Meet James Bull, mortgage broker at JB Mortgages
Tell us a bit about your business.
I have been in the mortgage industry since 2007 when I was a mortgage broker in a Halifax Estate Agents.
After working for various banks and mortgage brokerages, in 2017 I finally had the confidence to set up on my own and JB Mortgages was born.
Samuel, my younger brother, has had a similar career path and joined me a year later in 2018.
Our third adviser, Emma, was a colleague of mine at Natwest, before she joined JB Mortgages in 2021 after being made redundant from the bank.
Where are you based and where do you operate geographically?
We are based in Huddersfield, although we offer mortgage advice to clients across the UK. The majority of our clients are in London or locally in West Yorkshire.
What are the main issues impacting your local market?
We work with a number of local estate agents and everyone is saying the same thing, a general lack of stock and low transaction levels.
This seems to stem from mortgage rates increasing over the past 12 months in particular, and also a general lack of confidence in the current housing market.
What challenges are you facing as a broker?
We have a large client bank who we keep in regular contact with, particularly when fixed rates are ending and they are due for renewal.
Most people read the press so are aware that rates have risen but it’s not a nice conversation when you’re coming off a sub-2% rate and going onto a circa 5% rate.
Another challenge as a side effect of high interest rates is that the buy-to-let purchase market has virtually stopped in 2023.
It seems that only lower interest rates can stop this trend, although a second side effect is that landlords have been increasing rents at an unprecedented rate in order to meet the increase in mortgage payments.
What are the main opportunities for brokers in your area and nationally?
As housing purchase transactions dropped off in 2023, our focus has been on our existing client bank and making sure they have secured the best possible new rates when their old ones have expired.
Having set up in 2017 we have grown a large client bank, and this is a massive help when the purchase market has slowed down.
People still need somewhere to live though, so the purchase market cannot slow down forever. It looks like the worst is over as far as interest rates go, so we are hoping the purchase market is much improved in 2024.
What could lenders do to help further your business?
We have a great relationship with most lenders and their business development managers (BDMs) to be honest and are really happy with the overall service that they give us.
If we were to mention two small niggles, one is that too many lenders are still not paying enough on product transfers, and the other was the last week I had a client who wanted to port a mortgage like-for-like due to a house move, and we had a lender paying zero proc fee on like-for-like borrowing.
What sets you apart from the competition?
We have an extremely experienced and knowledgeable team, but at the same time we are professional and friendly.
To be honest most mortgage brokers have the same lenders and rates, so most of the time it comes down to gaining a rapport with clients and making sure they click with us.
How should potential borrowers contact you?
Details are on our website, but we can be contacted via email, phone or WhatsApp – whatever method a client prefers is fine by us.
