Although it sounds cliché but I cannot believe 25 years have passed so quickly during my career in the mortgage industry.  It has been a blast.  When I reflect back, it has been personally gratifying making a beneficial change to people’s finances for the better.  There have been family situations where we prevented divorce.  We have seen clients; their kids and new families evolve over the years.  We have been invited to several weddings and countless parties.  It’s the best when people take the time to write a simple thank you card.

I realize how lucky I really am.  I meet great people who share their hopes and dreams.  People ask whether I would be a mortgage broker again.  Are you kidding me, of course I would.  The great city of Hamilton Ontario and the surrounding area has been special in my eyes.  I started 25 years ago at a Trust company called, Montreal Trust.  The training was excellent, taking care of clients.  It seems so simple.  I rose to the fourth highest mortgage producer in Canada.  The Bank of Nova Scotia then came and bought our little trust company out.  Scotiabank did treat me well but boy I was not suited to their culture.  One co-worker even told me to forget about Montreal Trust, this is not Eaton’s, it’s Wal-Mart.  I personally could not accept that they wanted everybody to cross-sell with extra debt products.  Well how did that work out?  Our whole country is in massive debt.

It was at this time that I needed a change.  I decided to go into business myself, I became a mortgage broker.  Has it been easy?  No way.  I suddenly became the CEO, the sales manager, accounting manager, marketing manager and customer service manager.  Has it been perfect?  No again.  If something goes wrong, it falls on my shoulder.  A real estate agent broke off business with me because I was a “straight arrow”.  Fraud was not in my DNA.  There was another time I received a letter condemning me for not giving them a mortgage (financially I thought it was a mistake).  On the good side, I have received many calls from clients who I advised not to buy and they were glad they listened.

We cannot make everybody happy.  Several years ago a doctor was absolutely abusive to me and my staff.  I fired the client.  Luckily the vast majority of my clients are wonderful people.

One of my favourite movies is, “It’s a Wonderful Life” with James Stewart.  Well guess what, he had a huge impact on people’s lives.  Yes, I love what I do and more importantly helping people’s future.