New Broker Q&A: Jen Hughes, Mortgage Choice Merimbula

My broker was the previous Mortgage Choice owner and I always appreciated what he did for us, as a family, and how much he taught us. And I really felt like that was something that I wanted to do for others. Now I’m doing it and I love it.

I originally came on as an admin person and then I really just learned how to become a broker [from there]. I took over the business after working for the owner after just two years in industry!

So while I’ve been a broker for two years, I’ve actually only owned the business for just over a year. And I am really fortunate in that the person that I bought the business from, Alan [Madden], still works with me. He’s still a mentor and I am ever so grateful to him.

What was the transition like to becoming a franchise owner in your first two years of broking?

Well, I probably wouldn’t recommend it to everyone! But I learned everything all at once. I had several really great mentors and quite a few of the BDMs from the different banks have been extremely helpful.

It is really great to have already worked in the business and know a lot of the existing clients because they’re not surprised when the takeover does happen.

As we’ve been hiring staff, we’ve been positioning them to learn just one part of the process first, instead of everything, because it is really overwhelming if you don’t have that experience.

What’s it like being a regional broker in a small community?

I think that regional areas are hard to break into. The fact that we’ve been here for more than 15 years really has made a difference, especially with new clients and just having that level of trust.

Even without having met us before, they might know my husband or my brother-in-law or my sister-in-law or a niece or a nephew.

So there’s always that comfortable connection that you might not find in the city.

How do you find new networks and leads?

100 per cent through my children's school and the kids all play sport (soccer and footy and they’re doing surfing and snowboarding), so we’re a very busy family.

We’re also really involved in the community and a couple of non-profits. We serve on boards and are involved in the theatre.

How did you go about hiring and building your team?

While there are six of us, I’ve got two new staff people who started, one just started and one starts soon. And then I outsource two other staff so, while they do work for me, they are remote, so they’re not full-timers.

We’ve experimented with lots of different ways of doing things and so it’s constantly changing every second month because we’re trying to get better and more efficient and become that one-touch approval for clients.

I probably don’t go down the conventional path when I interview someone and, generally, I will offer someone a job on the spot! I already know all the people that I’d like to hire and in which order.

But there is such a shortage of staff everywhere in Australia and in particular, trained staff in our industry are very hard to come by. It’s not one of those jobs you can just simply go to school and learn. It’s really hands-on, on the job, and it takes a number of years of experience to be able to operate efficiently. It’s also an ever-changing industry; there's always new developments and changing of policy, so it’s not an easy one.

What are some of the challenges facing new brokers?

I think a lot of people shy away from it because either they come along and they think it’s easy and then it’s not, or they think that it’s actually too hard because it’s constantly changing!

I also think the sales process, the timeline from a new client to actually getting the sale is much longer than most, except for recruiting. So the sales cycle can be extremely long, especially when you’re dealing with first home buyers, they may not buy something for one, two, five years, so you’re really at the mercy of when someone else is ready and they’re not always ready right away.

As a broker in the current rising rate environment, how are you helping and working with clients?

Where do I start? For clients who have not borrowed up to the top of their capacity and have good income and no changes — if they’re in a good situation where they can refinance and renegotiate those loans — either whether we do it on their behalf or they do it themselves. But it also brings up this really troubling area where there are some clients where maybe they’ve had their home for three years, they’ve now got a partner and a child and still on one income and they become ‘mortgage prisoners’. So for them, it’s really hard. And we work really closely with them to renegotiate the rate with their lender.

I think it’s really tricky, but having a professional who really understands each bank and each bank’s policies, where to go, what to ask, and how to approach it without causing too much stress and how to deal with it, how to prepare for that.

And that’s probably the number one conversation we have with clients today: “Are you prepared to pay a home loan if the rates do go up by 1, 2, 3 per cent?”

Have you increased the frequency with which you contact your back book?

Generally, we know if we need to check in with them every 12–18 months. For some first home buyers, it’s a really important thing to check in at least two months after settlement, so we can make sure that, if they have an offset facility, they’re actually utilising it correctly.

Keeping in touch with those clients is the number one way that we see our clients being able to pay off their debt and also be able to have that dream of buying a second property, that investment, for example.

For those who are really new or really uncertain, if you don’t work with them really closely, they’re going to make some of those mistakes along the way.

It sounds like you’re certainly in the right job for you, but what is it about being a broker that you really love?

I love working with my clients and helping them see their overall finances as a positive thing and something that they can make work for them. It’s not just saving for that home loan but it’s saving for other things, as well.

It’s also about doing all those things that I’d wish someone had done for me sooner. I wish that someone had taught me some of these really small little tips and tricks a little earlier. I think that we maybe would’ve purchased a second or third property sooner.

I love the relationships and I love hearing about how people are getting there and what their plans are and what their dreams are and then helping them realise those with the right planning.

I think if there’s anything else that love as much as this, it would be mentoring and training people who are learning this industry.

If you would like to find out more about Jen Hughes at Mortgage Choice Merimbula, tune in to the episode New Broker: Jen Hughes, Mortgage Choice below: