If you have a fascination with the property market and you genuinely care about delivering top-quality customer service, then why not consider a job as a Mortgage Advisor? You will get to turn people’s hopes and dreams into reality, and what better feeling is there than helping someone buy the home of their dreams.
A Mortgage Advisor (sometimes known as a Mortgage Broker or Mortgage Consultant), is an individual with in-depth knowledge about the property market who helps customers with mortgage applications. Getting a mortgage can be a difficult and unsettling process, so most people looking to secure a new home prefer to get help and support from someone who understands the process better than they do.
When an individual, a family or a business decides they would like to buy a property, a Mortgage Advisor will assess their financial situation (income, debt repayment, daily spending) and work out what they can afford in terms of mortgage repayments. The outcome of this assessment will then help customers decide which mortgage to go for and importantly, how much they can afford to borrow to buy the home of their dreams. There are many different mortgage providers and the range of products and rates available is huge. It’s the Mortgage Advisor’s job to make sure that applicants understand the different types of mortgage available to them and how they work. For many, a mortgage will be the single biggest financial transaction they will make in their lifetime and so Mortgage Advisors have a duty of care to customers, to ensure they end up with the most appropriate mortgage for their individual circumstances.
They will also work with other professionals such as Lawyers, Conveyancers and Estate Agents to finalise mortgage agreements and tie up any loose ends to ensure that the customer can move into their new home on time.
The right person will:
It would help if you have:
Striking a balance. As a Mortgage Advisor, you need to be driven to meet sales targets but it’s important that you maintain your duty of care to customers and don’t sell them anything they don’t need.
A Mortgage Advisor role is typically commission based but will start off with a base starting salary of £16,000, potentially rising to £26,000 plus.
Once you become an experienced Mortgage Advisor, you might want to progress towards a career as a Financial Advisor or alternatively progress to manage and coach teams of other Mortgage Advisors.
“It’s a massive thing, no matter wherever you are in your life; a mortgage is a huge thing. Whether it’s your first mortgage, you’re moving up the property ladder, you’re downsizing, you’re remortgaging. Whatever the reason is, it’s hugely important. You know its your biggest asset, your biggest outgoing normally so you want to make sure you get the right advice.
“It sounds dead cheesy but I love doing it. I love helping people. I love being able to offer people solutions if they come in and they say ‘Oh, I’m not sure about this’ and then I think ‘Ok, well let’s have a look and see what we can do to help’. I’m a people person – I like working with people. A lot of it I do over the phone, as well as face-to-face. A lot of people don’t like phone appointments, but I’m okay with that.”
– Sheryl Towers, 63, Mortgage Advisor
Before deciding to make a big career move, it’s always best to speak to someone who currently does the job you’re interested in, so you can find out the ins and outs of daily work life. If you don’t already know a Mortgage Advisor, you might be able to get in touch with one through friends and family. There’s also nothing wrong with approaching a Mortgage Advice company and asking if there’s someone you can speak to for career advice.
You may also want to read our Real Life story which explains how one woman fell in love with Mortgage Advising after being made redundant at 59.
Some employers will request that you take the first part of the qualification yourself and already have a CeMap Level 1 qualification. It is easy to enrol onto a CeMap course and there are no specific entry requirements. Oxbridge Home Learning offer a popular 120-hour CeMap Mortgage Advisor course that can be completed online. The course will cover everything you need to know to start your career as a Mortgage Advisor, including a general introduction to financial services and products, moving onto detailed information on mortgage applications, mortgage arrears and post completion issues.
Once you successfully complete the course, you’ll receive an official certificate and will be able to add the designation CeMAP after your name to confirm your qualification to future employers.
Some large estate agencies and Mortgage Advice firms will offer to take driven, numerate candidates and train them up with no prior experience. If they do this, they will usually offer employees the chance to study a qualification alongside their work.
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