What Did It Take to Get Here?

So you are thinking of becoming a mortgage broker?

Perhaps you saw an ad for a mortgage broker and thought- man, that sounds interesting. It's like all the glamour of being in real estate without having to do all that selling and meeting people a realtor has to do. Sign me up!

Big mistake.  

Like Michael Cera with a mustache mistake...

So why did I decide to do it? 

In my case I have 2 relatives that are mortgage brokers; a cousin in a city 500 kms away and a sister-in-law 150 kms away. This is very important because you will soon learn that you are going to be just another fish entering an already full pond that has a limited amount of earning potential before you appeared. It's much like the Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo goalie conundrum. There is only so much net to go around...  

However, they helped me in answering a few questions i had about the industry and didn't yell at me to back the hell up on this career path. The only problem in hindsight is that they have over 20 years experience between the two while I had none.

It's not glamorous, it's not overly rewarding. It's a job. A lot of being a mortgage broker is based on earning commission, meaning I don't have a set wage, I earn a portion of what I bring in. Yet I'm not really selling a tangible; I have to convince people that I can save them thousands of dollars in the future if they are open to getting a mortgage not from their current bank (which 90% of homeowners do, citing convenience as their primary reason).  

My job is to help people see past their personal banks. Banks are making record profits for a reason; they make the best return they can on the people they serve, which is you and me. That won't change, however I can shop around for the best deal that makes sense to people in their own unique situation, at no cost to the person wishing to purchase or refinance their home. 

People can still be loyal to your bank but when it comes to hundreds of thousands of future dollars, it's best to get the best rate possible. That's what banks expect and they certainly don't want their valued (and profitable) customer to find out that some private lender with little name recognition may save them thousands of dollars in interest payments alone over the course of their mortgage.
I digress.