I can’t imagine there have been too many mortgage articles that have started with a quote about existentialism but there is a first time for everything.
“Man is condemned to be free” – so said Jean Paul Sarte.
The essence of the message here is that the onus of responsibility remains with the individual, it is they that are in control of the decisions that shape their life and it is the result of those decisions that then define you as a human being.
Flawed decisions
Still awake at the back? I went directly authorised (DA) six years ago mainly because I had spent the previous 20 years watching people getting it wrong and making decisions about my future which, on the whole, turned out to be flawed. I vowed never to let that happen again.
I have read a number of articles recently about networks in which they extol the virtues of network membership.
I am the first to admit that there are many positives about this type of model and I know some fine mortgage brokers that work within them. A mortgage broker who has ridden the peaks and troughs of the past 10 years will be a good broker today regardless of how they are authorised.
But I also hear plenty of myths in the industry about what it is like being DA. That the regulator will want to close you down, that the cost is prohibitive and that the industry as a whole doesn’t want DA brokers as they are feral and we don’t wash.
Regulator is not a risk
Hmm. Well I can tell you now for a fact that none of those are true.
Regulation is the price we all pay for being in business but the cost is surprisingly cheap and certainly cheaper than employing a large number of people to tell you otherwise.
Worried about the Senior Mangers regime? Don’t be. I spoke to the FCA directly and the answer was the majority of firms will see little or no difference in what they do. Trust me, it is not the regulator that is the risk to your business.
So ask yourself this: while you may be self-employed are you really in control of your own destiny?
As my good friend Thucydides once said: “The secret to happiness is freedom… and the secret to freedom is courage”.
So please, don’t be scared about taking the leap to the dark side, it may be brighter than you think.
