The draconian lockdown measures introduced in the UK have forced almost everyone to stay at home and wait out this pandemic.
The actions taken by not only the UK but the world shows how dangerous the situation is and for the public, it’s a first and hopefully the last time this happens.
The majority of people will be working from home, and many others may be furloughed or even worse made redundant due to this crisis. It’s easy to lose sight of the situation and become a little too comfortable at home by doing odd jobs around the house, watching Netflix and not forgetting a quick BBQ. Although there’s nothing wrong with this, many people are spending their time more productively by developing new skills.
The lockdown is an excellent opportunity for people to take a step back and re-evaluate their careers. This, in turn, has created a boom for online learning courses. A survey carried out by uAcademy showed that 49% of students that signed up for a CeMAP Course were furloughed, 11% were keyworkers, and almost 19% lost their job due to COVID-19. These figures show that people are looking for career changes when the situation improves.
Online learning platforms such as uAcademy have seen huge interest in courses since the lockdown has begun. The founder of the company started the business after being made redundant, since then it’s been growing and has been featured multiple times in Reader Digest, Daily Mail and recently the BBC. uAcademy sells CEMAP Full Courses, CEMAP Practice Exams, Property Development Courses and free life in the UK tests. If you’re unfamiliar with CEMAP, it’s the qualification required to become a mortgage advisor in the UK.
Most people would think that this is the worst time to become a mortgage advisor or a property developer, but there’s a lot more to it. The UK housing market is expected to take a hit due to the pandemic, but past data shows that the UK housing market usually recovers quickly.
Before the pandemic the UK housing market saw huge growth, areas like Leicester saw house prices increase by 15-20% for several years. This, in turn, created a demand for Mortgage advisors and many people wanted to become a mortgage advisor but most simply didn’t have the time due to other commitments.
Mortgage advising is a very lucrative career, and advisors can earn more than £50,000 per year with commission. The flexibility of the profession is what draws most people to it; Mortgage advisors have the option of working for banks, estate agents, private lenders and also working from home by setting up their own company. Mortgage advisors that are working for a bank or estate agents generally receive a standard salary which on an average starts at £26,000.
The advisors also receive a commission from each sale with commission rates being anywhere from £250 to £500. If an advisor completed ten sales a month, then the commission alone is anywhere between £2500 – £5,000. This is just one of the options.
Many advisors start their own company and work from home. The advisor usually charges anywhere between £250 – £500 to the customer to secure a mortgage and for advice, but they also receive a commission from the lender. The commission can be anything between 0.25% to 0.5% of the value of the mortgage. The role also offers the flexibility of working from home and setting your own workload and hours.
This is just one of the career options available and if this doesn’t sound like the career for you, then don’t be disheartened. There’s plenty of other online courses that you can take depending on your interests and career goals. Most courses are currently discounted due to the current situation. It’s about time we turn this lockdown into something positive and what better than learning a new skill, and if you’re thinking of becoming a mortgage advisor, check out these courses.
