Growing Your Income
Mortgage Express Broker Rick Spinks shares his story, insights into growing your income, and his first-hand experience with the pay-off.
Hi, I’m Rick!
I was thoroughly enjoying my management career, working with a range of third-party aggregators and financial institutions, but I knew I wasn’t in control of my destiny. At the time I was 55 years old, wondering what the future was going to look like…
After some interesting events at work created a cross-roads moment, the idea of becoming a broker popped into my head, and I thought ‘why not?’. I had trained countless numbers of brokers and knew the industry inside out. My partner Cindy, a qualified teacher and an ex-conveyancer, was excited by the idea and as it happened, offered to partner with me, taking on the role of data entry.
It was time; time to control my destiny, time to found out whether I could practice what I’d preached!
My headspace was:
- 100% commitment – there would be no turning back
- I had to treat it as a job, not something I was dabbling in
- I would go to everything I was offered – every training session, referral and networking meeting
- I would spend the money on good hardware, software and support
- That marketing and building referral relationships was going to be my focus
My goals, in order, were:
1. To be invited to open houses and sales meetings by agents2. To ensure I had two leads per week
3. To write one loan per week – as that would equate to a wage
My non-negotiable was:
- To partner with the right company – in my case, that meant access to real leads – leads that were in the market for what I was selling.
After analysing my options, I decided to partner with Mortgage Express. The Mortgage Express offer was highly attractive because of the ability to access the Harcourts real estate group and build a relationship with my local Harcourts offices. A client buying a property is a fantastic starting point – not only are they likely in the market for a property loan, but the adjacent opportunities are on the table too – insurance, maybe a car loan in the near future, and even business loans when the circumstances are right. On top of the leads pipeline, they offer above average broker support and a great remuneration model, where I get to keep my clients, contacts and my trail.
While Cindy and I never dreamed that we would work together, it’s been so valuable to us personally, while also allowing me to focus on the marketing, referrals and relationship side of the business.
Growing my income
Show up
On my very first week as a broker, I planned my activities, got dressed up and went ‘to work’ every day. Initially, going ‘to work’ looked like visiting real estate agents and accountants in my area, and spending a few days in a Harcourts office. I made this a routine and worked on becoming part of their team. There were some challenges in proving the value of a mortgage broker, but with my background in the industry, I jumped in straight away and made a point to deliver.
Network
I also went to any networking event I could. Many new brokers won’t invest money in their own career, but I did – I didn’t know what would work so I couldn’t afford to write anything off. I look back now and am so glad I did this – my referrers three years later are all from that first flurry of activity!
Maintain relationships
Those referrals aren’t limited to my immediate area either. Some of my business comes from regional Queensland, and even as far interstate as Tasmania! I fish in a massive pond as my clients and referrers naturally move around.
There’s lots more I could do in this space:
- I’ve just kicked off a fabulous relationship with a financial planner. Not only does this ensure my clients are protected but it is financially rewarding! I expect to have this tranche of my business really firing in the next financial year.
- I also refer loans to a personal loan aggregator. While this is a great adjacent income stream, I’m now too busy with my home loan business to focus on this. The arrangement allows me to continue to provide a great service and make some incremental income.
My advice is to go to everything, connect with everybody. When you wake up one day and realise you’re busy, it’s a great feeling!
The pay-off
By the end of year one, I was averaging six loans per month, and won rookie awards for the Queensland chapter of Mortgage Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) and Choice Aggregation.
I’m now three years in and have built a great passive income via trail – I’ve built a future – an opportunity which I didn’t have in corporate. To sit here today earning more from my trail than my six-figure corporate salary is a wonderful feeling, and it’s an amazing asset!
My future goals
Having just made the prestigious ‘Platinum Club’ with Choice Aggregation, I plan to stay there. My other goals this financial year are:
- Achieve $50,000,000 in settled loans
- Employ a file driver – for settlement control
- Travel overseas twice
On reflection…
Mortgage Express delivered on the wish list I had:
- Fair and above-average remuneration structure
- Broking support and tools
- Partnership and leads – Harcourts are supportive of the brokers, opening doors to great relationships
- Excellent backing from Mortgage Express management, Vicky Devine and Karen Laursen
Mortgage Express are a small team with many territory gaps for brokers. The best time to build a new venture is in the early days – it’s blue sky – there’s just so much opportunity.
Connect with Rick via LinkedIn.
Questions? Keen to know more about joining Mortgage Express? Visit our careers page.
