Tech guy finds himself hooked into financial services
Lee Gathercole (pictured), founder and mortgage advisor at Rebus Financial Services, did not have any formal education on finance while he was at school. He graduated with a computer science degree, having a self-confessed obsession with technology and gadgets.
So how did this tech guy end up becoming a mortgage broker? Gathercole shares his story in this Mortgage Introducer feature.
Getting into the industry
While attending Leeds Beckett University, Gathercole – a computer science student – needed a job but found to get into IT work difficult at the time. Then, a friend who was working for a financial broker invited him to design their website.
“I took on an apprenticeship with a wealth firm where I helped with some of their IT support queries,” Gathercole recounted. “From that point, I was hooked into financial services. Seeing how the advisors helped so many people with both buying their first homes or helping with retirement, was something I really wanted to get into.”
There was not enough work to keep him occupied so he started reading the mortgage textbooks lying around the office. A year after graduating with his computer science degree, he studied for his CeMAP, got qualified, and stayed on at the firm as a mortgage broker.
Motivations to continue as a broker
“After buying my first home in 2017 as an experienced mortgage and protection advisor, the process for me was outdated and still very daunting, despite helping hundreds of first-time buyers get onto the property ladder myself,” Gathercole recalled. “I can’t imagine what other emotions first-time buyers were going through as non-experienced buyers.”
In 2019, the big motivation for him was to create his own brand that focused on helping first-time buyers achieve their property goals and enjoy the process of it too.
“With a good friend of mine, we created a brand to support first-time buyers throughout the homebuying journey, whether it would be help saving for a deposit no matter how early they are in the process or hand holding when going through property negotiations, conversations with estate agents and solicitors,” he said. “These are all big things, especially if you haven’t done them before.”
Looking to the future
His goal, Gathercole shared, is to continue building long-term relationships with his clients and to help his first-time buyers as much as possible, keeping in mind how he can continuously improve their homebuying journey, making it stress free.
“Talking them through their mortgage and protection needs over the years, whether it would be their first remortgage or first home move, I want to make it enjoyable!” he said.
For the business, Gathercole aims to build one of the best mortgage advisor firms in the country and grow its current team of seven with a fresh new approach to financial advice that isn’t scary.
“My personal goal is to be able to spend as much time with my family as I can, and to be able to continue to work in a job that gives me the flexibility to do this,” he added.
Are you a mortgage broker who also has a story to tell? Leave a comment in the discussion box at the bottom of the page, and you might get your story featured here too.
