Testimonial - Tony Bell
“Not knowing what I wanted to do was the reason I joined the RAF in the first place - 13 years on and I still didn’t know. Then all of a sudden I was at my two year resettlement point, it came so quickly. At that time I was working on the Tristar aircraft of 216sqn as an Air Steward; did I want to do this for the rest of my life living out of a suitcase always traveling?”
“I have always had this desire to be my own boss, to no longer take orders, and dealing with people was also something that came naturally to me. It was also about this time that I had decided to purchase my first property for my wife and young son to live in back home in East Yorkshire. Not knowing anything about buying a house I decided to look on the internet to find out more. I looked at all sorts of websites and message boards, but was just bamboozled with jargon, fixed rates, trackers, capped plus a shed load of abbreviations like SVR, HLC, MIG, I mean what was all that about! I called in an adviser, he turned up to my married quarter in his smart suit carrying his laptop and talked me through everything and got me a good deal on a first time buyer rate. He was a fountain of knowledge! I thought 'I could do that job!'”
“I decided to take a look at what a Mortgage Broker/adviser/consultant did, what qualifications they needed and of course, how much they got paid. I found out that you needed to have a professional qualification called the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP), and there was only one place you could get it, the ifs. It’s 3 modules of intense studying and cost £130 per module, which includes exam fees. I used my 04 ELC to pay for this. I also found that advisers/brokers can earn a great deal if income if they are prepared to work for it.”
“Then on to CeMAP qualification, I quickly found out I was not going to be able to do this on my own without coaching and support. So I had a chat with my mortgage adviser that I had dealt with previously and he pointed me in the direction of Mark Hobbs of New Leaf Training. He told me that they were MOD approved and had an ELC number (ELC 2322) and that they ran bespoke CeMAP courses for service personnel.”
“Mark suggested that I came down and attend a course on CeMAP 1 which was held over four consecutive weekends (6 full days of training) at their impressive venue in the University of Westminster in London. By April 05 I had taken my CeMAP 1 exam and passed with flying colours, one merit and one distinction. I quickly booked my next course CeMAP 2 & 3 which was run over 4 days in sunny Southend-on-Sea in Essex. I used my resettlement entitlement to pay for the course and hotel in Southend, and my 05 ELC entitlement to pay for my exams and course literature. The following week I sat the CeMAP 2 exam and again passed with flying colours, 2 merits and 2 distinctions. The week after that I passed my CeMAP 3, again with a merit. I was feeling great, ten feet tall and bullet proof!”
“I don’t believe I would have passed these exams if it wasn’t for Mark, his team at New Leaf and the way in which they teach each module. I decided to carry on with Mark and New Leaf and joined the Stepping Stones course and ultimately the New Leaf Academy, taking up the position of trainee mortgage adviser under their supervision. Since that time I have left the RAF and I am working under New Leaf from home. I have created a small office in my home where I base my operation. I will soon be moving from supervision to monitoring at which point I will came out from under the umbrella of New Leaf and establish my own business. My business production has gone from strength to strength, my plan is to have a business that is hitting £100,000 profit per year, and with the help and training I am continually receiving I believe it’s no longer a pipe dream. I have written lots of business for members of the Armed forces who are in the position I was in at the beginning of this story.”
“The team at New Leaf are like a family, any problem you have with any aspect of your business they are there to help, if they do not know the answer they will find one for you in minutes. The Instructors at New Leaf are professionals in the industry who not only have been there, done that and got the T-shirt, but are still there, still doing it and are wearing the T-shirt at the same time.”
Mr Antony Bell CeMAP
If you are motivated to become a mortgage adviser because of Tony’s story please contact Mark and his team at New Leaf on telephone number 01702 204572 or email us today.
