Fivewalls: How To Become A Mortgage Broker

Obtaining your mortgage agent license is a quick, easy and affordable process.
 

Becoming A Mortgage Broker

You will need to be 18 years or older and be a resident of Canada and complete the necessary courses before beginning your mortgage agent career.

The required courses typically take six months to complete. In total, the courses are approximately 47 hours with a three hour exit exam.
 

The Courses Involved:

You can choose between three different types of courses through the Real Estate Mortgage Institute of Canada (REMIC) website:

The courses are broken into four parts:
 

Part 1: The Mortgage Industry In Perspective
 

• Overview of the Industry
• Regulatory Framework
• Legal Overview
   

Part 2: Mortgage Mathematics
 

Part 3: The Mortgage Process from A-Z
 

• Understanding the Mortgage Process
• Completing the Mortgage Application
• Qualifying the Borrower
• Mortgage Products, Related Products, and Submitting the Application
• Valuing Property and the Decision to Lend
• The Closing Process
   

Part 4: Protecting Consumes and Increasing Industry Professionalism

Once you pass the exam, you will be given your certificate within 24-48 hours and you can begin your search: which brokerage to work for.

Finding the right brokerage may take a while and you will want to interview a couple different ones. Ask them the same questions and compare the answers:
 

• What are the costs to join?
• What is the commission split?
• What is the minimum amount of production I must meet?
• How long have you been in business?
• Are there certain lenders who will not work with you or vice versa?
   

After Getting A Job With A Brokerage

Once you have found the right brokerage to work for, you typically need to work as a mortgage agent for at least a year before you can apply to be a fully licensed mortgage broker. You also have up to three years to apply to be fully licensed after receiving your certificate.

You will be paid commission by lenders when you close a deal with a customer and typically the split in Canada is 85% to the agent and 15% to the brokerage. In the mortgage brokerage world, those numbers are based on a “basis points” system (bps). Ten bps is the same as 0.1%. Therefore, you multiply 0.85% by the price the mortgage price to get the total amount you will receive.
 

For example, say the mortgage amount is $400,000.
 

[0.85% * $400,000 = $3,400]
 

Now take 85% of $3,400.
 

[0.85% * $3,400 = $2,890]
 

Hence, your mortgage agent will receive $2,890 for helping you choose the mortgage that is right for you.
 

Additional Costs

As a mortgage broker agent, you are required to pay an Errors and Omissions Insurance (referred to as E&O in broker terms) each year that will approximately cost $758, or $63/month.

Your license will also need to be renewed every two years. The last renewal was in March of 2018, therefore the next will be March 31^st of 2020. It may cost around $1,056. For newer applicants, you will be paying:
 

[$100 + # of months until March 31 * $44]
 

Where Can I Take The Mortgage Agent Course?

Here is a list of community colleges that offer the program:
 

• Algonquin College
• Cambrian College
• Canadore College
• Centennial College
• Collège Boréal
• Conestoga College
• Confederation College
• Durham College
• Fanshawe College
• Fleming College
• George Brown College
• Georgian College
• Humber College
• La Cité Collégiale
• Lambton College
• Loyalist College
• Mohawk College
• Niagara College
• Northern College
• Sault College
• Seneca College
• Sheridan College
• St. Lawrence College
   

Becoming a mortgage agent can be a great source of steady income. There are many colleges in the area that offer the mortgage agent program and it is a quick process. It is a competitive industry and a field where prices, deals, and clients are constantly fluctuating, but you will quickly build a professional and reliable reputation.
 

Just like any career, the longer you are in it, the more you will learn. Knowledge is power.
 

Disclaimer: prices subject to change

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