Here, at the Mortgage Supply Co. our team is made up of a number of valuable people who are brilliant at what they do and bring unique skillsets and advice to the table - which means more opportunities for our clients.

We caught up with our Tauranga-based Mortgage Adviser, Sam Burnett.

Tell us where you’re currently situated?

I live in Papamoa, but my clients are all over New Zealand.

How do you like to fill your spare time?

To me, I try and get across to the Redwoods for mountain biking as much as I can, but other than that, over the winter I’m a super keen snowboarder and in the summer I’m all about a beach lifestyle - so anything outdoors, I’m into.

How did you progress into where you are now in your current role?

Working in the mortgage industry was a career change for me. Prior to this, I worked in large, national-sized office equipment providers in a B2B role. Most of my working life I lived in Australia where I worked in training and moved over to NZ in my early 20’s (about 2012). In NZ, I worked in large, national-sized office equipment providers in a B2B role and got into the sales side things through that.

Tauranga is a small town that’s grown quite large so relationships are really important here and I met a lot of people in sales, which gave me a good launching pad from contacts perspective. I also met David Hart and Robin Hart who were partners with David Windler at the Mortgage Supply Company, who eventually mentored me into my role here. I spent the first year working very closely with those guys and soaking up a lot of knowledge they had to impart. For the first few months, I was hanging off their coattails and got a lot of know-how in a short amount of time and have been ticking along in the business ever since.

In saying that, property and real estate has always been an interest of mine. You’re helping everyday people to get what they and achieve their goals. It’s really not a ‘push’ kind of industry - you become a pretty attractive person to chat to at BBQs for most Kiwis!

What is your current role?

I’m a Mortgage Adviser.

My business has been built heavily on referrals and my day-to-day is made of helping people through whichever part of the real estate process they’re in at any given time. This ranges from approvals and pre-approvals, all the way through to settlements - if a client moves into a house, I’ll stay in contact with them and help them to set their mortgage up for the long term. I’m always there for questions.

My niche I’d say is first home buyers. It’s all about connecting them with the right people at the right stages of the process, and it’s really invaluable to guide them through that and doing a good job more often than not turns into a client for life. It’s a genuinely really rewarding process, effectively these guys are growing off the back of this and you’re helping people to get ahead in life.

Is there a time that stands out for you in your role?

There are times when I’ve been really proud of the clients I work with. Whether it’s a little bit of discipline to get together a deposit and get them into a position to apply for a loan. When they finally get to the goal they’re striving towards - it’s really satisfying.

You get to know people pretty well through the process a lot of the time so you can’t help but to feel really stoked for them when they get their desired outcome. Hard work pays off.

What have you noticed change throughout COVID?

The lockdown period was relatively quiet, but what happened after COVID-19 surprised me because I initially thought home buyers might peter off. What actually happened was the opposite - it was super busy to the point where I have actually taken on an assistant!

Interest rates are so cheap and credit is so easy to get, that overall, while the costs of buying a home overall might have gone up, expenditure on a weekly basis has gone down. That will have its own issues moving forward, but basically what it’s meant is for a lot of people, what they’re paying in rent, they could be paying towards their mortgage.

What are some of the biggest industry challenges you've overcome?

By nature, Kiwis tend to think of going straight to their bank to ask for a home loan, however, advisers like the Mortgage Supply Co are able to expose clients to multiple lenders and add a lot of value. Building relationships with the banks is really key in this market

Right now, bank turn around times are the biggest hurdle, so knowing the right banks to talk to that fit the mold of our clients and getting that pre-approval process underway is the challenge. Those relationships with the banks speed the process up and help to get things across the line.

Building those relationships are all about getting to know people and time in the industry. The more ‘good deals’ you send through, the better your reputation and the faster you’re able to help out your clients with their applications.

What’s your best piece of advice to Kiwi homebuyers?

Talk to your broker early if you’re thinking about doing something because in this market things are moving quite quickly and you need to put yourself in a position where you can jump on opportunities as they appear.

Effectively, that means getting pre-approved early.

Want to learn more about the mortgage approval process? Get in touch with the team, below.