There are over 1200 mortgage brokerages in Ontario and it can be hard to decide which one to join. There are many different types of brokerages and one-size does not fit all. Finding the right fit can be the key to success in your mortgage career.

Brokering has always been a self-employed career. You are running your own business and you are free to run it how you want, within the guidelines of the regulatory and the brokerage. Traditionally, nothing is handed to you and it is up to you to sink or swim.

Here are three things to ask a prospective brokerage before joining:

1. Do They Offer Deal Support: Getting a mortgage done for a client is a lot of work. Every new agent will need help every step of the way when they are first starting out. You will have a thousand questions and it will seem daunting for your first few mortgages. You need a live person to help you through this process. Someone that you can call, text, and email with every question. It is still up to the agent to do the actions required for the mortgage, but deal support is there to guide you every step of the way.

2. What Training is Offered: As a new agent you need someone to walk you through the mortgage process, from A to Z. It is best to learn from an experienced agent that will teach you the industry best practices. You need real, hands-on training that will get you up and running. A brokerages training philosophy should be “come talk with us”; participate and contribute.

Some brokerage’s ignore agent by directing agents to some video library for answers. If a brokerage does not want to talk to you or give their personal time to help you, then this might not be a good fit for new agents.

3. Brokerage’s Vision: What is the vision of the brokerage and what are they trying to achieve? What market niche do they primarily serve? What type of mortgages do they do, what type of clients do they attract?

These types of questions will give you a fantastic insight into the brokerages culture. You should walk away from the conversation with a good sense if this brokerage is a good fit for you.

Interested in joining Ashburn Mortgages, where agents and brokers come to thrive? Discover more about Ashburn Mortgages today! Contact Sean Stewart, 905-427-9596, sean@ashburnmortgages.com

At Ashburn Mortgages we enjoy seeing our agents be successful and we are willing to put a lot of time into training and developing our agents. Their success is our success. Here are a few key traits that we see in agents that have become successful.

1. Participation: One strong indicator is how engaged an agent is in developing their knowledge of the industry. Ask questions, talk to other agents, participate in brokerage calls and events. We encourage our agents to participate as much as possible. Feel free to reach out anytime with questions, comments, or feedback. Part of participation is letting the brokerage know what support you need. We can relate to the struggles of being a mortgage agent and the early years of getting your mortgage business off the ground. So, please ask questions and be engaged. 

2. Relationship building: Long-term success is much easier when you build relationships with clients, referral sources, and lenders. It takes time but is really the best way for sustainable success. Nothing wrong with doing transactional type deals in the short-term to bridge the gap until you build those relationships. It takes about 5 years for a mortgage book of business to feed itself sustainably.

3. Positive Thinking: This really changed my mortgage career when I stopped the negative internal talk and consciously changed to a positive attitude. When you resonate positivity, people will subconsciously be attracted to you. If you don't believe this, try it for a month. A mortgage brokering career is not easy and you need support from your brokerage.

4. Tenacity: You have to learn to be a bit tenacious. Meaning don't just sit there waiting for people to respond to you. For example, lender BDM's should be responding same day or less than 24 hours. If you don't get a response, then follow up. Don't sit there for a week and then complain that no one has responded to you. Don't take it personally, just politely follow-up. This includes the brokerage and clients too; a friendly nudge is okay.

There are other traits that can be added to this list, but when we see these four traits when training an agent, I know they have a great chance of being successful. 

Interested in joining Ashburn Mortgages, where agents and brokers come to thrive? Discover more about Ashburn Mortgages today! Contact Sean Stewart, 905-427-9596, sean@ashburnmortgages.com