Anyone an IFA or mortgage advisor?

[thecatsabsentcojones]

I really want to retrain in a completely different area and one thing I’m considering is becoming an IFA or a mortgage advisor. I’ve been self employed for a long time so could see that continuing but this would be in a very different area of expertise.

Anyone offer me any insight into what I’d need to do beside taking the relevant qualifications? What are the upsides and downsides of the job?

Thanks.

I am a mortgage adviser and have been for 16 years. I work for a building society, so I started working on the tills and worked my way up. They organised and paid for CeMAP for me, but I think you’ll have a much better chance these days if you have it before applying.
I’d say to work for a bank/bs you’d need relevant industry experience first, but tbh I don’t know if the same applies for a broker job. There are always loads of jobs ads for self employed brokers round these parts. Never fancied it myself, I prefer being employed but you can earn way more self employed.
FWIW, I’ve actually just taken voluntary redundancy and am moving on to become an underwriter. I’ve had enough of being customer facing but love the analytical side of mortgages.

Upsides - great if you are a people person, love getting to know people and making bespoke recommendations, you get to help people buy their dream home.
Downsides - very highly regulated, and it’s essentially a sales role, you’ll likely have targets and/or be paid on business outcomes and cross sales (insurances etc) plus dealing with the general public, who can be quite challenging, especially in a highly charged situation like moving home.

Thanks so much @Eminybob, I suspect that being an independent advisor would suit me far better than working for a big company, I was a web designer before so very used to finding work and gearing solutions to requirements.

What I’m wondering is how to gain experience to become a independent mortgage broker or IFA, do I need to qualify then work for a financial company before striking out on my own? I’d guess with such responsibilities it’s best to gain more experience along someone else first.