They say the first year in broking is the hardest, but during her first 12 months, Loan Market Scenic director Samantha Barnett lodged more than 100 deals (at an average of $6 million per month). She shares the secret behind her strong start and what’s next
After working in Loan Market’s aggregation business, did it ever cross your mind to go with anyone else as a broker?
My immediate thought was obviously I’ll go with Loan Market. And then I thought, “No, this will be my business. I need to make sure that I’m not just saying that because I work here.”
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There were a few things that were important to me. I decided I was going to become a business owner, but I knew I had no customers and I wanted to give it a red-hot crack. That was my swaying factor, seeing everything Loan Market did around marketing. I’m not a marketing expert, never have been. I didn’t want to take that risk.
While I knew I would pay more with Loan Market, I knew it was worth every cent.
What was your plan for the first 12 months?
I sold an investment property so I had 12 months’ income. I never wanted to put myself in a situation where I was thinking, “Not sure if I should do this deal, but geeze, I’m broke.”
The other part was I wanted to invest heavily. I wanted to invest in marketing. And if someone wanted a sponsorship, I wanted to be able to do it and not count every penny.
How did you make your first deal?
A friend referred me to one of their friends. They had a non-conforming lender for their owner-occupier investment, high interest rates, and they wanted to see if they could save.
I’m not entirely sure why they were with a non-conforming lender and neither were they. There were no conduct issues – they were just paying a higher interest rate. I saved them on their rate, refinanced them, and got them a refi rebate.
They think I’m amazing. A few weeks ago, they contacted me for their next purchase. That’s when I go, “Okay, I’ve done a good job.”
What does your book look like now?
It’s majority residential: a lot of first home buyers, government guarantee schemes, accessing equity for investments, or home improvements. I wanted to be a one-stop shop for my customers, but I also knew that I needed to focus on becoming an expert, or as close as I could get, in residential lending.
How will you approach year two?
I’d like to achieve the same in the second year. If I overachieve, fantastic.
The second half of the [last] financial year was about nailing down that book, embedding the process, and understanding what that looks like. That took a lot of my energy and focus, but we’ve nailed that. Now it’s about segmenting that database.
My assistant is helping me segment that data and try to diversify. And [this means] if lending does start to come down, if resi isn’t moving as fast, I’ve still got a broad range of products.
You can find out more about Samantha Barnett in the New Broker podcast. Tune in to the podcast, ‘How this new broker wrote 100 loans in her first year’, here or below:
