Mortgages With a Manly Pro
A conversation with Manly Mortgage Choice's Cathy Fry.
Smart, savvy and tested, Mortgage Choice Manly's veteran Cathy Fry tells Our Manly how she started and where she's going.
We pitched some wicked googlies at Cathy, but she bats as well as Alan Greenspan in the game of Economics hardball. Honest, intelligent and knowledgeable, we wanted to know her opinion. But she gave us the facts.
Our Manly: How did you choose your profession?
Cathy Fry: I had a nine month old baby. I was looking for a business I could run from home. Preferably one that was franchise based.
O M: How did you learn the business?
C F: Mortgage Choice had some very capable mentors. Any time I had a scenario I would just ring them up and run it by them. In the beginning I ran ads in the local paper. Each day I went to a new suburb. I “doorknocked” real estate agents, basically. Went around from one agent to another to another, did the hard yard. The real way to learn was going out and writing loans. But you do have to keep going back and asking questions. There’s a very steep learning curve those first six months.
O M: Are young people sufficiently prepared for the realities and expectations of the business world?
C F: They expect to be paid for ten minutes work. (Laughs) It’s not quite like that in the real world. Often you have to do a lot of work you don’t get paid for to get the work you do get paid for. I think it’s great to get a part-time job by the time you’re fourteen, if you can fit in.
O M. Will your child’s generation be able to buy in Sydney?
C F: I’m sure they’ll find a way. With help from their parents. Or band together and buy with friends. You see a lot more people buying units, these days.
O M: Best advice for young buyers?
C F: What can they comfortably afford? People can play it safe. They can have a life as well as a mortgage. I advise young people to get fixed loans. I’ve been recommending fixed rates for quite some time. Even back when it was at 5.49% we were telling people to fix. You always have to look at it on a case by case basis. There is less flexibility with a fixed rate, but you have to weigh up what is most important.
O M: How does the Internet affect your business?
C F: People still like to do loans face to face. They want to talk to somebody. There’s competition from all over the place. I get a lot of email enquiries from people. The head office will send me an SMS. I’ll respond via email or on the phone- however (the client) asks to be contacted. The Internet is great for people.
O M: How do you balance work and family?
C F: I’ve gotten a lot more efficient over the years. I make time for my family. Pick up my daughter after school. It helps having a supportive partner.
O M: How do you tell your partner you are grateful for their help?
C F: I probably don’t! We go out as a family. We talk. I always tell him I am grateful when he cooks dinner. I say thank you. I do appreciate him making that effort.
O M: Have you ever been interviewed by an American journalist before?
C F: Not by an American, no.
O M: We’re only interested in salacious lies.
C F: Well, (she laughs) I haven’t got any of those.
O M: Well then, any predictions for interest rate movement under this new government?
C F: I’m not really allowed to predict.
O M: Does the American mortgage fallout have any effect on Australia? Can 10% growth be expected to carry on forever or will the Sydney bubble burst?
C F: I can’t see an American style crash happening here because we don’t have the lending issues they have over in America. We’re much tougher on lending criteria.
Rates around the world seem to be going up. I don’t think they’ll be going ‘round the other way yet. One would expect rates will go up more under a Labor government. If rates go up we could see a correction again. If rates go up and up people eventually stop borrowing, and something happens like we saw in 88’-89’. We had a forty percent correction. That’s a pretty sizable correction.
But, we’re a few rate hikes from that, yet.
We’ve been getting 10% growth for twenty years. Even if we have a correction, the market will go back up again.
O M: Retirement plans? What would you do with more time?
C F: I’d like to retire in my mid 50’s. Take some holidays. Play a lot more piano, a bit of golf. I’d read more for pleasure. Walk more. Bush walk. I like to walk.