Leading mortgage pros discuss strategies for success in challenging times
To date, 2023 has been a challenging year for Canada’s mortgage market – but how can agents and brokers continue driving their business forward in the cooler current purchase climate?
That was one of the key questions up for discussion at a panel convening leading brokers from across Canada at the recent Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC) national conference held in Toronto on October 15-16.
Throughout the panel, moderated by MPC chair Joe Jacobs (pictured top), a constant theme was the valuable role that mortgage professionals can play in bringing calmness and clarity to stressful scenarios for clients.
Sharon Davis (pictured below), mortgage planner at Dominion Lending Centres’ BlueTreeMortgages West in Vancouver, said the onus was on brokers to present a cool and collected approach to situations with potentially difficult decisions to be made.
“Our job, I think, is to help clients navigate and give them what they need – not necessarily what they want,” she said. “Because they [often] don’t really know what they want. They want the cheapest rate, but that’s not always the answer for them.
“And so I think that helping them understand the options that are available to them in the market and what that could do for their financial picture is really our job today.”
Whitby-based broker-owner Sherry Corbitt (pictured below) emphasized the need for brokers to demystify products that may be viewed with some skepticism by sections of the marketplace, particularly reverse mortgages.
“I think reverse mortgages is a conversation we should all be having with our clients,” she said. “It’s a product that is going to be important in the marketplace for seniors who want to stay in their home, or even downsize to a smaller home, that have the cashflow.”
Second mortgages are another product type that Corbitt called on mortgage professionals to have serious discussions with their clients about.
Business sentiments in Canada have declined, with companies anticipating slower sales growth as 2024 approaches, according to the Bank of Canada's latest business outlook survey.
— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) October 18, 2023
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Referral partnerships especially important at present
Meanwhile, the panel agreed that making connections and furthering relationships with referral partners are crucial steps in the current down market.
“The other conversation to have right now is to your realtor partners,” Corbitt said. “Reach out and have a conversation about the market, products that you can help them with… It’s actually a great time to build those realtor relationships deeper than ever before.
“You can be the expert and when the market comes back, which it will, we’re all going to be super placed [and] in a great position. Those realtors are going to remember that you went deep on their relationship.”
Candice Carr, broker and owner at Kindred Mortgage in Regina, also urged brokers to double down on their relationships with business development managers, with both ultimately interested in the other’s success.
“It’s totally two-sided,” she said. “A lot of them – for some of the newer brokers – they’ll help you do a presentation to realtors.
“So if you want to organize a presentation in a real estate office and you’re not really sure how to do it, they have everything prepared and done already. They’re willing to help you. They want to help you grow so they grow as well.”
Leaning on experience
Indeed, some rookie brokers and agents may be viewing the landscape ahead with some trepidation, particularly with interest rates not expected to drop until around mid-2023 and purchase activity likely to remain mild for the foreseeable future.
For those mortgage professionals, it’s important to lean on the experience and know-how of older, more seasoned brokers who’ve already experienced the cyclical nature of the mortgage market, according to Kuljit Singh (pictured below) of AKAL Mortgages.
“Get prepared. Get the knowledge,” he advised newer brokers. “If you don’t have a mentor, find a mentor within your own company, your group. Everybody’s so open to share through good and bad.”
That sentiment was echoed by Davis. “Everybody was new at one point in time,” she said. “So if you’re a newer broker or if you’re struggling… there isn’t a single person I know that wouldn’t help.
“Pick up the phone and say, ‘What kind of strategies do you have?’ I think that everybody wants everybody to succeed.”
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