Hello everyone,

I'm thinking about going into mortgage broking part time to start with. Background is accounting for the last 10 years. I'm aware that this would not be an easy path to riches and I would plan to gradually build a business over a number of years.

Just wanted to confirm a few things (excuse my ignorance) about the rules around entering/operating in this industry. Some of these questions may sound a little stupid, but here goes:

– I understand step 1 is the Cert IV? I thought I heard somewhere that a Diploma is now required, is that correct? If so, how long does it take to complete the Diploma, could I just do the Diploma straight up instead of the Cert IV if I intend to get the credit licence, would that be more efficient than upgrading after 2 years?

– Lets assume I don't have a contact for a mentor. What is the process. Do the Cert IV. Can I then just join an aggregator who will assign a mentor? I'm not too concerned with how much money I make (within reason) over the first 2 years, mostly I just want good experience and to have the most options once the 2 years is up.

– People have mentioned compliance as being time consuming. What are they talking about, what are the ongoing compliance requirements?

– So once the 2 years experience under a mentor have been gained, what exactly is the benefit? They can then get a credit licence. So for my simple brain is the broker pre 2 yrs exp able to contract for an aggregator (with a mentor)? Or do aggregators only take on post mentoring experience brokers? If that is the case, how does the arrangement with the mentoring broker usually work for the first 2 years (employee, contractor)?

– The lender accreditation. If you are part of an aggregator would this normally be all taken care of for you? I'm assuming that this would be the case, and why it would be easier to go with an aggregator than starting up your own business? If you were starting up your own business and had targets to reach for multiple lenders, I'd imagine it would be very difficult for a small operator. You would either have to significantly limit the number of lenders you signed up to, or have a great starting database of customers.

– Brings me to the next question. If you were to ever leave an aggregator or franchise, what is the industry standard for who retains trail commission, customer contact details etc. Any advice on some of the better aggregators to contract for? Ideally at first I would like to not have to meet sales targets as I would start part time, and would be willing to sacrifice some commission if it meant more flexibility in this regard. Once I had more time to commit however I would be happy to build my own contacts and leads and would prioritise keeping a higher proportion of the commission.

– One last line of questions. Marketing, are most brokers free to do additional advertising (at their own cost of course)? For example, mail leaflets, websites etc?