While he might be a seasoned 20-year-old today, Will Frazer (pictured above) was only 17 and studying at one of Sydney’s leading private schools when he questioned the validity (and expense) of prepping for years of university for a nondescript course he had no passion for.
Three year later, he holds a Diploma of Mortgage Broking and was recently appointed director and shareholder of OURLOAN FINANCE BROKERS, which also holds its own ACL.
Perhaps most exciting, this year Frazer became a first home buyer, moving into his new place over the Easter break - all before he turns 21.
For Frazer, being the youngest person in the room has just become part of the usual day-to-day.
“I have never met anybody as young as me,” he explained. “The closest I came was a couple of brokers in their mid-twenties that I met at my aggregator national conference last year. We instantly connected over the fact that we were a good decade younger than anybody else in the room.”
While the average age of a mortgage broker in Australia is not widely published, many mortgage brokers tend to be experienced professionals with a background in finance, banking, or real estate.
Others may come from diverse career paths, the common theme is that people generally “fall into” broking and bring a wealth of knowledge to their roles.
“At the event, we were surprised because we’re all on Instagram and we see so many young brokers in our feed that we just assumed we were a decent percentage of the broker population – but apparently not.”
Growing up, Will spent the better part of his working life during school enjoying time at his mum’s Bondi Junction brokerage, OURLOAN Finance Brokers.
“I had finance running through my veins,” he said.
Even so, the prospect of not going to university proved unpopular amongst family, friends and the school. But in the face of it all, his determination prevailed, and he completed both his HSC and his Certificate IV in Mortgage Broking by the time he’d turned 18.
However, to be a successful broker, Will Frazer knew that the knowledge and practice were only part of the equation.
“The real driver of success is a broker’s ability to meet the right people who had the both the reputation and the influence to refer clients,” he said.
When he first joined the business, Frazer worked on his mum’s files, learning “the A-Z of lending” and the importance of systems and processes.
“From there I sat in on mum’s loan interviews and then together we would brainstorm our solution strategies for those clients,” he said. “I built my confidence and after nine months, I wrote my first home loan.”
His nineteenth year was his first year broking - learning the ropes, attending “loads of auctions and open homes”, lender events, and mainly writing loans for first home buyers and rentvestors.
“I will never forget that moment, calling this young couple, buying for the first time, and letting them know their finance was approved,” Frazer reminisced. “Being part of making their dream a reality is both thrilling and heart-warming.”
Twelve months later, Will said he works on five to six loan files each week.
Like many brokers that joined the industry post-2020, Frazer entered a world where online client interviews and digital signatures were the norm.
Today, not much has changed with over 70% of his client meetings conducted online.
“Even if the client literally lives five minutes away, I find most times they prefer a ZOOM meeting,” he said. “They don’t have to fuss about preparing for a home visit.”
Frazer said he is more than comfortable demonstrating strategies and options onscreen, where they can be “done and dusted” in an hour.
“Especially if you’re a busy professional millennial buyer, which is the majority of my client base,” he said.
“This has enabled me to free up my visitation time for business development activities with my real estate referrers and to attend auctions and open homes to support my motivated, pre-approved loan clients.”
While others have commented about how the commercial finance sector can attract talent, the conversation extends to mortgage broking, which is yet to etch out a common and clear pathway from school.
Frazer said it starts with letting school communities know about the industry, about what brokers do, career pathways, and how HSC-aged students can incorporate Certificate IV studies into their final year of high school.
Combine that with work experience or internship opportunities with local brokerages over school holiday breaks, so that HSC-students get the opportunity to apply their theoretical studies and experience working in an office environment,” Frazer said.
For OURLOAN, the Frazers are already putting this into practice.
“Our Brokerage, like many others, are expanding and growing,” Frazer said. “We recently announced two new appointments to the team this year and expect we will be hiring again early in 2025.”
“We would be very open to taking on a HSC-graduate with ambitions to becoming a broker within three-to-five years.”
When did you start mortgage broking? Comment below.
