Broker - Mortgage
Article From: The Daily Telegraph
Nadine Sassall. Picture by Katrina Tepper
Working from home certainly has its advantages, including choosing your own hours, says realestate.com.au mortgage consultant Nadine Sassall.
Now eight months' pregnant with her second child, Sassall has been winding back her hours in recent weeks.
"I currently work about five hours a week," Sassall says.
"But two months ago, when I was trying to get a lot of money in the door, I was probably working about 10 hours a day, six days a week."
"Ten per cent of the job is meeting clients and the rest can be done from home."
A mortgage consultant helps people find the best deal on home loans by comparing the various loans on the market, she says.
"When you break it all down and put all the fees in - the entry fees, exit fees and the ongoing fees - there can be a huge difference between the different lenders."
Sassall says helping people save money on their loans is rewarding: "There's a wow factor - when you [refinance] over 30 years you can save over $100,000."
Sassall began her career in the housing industry as a real estate agent in 2002.
"It was a very easy job to do when it was booming because everybody wanted to sell their house and everybody wanted to buy a house," she says.
"But then, when the market died down, that's when you really tested yourself and had to ask, 'Am I good at this and is this what I want to do?', and the answer for me was, 'No'."
Sassall then switched her focus to mortgage consulting after landing a job at a finance company. She had three months of training, both with the Mortgage Finance Association of Australia and on the job.
"When I originally took the role I was on a wage in an office," she says.
"Initially I was working nine-to-five getting a wage rather than commission."
Now that Sassall works from home she is paid on a commission basis for each loan that is settled.
One downside of the arrangement is when people ring for advice and don't follow through with their loan application.
"You can do a lot of free work," she says.
"But I look at that as learning process. Every time someone asks me a question and I have to go and investigate it's me learning, so although it's a downside, there's a positive to it, too."
Sassall says she plans to take some time off after the birth of her baby before winding business up again.
"I'm working with people who have $80 million on their books. If you work out a 0.25 per cent trail on that, they're earning a lot of money a month," she says.
"I've only been working in the game three years, but I think I can get there in the next 10 years."
Now eight months' pregnant with her second child, Sassall has been winding back her hours in recent weeks.
"I currently work about five hours a week," Sassall says.
"But two months ago, when I was trying to get a lot of money in the door, I was probably working about 10 hours a day, six days a week."
"Ten per cent of the job is meeting clients and the rest can be done from home."
A mortgage consultant helps people find the best deal on home loans by comparing the various loans on the market, she says.
"When you break it all down and put all the fees in - the entry fees, exit fees and the ongoing fees - there can be a huge difference between the different lenders."
Sassall says helping people save money on their loans is rewarding: "There's a wow factor - when you [refinance] over 30 years you can save over $100,000."
Sassall began her career in the housing industry as a real estate agent in 2002.
"It was a very easy job to do when it was booming because everybody wanted to sell their house and everybody wanted to buy a house," she says.
"But then, when the market died down, that's when you really tested yourself and had to ask, 'Am I good at this and is this what I want to do?', and the answer for me was, 'No'."
Sassall then switched her focus to mortgage consulting after landing a job at a finance company. She had three months of training, both with the Mortgage Finance Association of Australia and on the job.
"When I originally took the role I was on a wage in an office," she says.
"Initially I was working nine-to-five getting a wage rather than commission."
Now that Sassall works from home she is paid on a commission basis for each loan that is settled.
One downside of the arrangement is when people ring for advice and don't follow through with their loan application.
"You can do a lot of free work," she says.
"But I look at that as learning process. Every time someone asks me a question and I have to go and investigate it's me learning, so although it's a downside, there's a positive to it, too."
Sassall says she plans to take some time off after the birth of her baby before winding business up again.
"I'm working with people who have $80 million on their books. If you work out a 0.25 per cent trail on that, they're earning a lot of money a month," she says.
"I've only been working in the game three years, but I think I can get there in the next 10 years."
