Copy article

Brokers - how do you plan to make the most of the next 12 months

Journalist: John Fitzsimons, Freelance

ended 18. July 2023

Morning brokers,

  • How are you planning to optimise your position over the next year or so, given the challenges hitting the housing market currently?
  • Is this a ripe time for diversifying, for training staff in new areas which could benefit the business?
  • Are you cutting staff, or changing the company's structure in some way?
  • Are there particular borrower types who you are being more explicit in targeting, for example portfolio landlords? How do you go about reaching those target clients?
  • Are there any opportunities that the current upheaval presents, which can leave you in a better position if/when things settle down somewhat?

All thoughts very welcome!

5 responses from the Newspage community

Copy all

Copy

Editor
Justin MoyVerified
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
The next 12-18 months will be a difficult time for most brokers, with a very different mix of client types and applications, typically more Product Transfers and remortgages for both Residential and Buy to Let clients. There will continue to be a trickle of first-time buyers, and there will always be homemovers looking to move up the property ladder, but the bulk of our monthly activity will continue to be PT or remortgages. This becomes quite a transactional environment, with debate about short versus long, fixed versus tracker, and decisions needing to be made quickly due to the way rates are moving so quickly. We have had to decide to reduce our team, to remove costs at a time our model is being challenged. Advisers can handle most of their own admin needs at the moment, especially when most cases are PTs, with fewer paperwork requirements. Streamlining will only help us in the long term, survival in the short term is paramount at the moment.
Copy

Editor
Greg MarchamVerified
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
The market conditions at present will mean service has never been so important, maintaining contact over a longer than usual phase of time to support clients in obtaining their optimum timeframe to enable purchasing will be imperative over the coming year.
With so many referral opportunities within financial services and volumes of business likely to drop from any mainstream mortgage income in the present financial climate it will be important to ensure brokers have the opportunity to support their clients across all areas available and thus delivering a complete service for all clients
I believe that in any market there are challenges however if service experienced by any client is at an exceptional level the market share achieved will deliver the required outcomes for all concerned, service will be paramount as we move through the turmoil that presently surround us.
Copy

Neezam Romjon0
Co-Founder at Rebus Financial Services
We're focusing on making sure that our clients are aware of their protection needs. We expect to see a drop in purchases, which used to make up the majority of our business. However, what we are starting to see is a trend of existing mortgage borrowers who are not suitably protected from their debt if they become ill and can't work and/or if they have a joint mortgage and one of the borrowers dies before the mortgage debt is repaid. After the events of the past few years, we're also finding that our clients are more interested in paying to protect themselves and their families, so they don't risk their family home being repossessed. In addition to the above, we're still keen to help first-time homebuyers and feel we need to separate ourselves as their first adviser of choice. We are doing this by regularly sharing relevant and helpful content through our social media channels, answering the questions we are asked the most from first-time buyers.
Copy

Rhys SchofieldVerified
Brand Director at Peak Mortgages and Protection
At the end of the day, a chaotic housing market creates more reasons for potential clients to talk to us brokers so our strategy just has to be to make it obvious that we're the people to talk to in both the good times and the bad. Yes, it sucks delivering bad news, but would-be clients need you now more than ever.
Copy

Peter Stamford0
Mortgage Expert at Stamford Home Finance
The next 12 months are going to bring some serious challenges but definitely some opportunities. With the forecast gloomy I think the brokers who don't love what they do day-to-day will struggle and wilt away, as the job becomes more difficult. This isn't a bad thing as it'll open up more sunlight to the rest of us who want to grow. I plan to focus on my customer journey and automating internal processes while things are quieter, Hopefully, this will bear fruit when the market picks up again.