Yesterday I went to the mortgage forum at the Vancouver Convention Center, put on by Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP.) They had an educational seminar followed by a meet-and-greet session with mortgage related companies. The whole event was to promote the mortgage industry and get people interested about starting a career in the vast mortgage market.
What is the mortgage industry? It’s a part of the overall financial industry that deals with loans for real estate. When someone wants to borrow money to buy a home they generally go through an originator (commonly known as a broker) who then talks with a lender (bank, credit union, private company, etc) to obtain a loan for the buyer. In a high ratio mortgage case (down payment <20%) the lender must go through an insurer 😀 That’s basically how everything works.
As usual, my favorite part about these kinds of events is all the swag companies were giving away. Colorful pamphlets, pens, notepads, Canadian maple syrup, mini first aid kits, eco-friendly shopping bags, food, shoe polish, lent remover. etc… Oh my goodness so much free swag（⌒▽⌒）
There are many different kinds of jobs in this sector. Even if you’re with a company that has nothing to do with the mortgage industry, you may still find yourself working indirectly in it. D+H (Davis and Henderson) for example, known for printing cheques, had a booth at the event. They told me they have expanded their expertise to provide targeted services to mortgage brokers and lenders.
Jobs directly related to the mortgage industry:
Broker channel: To become licensed within your province to help borrowers find lenders.
Property valuation: This includes appraising the value of homes and keeping up with market trends
Insurers: The 3 big ones here are CMHC (government insurer), Genworth (a spin-off from General Electric’s financing division), and Canada Guaranty (used to be a company under AIG)
Regulators: To license and authorize business, and to set standards in policy and enforce rules.
Lenders: Must learn how to adjudicate, meaning they must determine if the borrower can pay back the mortgage or not. This is called the underwriting process.
Sounds like an industry full of “middle men”
That’s a fairly accurate way to look at it :0) The majority of mortgage professionals are brokers, or middle men, so they need interpersonal skills, problem solving skills, adaptability, critical thinking, and business skills (entrepreneurship) It’s not for everyone and certainly not for myself, but I can see how some people can make a lot of money if they are into it.
I would do it as a 2nd job if it paid well. Does it ? (broker)
It doesn’t pay well at first, but it’s possible to build it up to a big business. It all depends on how many contacts and connections you have. So it’s similar to any other commission based job. When you’re starting, it’s hard to get clients, but once you have enough, they can refer their friends and family members to you and you don’t have to do any advertising at that point anymore.
Nice score of freebies!! I missed out, didn’t I? Was it a big sales pitch?
You didn’t miss much, it was just small items mostly. It was a pretty good pitch and got me thinking about the industry, but I don’t think it’s something I want to pursue now. I would have told people about it earlier, but the ticket price to get in is $1,100 so I didn’t think any of my friends would be interested. It’s free for students though 🙂
Hope you got in for free as a student 🙂
Yup, luckily I did ^_^
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