Now with brokers able to connect with lenders and clients via a raft of different methods, it is fair to question the need for an office in the traditional sense of the word.
There has long been speculation about a new way of working. The pandemic forced these hypothetical scenarios to be accelerated into action.
We recently announced our first home-based broker. This was planned pre-pandemic, but fast-tracked due to it and they will offer everything that an office-based broker can.
Home-based brokers will still meet clients in person as building relationships with a client is much easier and more effective when face-to-face. These meetings may not take place in a traditional office.
This may be the direction some brokers choose to operate in the future. It’s easy to see the benefits to operating from home.
With few overheads, flexibility to meet clients wherever is convenient, a brilliant commute and all the benefits of working with a firm, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is an avenue more choose to explore.
Having the support of a team, manager and access to training is crucial for home-based brokers – they are supported when they need advice and a team to help them, with the flexibility to work when and where they want to.
Not for everyone
Certainly, this won’t be the perfect solution for everyone. There will still be plenty of brokers who prefer operating from the traditional office, where they can discuss the latest difficult case and raft of criteria being changed and what that means for their clients.
Others will prefer an estate agency as they enjoy the camaraderie and the additional face-to-face meetings with clients.
There are also those who, for whatever reason, be it young children, an overly-affectionate dog, or uncomfortable dining room table, won’t be able to function at 100 per cent while at home.
The key, wherever a broker operates, is that the client still receives the best advice possible; home working just gives brokers another option.
With the ability to function productively from almost anywhere on the planet there was always going to be a question around the need for a space to congregate every day.
As millennials dominate the workforce more and more, the shift away from an office in the centre of a city looks inevitable in the long term. The office is dead. Long live the home-based office.
