or Mortgage Brain. For life assurance you would typically look at Assureweb or Exchange. For home insurance you would typically look at CETA, Source and paymentshield. A couple of those involve a monthly cost. All of them will require your FSA authorisation details as well as your network details (assuming you use a network. I would expect you to in your position).

ohmsoft

Hi,

I've had both the FCP qualification (CFP) and the advanced CeMAP for over a year now but have not plucked up the courage to go into advice as yet - mainly for the reasons laid out in Dunstonh first post. Tied advice roles with banks are where the less risk and best training is but I would have to take a pay cut from my current salary as they tend to offer less than £20K. The big money is usually comes with the risk of losing your job after only a few bad months.

The above said - the qualifications have done me very well in a non advice career in finanance and I would certainly recomend them. Training programes may well be worthwhile for some but I studied off my own back and passed (most exams!) first time.

Good luck!

Dan_Collins_2

Its a hard business to get in to and Big D has covered a lot of points. I have been giving mortgage advice since 99 and got Cemap while working for a building society. In the grand sceme of things I have not been in it long, I have worked for the lender, the broker/packager , the estate agent (As a broker with a panel and tied for life etc) and now as a grown up on me tod broker! I have seen all sides and the latter is both the toughest and more rewarding.

The one thing I would say is experiance is very important, not everybody are as nice or simple as in any role play you will take part in. Every situation you come across will be different and you cant learn to deal with this with out doing the job. I would say get your qualification via a bank or corporate estate agent and learn your trade while risking other peoples time and money and not your own.

I am about to enter my third full tax year as a self employed broker and it has been tough. I would say (Then again I would say this) that I am a good broker, however it does not matter how good you are at mortgage advice, if you have nobody to sit in front of you, you will go under. My first year was tough, my second ended strong but another year like my first and I would be back with a boss looking over my shoulder and asking for weekly figures!

Good luckwith whatever you go for!

Retired_I.F.A.

My advice is go flip burgers at Mc Donalds there's a brighter future there.

Dan_Collins_2

LOL Retired, some logic in what you say!

knowlesey

Hi All

Thanks for your responses on this- Very insightful

Let me tell you my scenario and see if you think there is a way I could do this.

I currently work in London in Finance but am looking for potential ways out (of London) and to be able to manage my own business.

I am trying to find a way over the next 18 months to be able to be able to advise on mortgages without leaving my current role

I can do the cemaps off my own back (although I've yet to find somewhere that sells the coursebooks without some overpriced course to go with it- Anyone know?)

I guess my question now would be; 'Is there a way I can train for my 'competent advisor status' without having to be in a training job. i.e is there a way I could train on the job in the evenings but have some kind of training contact at the end of the phone or would that not work Dunstonh mentioned 'Networks' is that something that could work and if so would you have an example company I could take a look at.

Thanks again for your responses, much appreciated
D

ohmsoft

knowlesey wrote: »

Hi All

Thanks for your responses on this- Very insightful

Let me tell you my scenario and see if you think there is a way I could do this.

I currently work in London in Finance but am looking for potential ways out (of London) and to be able to manage my own business.

I am trying to find a way over the next 18 months to be able to be able to advise on mortgages without leaving my current role

I can do the cemaps off my own back (although I've yet to find somewhere that sells the coursebooks without some overpriced course to go with it- Anyone know?)

I guess my question now would be; 'Is there a way I can train for my 'competent advisor status' without having to be in a training job. i.e is there a way I could train on the job in the evenings but have some kind of training contact at the end of the phone or would that not work Dunstonh mentioned 'Networks' is that something that could work and if so would you have an example company I could take a look at.

Thanks again for your responses, much appreciated
D

The exams are taken through "ifs (ifslearning.com)" and when you register for the exams you get the course material included - for, i think £120, from memory.

knowlesey

Thank your for that info ohmsoft

Do you know anything about the networks and whether you can train/work offsite using a telephone support service as this seems the best scenario for receiving support whilst advising and not having to stop the day job?
Thanks
D