Property Natter - a day in the life of a mortgage broker

In this latest Day in the Life of...Natter, I get an insight into one of the most vital cogs of the home buying and selling machine - mortgage advising.

James Miles is a Director and Mortgage Adviser at The Mortgage Quarter, an Exeter-based firm of mortgage brokers and professional property experts who aim to help clients achieve their property dreams, with access to 12,000 products and more than 90 lenders.

Here, he tells me what his average day looks like. Take it away, James.

Anytime between 5:30am and 7:00am: “Muuum. Daaad!” - my morning wake-up call from my son Carter asking for some “hot milk” and letting me know it’s a new day. Then it’s the Groundhog Day routine of fuelling up with caffeine and getting out the door. My wife heads off to a Synergy class, and I do the nursery drop-off before getting into the office at 8.15am.

8.15am: I arrive at the office and find our advisers and admins are already at work. They’re often in early, but they have the flexibility to adapt their hours to suit life outside of work. I make a conscious effort to check in on everyone individually to see how they’re feeling and have a chat about what they got up to the evening before. But strictly no work chat at this time of the morning!

8.45am: When I get to my desk, I respond to any clients who have been in touch since the end of the previous day and plan my day, prioritising my most important tasks and delegating to my fantastic admin team. I also allocate any new enquiries to the advisers for following up.

9.15am: Time to sit down with our admin staff, review which clients need the most attention to progress their applications and see if we need to talk to any lenders. We have weekly tasks such as calling existing clients six months before the end of their renewal dates, having check-ins with existing clients and preparing advisers for meetings that day. I then speak to each adviser to see what their wins will be today and help source a mortgage lender to speed up a client’s application.

10:30am: Meeting with my marketing team. Alison and I review the progress on our new website and agree on the next steps. We discuss our plans for expansion into two new areas on the South Coast and finalise our next event – jumping out a plane (hopefully with a parachute)! Although we’re doing this for our chosen charity at the local children’s hospital, it doesn’t make it any less terrifying!

12:30pm: I’m not one for long breaks, but it’s a busy day, so I go for a walk and make some calls. I always prepare my food at home, so I’ll tuck into that when I’m back in the office at my laptop.

1:30pm: Despite being the Director, I still see clients, typically those I already know, helping them move to their next home. Is this a stepping stone or their forever home? Every client is different, and I still love hearing their stories and can’t wait to help them out.

3.30pm: I’m a big believer in keeping our network close, so we regularly invite the BDMs at lenders into the office. They give us the latest low down on the lender and views on the market. It’s a useful exercise as it keeps us up to date and helps build relationships which are invaluable when we need to get a mortgage application over the line.

4.30pm: I’m out the door. I know, before 5, right?! I’m back to the nursery to pick up Carter and then home, where I’m the head chef. This is my time to unwind with my family and take my mind off work.

Evening: Typically, I’ll watch a show on Netflix with my wife and then head to the gym for an hour. At this time, it’s less busy, and my phone doesn’t go off so much. When I’m back, around 9.30pm, I get my laptop out, finish off any cases that need attention, write my to-do list for the next day and prepare any emails to send in the morning.

I’ll go to sleep listening to a podcast – mostly history or anything on Leeds United.

Thanks for the brilliant insight, James!

If you would like to feature in this series, or feel that we've missed any key professions out, please get in touch on press@estateagenttoday.co.uk.

Until next time...

*Nat Daniels is CEO of Angels Media, publishers of Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today. Follow him on Twitter @NatDaniels.