This week, Mortgage Solutions is speaking to El Deane, mortgage adviser at Yes Mortgage Services.
What does your role entail and how long have you been doing it?
I am a self-employed mortgage adviser with access to a comprehensive panel of lenders, and I do not charge a broker fee. I have been self-employed for 10 months and was employed in a corporate brokerage beforehand.
I work with clients across the UK and am particularly passionate about serving the LGBTQ+ community and creative freelancers, neither of whom, in my experience, have been as well looked after by the corporate world of mortgage advice as they could have been.
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What attracted you to working in the mortgage/property/finance sector?
As a graduate of law, I really enjoy translating potentially inaccessible, confusing, and often overwhelming information into advice and guidance that is easily understood, with communication tailored to the client in front of me.
The effect of this is that clients feel empowered and confident in the decisions they are making, which, as we know, are often far-reaching in terms of time and financial implications.
I have clients coming to me for mortgage advice on subsequent purchases or remortgages who are saying they’ve never been asked certain questions before around product fees, length of terms and lending into retirement – so I know they have not had comprehensive mortgage advice before if these areas have not been properly explained and understood.
What was your first job?
My first job, aged 14, was stacking shelves in the independent £1 shop in my hometown. It planted the seeds of entrepreneurship and the joy of owning a business and gave me good practice in communication and customer service skills. I got a taster of what it takes to run a business – while we feel our businesses are unique, the core components of business are the same.
What personal talent/skill is most valuable in doing your job?
Communication: listening, understanding, meeting the client where they are in terms of their knowledge of the mortgage process, and homeownership in general. It’s so important to establish early on what, if any, the client’s insecurities or worries are, and to ensure you clearly signpost yourself or more appropriate services to support the client on what can be a difficult and stressful journey. Clear and comprehensive communication helps to establish boundaries on what my service entails, the timescales of the process and, overall, expectations are managed on both sides.
What personal talent/skill would you most like to improve on?
Maintaining working boundaries when friends engage my mortgage advice services. I brought to self-employment my existing large network of LGBTQ+ folks and creatives, which meant I quickly became the go-to for mortgage advice. Being able to clearly define and switch between a client and adviser relationship to a friendship continues to take practice.
What is the most interesting/memorable property deal/case you’ve been involved in?
It’s been a pleasure to assist a couple with a three-step plan as they individually sold their properties, to buy a third on a timescale where only one property had sold at the point of buying the third property. Laying out my approach and what would be achieved at each step, the effect of that, and what I’d require from them and when, took a fair amount of forward planning and research for some tricky circumstances. The clients were very grateful for this longer-term care rather than a transactional approach.
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I’d really like to be known in the UK as the inclusive mortgage adviser, ensuring a safe, judgment-free and accessible space for those looking to access expert mortgage advice without the broker fee. In order to achieve this, there’ll be more Pride events and creative events to attend, speaking opportunities, and networking to get involved with.
If present-day you could go back in time and tell yourself something five years ago, what would it be?
To me, it seems there is no more effective marketing than the value of personal referrals and building rapport face to face: in terms of conversion from conversations and retaining clients, it seems that where both client and broker have a gauge of each other prior to working together, this paves the way for a generally frictionless relationship.
The endless lure of social media and faceless marketing holding the answer to our business success seems easier, but it has not proven to be an efficient use of time and energy versus meeting people face to face.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve tackled so far in your career?
Networking – or, more specifically, finding networking events of the many that are available to attend that fit me and my business. In the Bournemouth area, you wouldn’t struggle to attend some form of networking event every day of the week. Over the first few months of self-employment, I had to critically evaluate the time I was spending at various groups. I had to ask myself: could I commit to this group for 6-12 months, was there the willingness to connect from attendees, and were complementary businesses and individuals in the room?
What’s one thing about your role/job that you didn’t expect when you began it?
The number of separating couples that I’d be assisting – sometimes meeting for the first time to provide a Mortgage Capacity Report, or in other instances, where couples I’d been working with were now in the process of separation.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Retain every bit of music I’ve ever listened to – name, artist, and the year it was released.
What are your desert island discs?
I’d struggle to choose eight tracks, so here are some favourite albums:
Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride
Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Stadium Arcadium
Haim – Women In Music Part III
The Highwomen – self-titled album
And finally, what’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?
“If you had to live in an underground bunker for one year with access to an endless supply of only three tinned foods, which would you choose?”
