International flight consultant turned mortgage broker Nichelle Borg says being a mobile broker helps her connect with clients
An international flight consultant turned mortgage broker has picked up a new all-encompassing role, dislikes the accompanying paperwork and loves exploring the outdoors on four-wheeled drive adventures.
Australian Property Finance’s newest finance broker, Nichelle Borg, decided a decade ago she’d had enough of working in the travel industry and thought she would try her hand at mortgage broking.
Borg, who lives in Brisbane but grew up in Armidale, NSW, started out as a mobile broker before moving into loan processing and becoming a credit and broker assistant with an aggregator. This led her back to her “initial love” of being a broker and working with clients to achieve a happy outcome.
On the first day of March, Borg joined APF – whose aggregator is Vow Financial – where she provides an assortment of services which help her clients manage their financial situation, including facilitating home loans, clearing up existing debts and sorting out personal finance.
Through a joint venture with Vow and real estate agency RE/MAX Australia, finance brokers with APF work with real estate agents to write a wide range of financial services for home buyers.
Borg said this partnership makes a difference compared to jobs she has done previously, as it allows her to get clients through real estate agents whilst being able to source her own referral business externally too.
Being a mobile agent, Borg’s office is technically from her home, but she sees clients and business partners where it’s best for them. “A lot of the time this is in their home at a time that is convenient to them,” she says.
While Borg enjoys broking, there are always going to be parts of a job to loathe. In this broker’s case it is excessive paperwork.
“[Lenders] keep telling us they’re paperless, but we still have to get it to meet compliance requirements,” she explains.
She believes the big issue which brokers should be focusing on is balancing credit reporting reforms with how this affects the funding environment – “and how we as brokers can better service the client with this information at hand”.
Borg, who is “happily married” with two dogs and a cat – which she describes as “our children” – enjoys spending time with her husband and going on 4WD adventures with friends whenever possible outside work.
