The app is still in the beta stage of development and only available on iOS, but has already made headlines because of discussions involving American comedian Kevin Hart and Chet Hanks, Tom Hanks’ son.
The audio only app launched in April last year and consists of rooms where discussions are held. People who set up the rooms are moderators and can bring people to the stage to join in on a discussion.
Users can join on an invite-only basis and so far, rooms on Clubhouse have included advice from professionals in various industries, how to be a millionaire and light–hearted musical auditions.
Montlake said he heard about the app and thought it sounded like an interesting medium to connect with people who had questions about mortgages.
He added: “There were some invites floating around the mortgage industry, so I asked for one and started that way.
“I noticed there were a few rooms about investing in property but not many about the mortgage market so thought it would be helpful to begin discussions on that.”
So far, the Coreco MD has held one session which took place this week and lasted for an hour. It had 12 participants including Sebastian Reimann, mortgage and protection consultant at Libra Financial Planning.
More confident to ask questions
Montlake has already embraced the transition to digital during the pandemic, as conferences formerly held by his firm have turned into webinars, so for him Clubhouse was an extension of that but for a wider and more reserved audience.
“Because it’s just the voice and not people on camera, they feel more confident to ask questions so there can be a lot of engagement,” he added.
Although the app has gained traction with younger users, Montlake said the participants in his room were of various ages and ranged from first-time buyers to homeowners.
He added: “It’s more akin to something like LinkedIn rather than Snapchat.”
He said this highlighted the need across all demographics for more knowledge around mortgages and the benefits of the advice process.
While it was important to make sure the information given on Clubhouse did not venture into advising or recommendations, Montlake said he gained a mortgage lead from the app following his first discussion.
“That’s very good for the first time on any social media platform, so I think it’s interesting to see where it can go,” he said.
Montlake plans to continue to hold discussions while advertising them on social media to get more people involved.
He added: “It’ll be weekly and I’ll keep doing it until I’m just talking to myself. I’ll see how it goes and whether other brokers join.”
