In 2016, 22 of our firms will be celebrating their 10 year anniversary as members of the VERICO Network.
The journey of each one of these brokerages in the last decade has influenced the industry and the lives of hundreds of thousand of Canadians along with it.
Though much has changed in the past 10 years, one thing has remained the same: the standards of excellence and professionalism by which every member of the VERICO Network operates. Below, we get their take on what the last decade has brought, and what the next ten years will bring.
Mary Carey is a lifetime professional in the financial industry, and has spent 29 years in the Mortgage Broker field.
Mary began her “banking” career working with a local Hamilton Credit Union (McMaster C.U.). She then moved on to The Royal Bank of Canada as a Loans Officer. While working at RBC, Mary saw an opportunity to expand into the burgeoning Mortgage Broker field. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a vision for the future, Mary established Personal Choice Mortgage Services in 1997.
As Mary and Personal Choice celebrate their 10th anniversary with VERICO at the end of 2016, they also celebrate their 20th anniversary of operation. The team also includes her husband, Charlie, and her daughter, Megan (July 2014 Mortgage Broker News ‘Young Gun).
- How have your customers changed in the past 10 years?
For the most part we feel our customer’s ‘concerns‘ have remained the same: superior service, around-the-clock contact, competitive rates, a mortgage product that best suits their needs, and a client for life approach.
The client demographics may have changed but their expectations have not.
- Since the beginning, VERICO’s mission has been to support entrepreneurs in the mortgage industry – In your view, how has VERICO supported your business?
A lot has changed in our industry since joining VERICO but our expectations have not.
VERICO has always provided tools and support that appeal to us as like minded entrepreneurial business owners. As a Mortgage Broker, one of the key aspects that appealed to us was maintaining our independence and, by virtue of that, it was up to us to capitalize on VERICO’s support as and when needed.
- How will the mortgage industry change in the next 5 years? Next 10 years?
We still feel that superior service and our Personal approach will secure our future over the next 5 years. That being said, the internet based business focus will continue to dictate and dominate future trends. Young first time home buyers are going to play a big part in this. Over the next 10 years we see this market direction continue to grow, therefore we must capitalize by providing the tools and the support for this important sector.
