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Owner and senior mortgage adviser at Sydney-based IFA Mortgages, Anthony O'Flynn, recently sat down with the Elite Broker podcast after winning the Editor’s Choice award at the Better Business Awards NSW/ACT 2023.
In this Q&A, we find out when and how he became a broker, the types of loans he writes, what he enjoys most about being a broker, some of his top tips for other brokers, and what he might’ve done differently over his 23-year career.
When did you become a broker and how did you get into the industry?
I’ve been around banking institutions for 36 years and for the last 23, I’ve been a broker.
With the banks, I started off as a junior clerk when I was 17 and fresh out of school at the old State Bank of New South Wales before entering a senior credit role with Colonial. After that, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia came along and took over third-party banking, which I set up with Kathy Cummings after she asked me to head it up for her.
Around that point, one of my senior managers noticed I didn’t have sales on my resume and asked if I wanted to do some training in the sales role. One of the groups that was under my control, when I was educating, was IFA. At the time they were primarily a financial planning company and the general manager asked if I’d consider setting up a broker arm. It was a big step for me at the time so, I gave it a go, found it was something I enjoyed, and, from there, I started the IFA brand name in the mortgage space.
What sort of loans do you write?
We’re doing residential and owner-occupied investment, predominantly but I’ve gotten more involved in the self-managed super fund side with the financial planning arm.
We also do a bit of commercial lending and asset finance, but primarily residential. We’re touching on other types of lending because I’m trying to mentor the younger brokers coming through. Diversification of the broker industry is very important these days.
What do you enjoy most about being a broker?
I think the main thing is helping people achieve their goals and giving them direction. A lot of people I talk to day to day know the answer, they just need someone to come over and show them the right steps to take going forward.
The other thing is that I like helping people meet their achievements. This can be helping them get their first home and being able to take the stress out of the whole process.
It’s like anything; the first time is always stressful and being able to mitigate that stress and help them sleep at night and not worry is very enjoyable.
Is there anything you would’ve done differently in your broking career?
I tried to run everything myself and manage the process myself, which you just can’t do in today’s society. So, I’d say probably delegate tasks and bring more staff onboard a little bit earlier than I did.
For me, when I look back over 23 years and try to say what I would’ve done differently, I think the main thing I could have done differently was getting more staff and more help from the start, along with being more up-to-speed with technology rather than staying paper-based.
I probably should’ve taken on the process of learning my way around computers a little earlier, especially since it doesn’t really come naturally for people my age.
Do you have any top tips for other brokers out there?
The first thing, like I touched on before, is to employ staff to help out. I know it’s hard, but it’s always important to have someone to share the workload and fall back on when you need it.
I think the other thing is to review and look at your existing clients because the majority of your business will come out of your existing clients, word of mouth, top-ups, and all those types of things.
Also, don’t be afraid to give your name out and say, “I’m a mortgage broker”. Be proud of it and let people know how you can help them. Getting involved in the community is the best way to do it, I think.
I’m part of the Matraville Precinct and I’ve been involved in cricket and touch football. I’ve always enjoyed being out there and talking to people and listening to them. I think that’s the big thing. If you listen, people always come to you and ask for advice.
If you’d like to find out more about Anthony O’Flynn and IFA Mortgages, tune in to the Elite Broker episode, How this broker is getting ahead of the fixed-rate cliff, below:
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