CeMAP Courses

Qual123

i have been set a target of 4 per week? but this only comes into effect after 6 months, plus this is only a target and my job will not be at risk if i dont make it.

thanks for all your comments, this is a great site and is very usful.

HelpWhereIcan

On the face of it, this looks like a VERY generous offer for Estate Agency work and even more so for someone who is not currently qualified with no track record of achievement in a similar role.

The phrases that set me wondering are

a paid on commission amount of £1,250 per week over a 48 week period

Paid on commission I would read as what is commonly referred to in the industry as "issued business" ie cases that have gone to completion and have had commission 'issued' by the lender/insurer.

As has been said before, you have to allow for a fact that a % of the deals you write (applications made) will come to nothing - through declines or the sales falling through etc etc.

To give it some perspective, 1 in 3 house sales falls through and as an Estate Agency adviser, you are very exposed to this. I was always told to allow a 'drop off' rate of about 20% in Estate Agency mortgage work. ie 1 in 5 mortgages that you write will not issue.

My current drop off rate is around 2%, but I have a very even mix between remortgage and purchase cases and have been quite lucky. As an estate agency adviser you should mainly be doing purchase cases (if the agency is any good at getting you infront of people you will not have time to do any remortgages) so you should expect a higher rate than that.

and

net of any money paid away to the estate agent of any introducer that requires a fee

This would set some alarm bells off with me. What introducer agreements are there in place and what amounts are being paid under them.

ie If the estate agency is being paid half of any commissions as an introducer fee (not uncommon in some firms), you have to do £2500 worth of business for the "net of any money paid away" to be £1250.

Find out what amounts are paid to agents, introducers etc before your 'production' is calculated.

Don't want to be a private Frasier yelling "we're all dooooomed", but you have to be very aware from the start of exactly how things are worked.

For example:

Your friend is paying his estate agency a 25% 'introducer fee'.

This means that, to justify your basic, you have to "issue" £1250 net of their introducer fee i.e £1666.66 per week.

If you assume a 'drop off' rate of 10%, that means that you have to write £1851 worth of business pw.

Assume an average mortgage case size of £100,000 at an average 'proc fee' (commission) of £350. That means you have to either write 5.3 mortgage per week or get life business worth £800 per week.

The scenario I have given above is probably very achieveable in a proactive agency where the negotiators have a lot of confidence in you.

But take a doomsday scenario of:

The agent being paid a 50% introducer fee means that your £1851 pw suddenly becomes £2777 pw which means 8 mortgages or a decent amount of life business.

Ask the questions and do your sums and make sure that the structure is as good as it appears (he must be a good mate). If it is, let me know 'cos I may want a job off your mate too.

Good Luck with your studies and see if you can find an experienced adviser to shadow/mentor you at the start - there is a lot more to this job than Cemap can teach - but it is a good one!!

Qual123

Thank you so much for your honest and in depth reply. i am leaving a very successful job to take this position so im sure you can understand the importance of understanding the offer fully. I have done what you said and have asked the questions, the paid on fee to agents is £100 flat fee, As for the drop off rate, you were spot on. and you were also correct with the paid on commission amount. I still think its a very good offer and i will be taking it! so its CeMAP for me now, Is it hard? any tips? thanks once again guys. and thanks to Martin for providing this forum.

JoeK_3

The CeMAP exams are set at 'A' level standard. Whist some would say that they are easy, others will tell you that they are demanding and different.

You may find that the easiest way to pass the CeMAP exams is to attend CeMAP training courses prior to taking the exams.

Have a look at http://www.cemap-training.org.uk for cemap training courses.

All the best to you.

JoeK

Qual123

thank you, i am doing a 2 week course with a company called NM Squared, this covers CeMAP 1,2 and 3, it has cost me £795+VAT, i feel this is best for me, with 2 young kids studying at home could be hard!! Has anyone done this course?

homer_j_3

he has said he is taking a course?

teaching someone to pass the course is easy and if you are prepared to study then there is no reason why you will not.

you need experience and that will come with time and a steep learning curve. as mentioned prior, its good if you can get a mentor who can point you in the right direction when you are first starting off.

JoeK_3

Qual123 wrote: »

thank you, i am doing a 2 week course with a company called NM Squared, this covers CeMAP 1,2 and 3, it has cost me £795+VAT, i feel this is best for me, with 2 young kids studying at home could be hard!! Has anyone done this course?

Sorry but no knowledge about that company at all.

JoeK

Leann2213

Hi JoeK would you say that Have a look at http://www.cemap-training.org.uk for cemap training courses. is the best place to book it through, im currently working in a non advised mortgage sale, so you think if i obtain my cemap that id be able to apply for a trainee mortgage advisor? would u say that these 5 day course are enough to be able to pass?

JoeK_3

Leann2213 wrote: »

Hi JoeK would you say that Have a look at http://www.cemap-training.org.uk for cemap training courses. is the best place to book it through, im currently working in a non advised mortgage sale, so you think if i obtain my cemap that id be able to apply for a trainee mortgage advisor? would u say that these 5 day course are enough to be able to pass?

Sorry but I may be biased as it's my company but we trained around 1,000 people in 2006 and around 85% of the delegates passed their CeMAP exams.

Having the full CeMAP qualification behind you will obviously give you a chance to find a mortgage adviser job but it's no guarantee, as you will need to sell yourself to a potential employer.

JoeK

Leann2213

how much revision would you say needs to be done before the course? and also i live in wolverhampton is the closest one you do is coventry?