Yes, mortgage brokers and LOs find it hard to avoid long hours – but some don’t mind it
A survey last month indicating many people across the US are working too hard sparked a debate about work-life balance in the mortgage industry – and whether brokers need to take more time off.
That FlexJobs report showed that nearly a quarter of all US workers took no vacation at all last year, and almost a third said they’d feel guilty about booking time off while 43% described their workload as too heavy to justify a break.
But in the notoriously grueling mortgage broker space that’s par for the course, according to Vantage Mortgage Group’s Andy Harris, who told Mortgage Professional America long hours came with the territory of working in the industry.
And other brokers say their work hours regularly stretch beyond the typical nine-to-five schedule expected in other jobs – a necessity, some say, that’s grown more common because of how the industry has evolved.
“I do feel pressure to take client calls on weekends, days off, and vacations,” Andy Gagliano of the Alabama-based Gagliano Mortgage told MPA.
“Over my career, the mortgage industry has become very transactional. If a buyer or refinance client needs something and they cannot get it when they request or need it, then they’re moving along to someone or some company that can provide them with what they need. There seems to be less and less loyalty among clients and many referral partners as well.”
Busier clients means busier brokers
The fact that professionals in other industries are working longer hours has also spilled over into the mortgage industry, Gagliano argued.
While in the past, Americans might have been able to fill out a mortgage application on their lunch break or in the afternoon after work, that’s often no longer the case.
“When they finally have a break from their work and family lives, they need to get whatever business taken care of during that time that they can,” he said. “That may mean they apply for a mortgage at 8 p.m. after the kids are put to bed, and they have questions about how to complete certain parts of the application.”
The harsh truth, he said, is that if brokers aren’t available to field that client’s call, they’ll simply find an answer with a competitor vying for their business. “I can lose them as a client at any point they wander onto the internet for answers to any questions,” he said. “Today, we all live in the age of instant gratification.
“I believe those individuals and companies who can satisfy that need for instant gratification will win more often than those who cannot.”
Work-life balance in mortgages: An impossible task?
Attempting to find a work-life balance isn’t an entirely lost cause for mortgage brokers and other professionals in the industry. Gagliano pointed out that loan officers can hire LO assistants who work remotely from other countries and are on hand to field calls in different time zones, allowing the LO to spend time with family.
They can also take a firm stance on work hours, costly though that may be. “If an LO sets work hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturdays, then that LO must know that he or she is going to lose some business because their work hours did not fit a particular borrower’s hours or timeframe,” he said.
“Most retail brick-and-mortar businesses with set store hours are comfortable knowing they are going to lose some business to online retailers who are open 24/7. This situation is no different.”
But for some LOs and brokers, the long hours aren’t a struggle – and they see no issue with fielding client calls at any hour of the day.
Striking a balance is important, Gagliano said, but he’s also keen to prioritize his clients wherever possible. “Work rarely ever seems like work to me,” he said. “I’ve made and taken phone calls to answer questions at very odd times of day before because that’s the timeframe that worked best for my client. I love it, and I’ll do it again tomorrow if needed.
“With all of that said, I do take a random morning, afternoon or weekday off work when or if my business slows down a little bit. Because I’m willing to work whenever my clients need me, I have to be willing and able to unplug whenever they don’t need me.”
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