Profile
"West Oak’s success has come from always putting our clients’ best interests first and always finding ways to improve and add more value to them"
Andrew mcquiston,
west oak family office, wellington-altus private wealth
Nobody has a crystal ball, but Total Mortgages in Hamilton turns out to have been extraordinarily well prepared to weather the pandemic years.
Director Jordan Cameron introduced systems to allow remote working well before COVID-19 swept the globe, so when lockdowns hit New Zealand’s fourth-largest city in early 2020 and again in mid-2021, it was a smooth transition.
“Most of our processes were already all digital anyway, and we document digitally,” he says. The firm uses Microsoft Teams and has been using services like bankstatements.com for about five years, making remote working a simple matter.
It helps that there is now more acceptance of tools like electronic signatures, he adds.
“The banks are a lot more lenient with it now. Two or three years ago, they just wouldn't even accept them.”
Now that working from home is commonplace, processes are being streamlined further to allow a permanent shift to remote working, with some staff operating on a hybrid model.
The firm also has a deliberate policy of hiring younger staff and training them from scratch.
“We're sort of getting them in and showing them a career path, and now we're starting to see that sort of all come together.”
Cameron’s performance has improved with a continual move up the rankings to break into the top 10 on the NZA Top Advisers list this year, despite the larger field of candidates in 2022. He is also the top adviser outside the main centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Like most places, the Hamilton property market has slowed in the last few months.
“There are a lot more houses out there for sale,” Cameron says. “Buyers have got a lot more choice, and sellers are having to be a lot more realistic around the price.”
Regulatory changes and interest rate increases in the last six months have made it much tougher to get credit, but Cameron is now seeing some of the effects of the government’s First Home Grant and First Home Loan schemes.
“We're starting to get through some of those, which is excellent, as that is sort of picking up the lower end of the market.”
Looking ahead, there are more regulatory clouds on the horizon, including the Reserve Bank’s debt-to-income (DTI) framework due for completion at the end of this year, however Cameron is philosophical.
“Whatever happens, we just adapt and get on with it and make the best of the situation.”
The issues around high DTIs in New Zealand are well known, and several banks are already moving to implement de facto DTI caps on lending over a ratio of seven, says Cameron. This is one reason to hope that the impact of a new framework will be small.
Regardless of what the market is doing, the satisfaction of helping people financially is a big drawcard for Cameron.
“I love the job,” he says. “It’s very satisfying, especially when people come to you, and they might have been declined or deferred from a bank or another broker, and you're able to redo it and get it across the line.”
Cameron says it’s important to be honest with people and help them improve their situation.
“The key thing is just getting their feedback to the customer straightaway, telling them exactly what's happened and being straight up with them so they know what they can do to fix it next time.”
Level 1, 6 Princes Street, Hamilton
07 839 6399
info@totalmortgages.co.nz
linkedin.com/company/total-mortgages
totalmortgages.co.nz
Jordan Cameron
Mortgage Adviser
Total Mortgages
Read on
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Bio
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Milestones
2013
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Master of Education (Curriculum and Pedagogy)
2013
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2008
2015
2019
2020–2021
2022
Jordan Cameron
Mortgage Adviser
Total Mortgages
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Profile
Milestones
2008
2015
2019
2020–2021
2022
Jordan Cameron
Mortgage Adviser
Total Mortgages
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
2022
2020–2021
2019
2015
2008
2022
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Ranked as an NZ Adviser Top Adviser for fourth consecutive year
Total Mortgages makes NZ Adviser Top Brokerages list
2022
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2020–2021
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Listed as an NZ Adviser Top Adviser and an NZ Adviser Young Gun each year
2020–2021
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2019
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Recognised as an NZ Adviser Top Adviser
2019
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2015
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Founded Total Mortgages
2015
2009–2011
2008
human resources | key media
Started out as an adviser
2008
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Milestones
2019