Mortgage Strategy feature - how has the mortgage market changed since Covid?

The biggest and I think really positive change has been a shift en masse to accepting home working and video appointments as the future of our industry. Advisers can still come in if they want but being able to work flexibly and from home means being a mortgage broker is a brilliant career to juggle around other commitments like childcare. On top of that I think having the option as a client to do an appointment from your own home, even in your PJ's if you wish, is just so convenient and I just don't see us ever going back to purely in-person work ever again now.

I think that Covid has transformed business for the better. It’s forced us to look at improving our systems and processes to find more efficient ways to work remotely. This has improved our communications with clients in different areas.

We now have a hybrid working structure, with some days in the office and some at home. This helps work-life balance with staff and is particularly helpful if you have children.

I think that, from a client’s perspective, being able to have a meeting remotely over a video call, where they can still see all of the details we’d share but from the comfort of their own home or work, can be a huge time-saver, as they won’t need to travel back and forth to see us in person. Those that prefer a face-to-face meeting, still have the option.

For me, the best and biggest change is simple: remote working. I used to drive around 25000 miles a year going between offices and seeing clients in their homes all over the UK. Now we meet virtually; be that with clients, lenders, insurers, or each other within the practice. My mileage for the past couple of years has been under 5000, which is a massive difference. As well as being more time efficient (no one can get a lot done in a traffic jam), it is also better for my work/life balance (I'd regularly be getting home after 10pm) and of course, it is helping make our business that little bit greener. It is certainly one thing COVID bought that I'm very pleased about and will be working hard to keep.

One of the biggest changes we've noticed is the way it's made everyone really comfortable using Zoom and Teams. What a difference a pandemic makes!

The knock-on effect of this is that remote meetings when people are all in different locations are so much easier.

We've also noticed the number of lenders utilizing AVMs (automated valuation models).

This is brilliant. One of the benefits of this is how it's basically rocket fuel under an application. And this improves the customer journey/experience

Covid has certainly changed how we all work, more and more people are now working from home where possible. I travel to the office on some days as it's not too far from home.

BDM's are now back on the road, which is great as you get to build a more meaningful relationship face2face compared to remotely.

Some lenders and conveyancers are operating a hybrid model, but if I'm being honest their service levels are not as great as they were pre-pandemic.

Working flexibly and remotely played a huge part in my role prior to setting up VIBE. At the time, it was a subject that raised speculation and the general consensus that "are you really working when you work from home" In general, many companies suffered trust issues when it came to remote working. Covid came & knocked us off our feet & turned this ethos upside down! Most companies were forced into home working and in turn, realised how beneficial it can be!

Whilst home working has its place, it's not 'a one size fits all' scenario and needs to be looked at on an indivdual basis.

Zoom, teams and remote working certainly all have their place without a doubt - but you simply cannot beat human interaction and the bouncing ideas off of each other model that you just cannot get through a screen. Balance is key!

Since Covid, lenders have been a bit harder on the self-employed. They are needing to see a lot more 'current trading' figures and are only using the tax docs as a basic affordability check, which changes when they assess. It makes working out proper affordability much more in-depth for the adviser and time-consuming. If lenders would be a little less harsh, it may mean more self-employed cases placed with them. The best thing that has changed is the scape in which we work. People are no longer scared of zoom meetings and are more willing to talk to you. Pre-covid, we did a lot of commuting to locations where we can now video call and have some personality still.

Generally we work in the office 95% of the time. That is personal preference as I prefer the buzz of the office to working on my own in my home office.

The biggest change since covid has been the change in how we approach appointments clients are much more open to video call/telephone conversations now which has definitely helped in terms of wasted time going to appointments which never have any real hope of progressing potentially due to credit issues or client's just not being in the right place to buy.

Most BDM's seemed to have returned to face to face which again I welcome as I feel this really helps to drive a connection with them some BDM's have remained fully virtual and I feel that both advisers and BDM's miss out on building a rapport when this happens.