Mortgage broker on why she values homes and clients
Samantha Turmaine was perhaps always destined for the property market - from her earliest days, the importance of providing good quality housing was instilled in her. Her grandfather was a carpenter, and as a child she sometimes used to go to work with her father who led the local authority’s response to property repairs, while her sister now works as an architect. So, Turmaine’s role today as a mortgage and protection broker should come as no surprise.
“I have always maintained a strong understanding of the property market,” Turmaine told Mortgage Introducer. “I have a genuine passion for housing, particularly in revitalising properties that have fallen into disrepair. It is important to me to prevent housing stock from going to waste—especially in the current climate, by restoring neglected properties and bringing them back into use. In my local area, I often see properties left abandoned, and it takes someone with vision to step in and restore them. Additionally, there is a significant amount of underutilised land in various locations that could be developed. The shortage of social housing remains a pressing issue, and unfortunately, there is no simple solution - it's a complex, catch-22 situation.”
Essex-based Turmaine qualified as a legal secretary and while working for a law firm, connected with conveyancing – it fuelled her interest in property. She moved to an estate agency, where she gained a grounding in various aspects of the business, before joining a wealth management company in London. There, Turmaine worked for a number of advisers as a technical paraplanner, and in time realised that she wanted to become a mortgage and protection broker herself, supporting clients at key moments in their life, and helping to fill the knowledge gaps she saw. “Many first-time buyers were unsure about the steps they needed to take,” Turmaine explained. “You can jump on many social media platforms, but you can't always get the answers that you need - if you ask a specific question, you're then trolled with 50,000 answers, and they could all be completely different and you are still none the wiser. So, I wanted to be able to help people both in this country - the people that I knew around me, who needed help and advice to get on the property journey - and abroad, as expats and foreign nationals.”
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The importance of a broker’s rapport with clients
With over 20 years’ experience in the property sector, Turmaine has since worked for various advice firms, including leading London broker John Charcol, and to this day, she strives to have a rapport with her clients. “There are a lot of people out there who see it as transactional business, but I always want to build relationships with my clients, they are key,” she said. “Whether it's a first-time buyer or a home mover or somebody that is starting their investment journey, it's all about being part of it – that stepping stone between the bank and them, to take that stress and strain away. I want to be that person that gives them some peace of mind.” She added: “People buy people, and you've got to seem approachable and be human. I think that's what everyone's looking for nowadays. The world has changed and people want to feel they can ultimately trust you.”
As a broker, adaptability has been a key lesson that Turmaine has learned. “No one case is the same,” she said. “Everybody that comes through your door, you have got to understand that their circumstances are different. There isn't a one-size-fits-all criteria and you need to have flexibility - not everyone works nine-to-five. When working with clients overseas, I sometimes have to take calls as early as six in the morning or work late into the evening to accommodate clients in the U.S. or Canada. From a business perspective, there are always changes—whether in legislation or the broader economy—and it’s important to adapt and navigate those shifts.”
Turmaine has specialised in holiday let finance in recent years – she notes that, with legislative changes, the market is ‘on a bit of a knife edge’. “More and more people are going to obviously head into the limited company world because, with the ability still to offset their mortgage interest,” she reasoned. “So I think there will be some changes, more people operating as professional businesses, and it will stop a lot of the people who are trying to do it for a quick buck.”
Would Turmaine change anything that she has done in her career so far, if she could? “No, not really,” she commented. “I think everything that I've done has taught me a lesson, whether that be good or bad. It’s always allowed me to take something to my next role, and by doing that, that's made me a better broker.”
