Mortgage Advisor – Job Description
Main Duties
A mortgage advisor is responsible for giving advice on mortgages to customers. It will be necessary to therefore keep up to date with changes to the mortgage market including new and discontinued products.
It is possible to be working in a branch at a certain financial institution and then only selling their mortgage products. However, independent mortgage advisors are not tied to a company. They may be based at an estate agent or a mortgage brokers.
The FSA have very strict on selling mortgages with regards to giving correct financial advice and acting fairly and so their regulations would need to be studied and followed.
You may meet customers at the branch that you work or visit them in their home. You would therefore need a polite and friendly approach and be able to happily deal with people, explain things and answer questions, every day.
You would probably be office based, although may visit customers at their homes. If you are an independent mortgage advisor you might be self-employed and working from home. Working hours would tend to be Monday-Saturday and probably evenings. This is due to having to be available to advice customers who are at work in normal office hours. Some travel may be involved as well, if you are expected to visit customers in their homes.
Expected Salary
An independent mortgage advisor would either be paid by commission or fees.
If you were working for a company, you would normally be paid a salary plus commission on sales. Starting salary could be £18,000 to £25,000 which could go up to £50,000 with the commission added on.
It may be possible to also have pension benefits as well as insurance and car allowance.
Pros
Salary prospects are high, especially for good salesmen who earn a lot of commission.
Interesting work, where you will get to meet lots of new people.
Study for qualifications may be paid for by the employer.
Cons
You may have tight sales targets to meet.
Changing mortgages, means there will be a lot of research involved.
Qualifications Required
Formal qualifications are not often required, but work experience in sales or customer services as well as a financial background are normally required.
You may be required to have FSA qualifications which could include a certificate in mortgage advice.
Required Skills
Good communication skillsSales of customer service skillsFinancial backgroundAbility to explain things clearlyIT skillsAble to keep customer details confidential
Be careful with jobs that involve commission. Make sure you’re also going to get a stable salary, or you could find yourself getting into financial difficulty quite easy. A commission only job is certainly not for those who have families and a mortgage etc.
However, mortgage advisor positions usually have a salary and extra commission for meeting your targets, which could prove to be a decent paying job for the right person.