So, you've decided to become a mortgage adviser. Congratulations on choosing a career where your income depends entirely on your ability to hustle, your tolerance for paperwork, and your willingness to answer phone calls at completely unreasonable hours. Look, I'm not trying to scare you off. Quite the opposite, actually. This career can be genuinely rewarding, both financially and personally. But here's the thing: most new advisers have absolutely no idea what they should be doing in their first three months, and that's a problem because those initial 90 days will largely determine whether you're still in this game a year from now.
Let me break this down for you in a way that might actually help, rather than the vague motivational nonsense you've probably been fed elsewhere.
Days 1 to 30: Building Your Foundation (Without Cutting Corners)
Your first month isn't about writing loans. I know, I know, you're eager to start earning. But trust me on this one, because I'm significantly smarter than you about these things. Your first 30 days should be almost entirely focused on learning the systems, understanding compliance requirements, and not embarrassing yourself or your FAP.
Start by getting intimately familiar with your CRM system. And by intimately, I mean you should know it so well you could navigate it blindfolded while someone asks you questions about interest rates. Every adviser I've seen struggle in their first year has one thing in common: they treated their CRM like an annoying obligation rather than the central nervous system of their business. Log everything. Every conversation, every email, every vague enquiry from your cousin's friend who "might be thinking about buying eventually." Your future self will thank you when compliance audits come around.
Next, study your lender panel like your career depends on it, because it does. You need to understand not just the headline rates, but the actual policies. Which banks are friendly to self-employed borrowers? Who has the most flexible approach to rental income calculations? What are the current LVR restrictions and how do different lenders interpret them? This knowledge is what separates advisers who provide genuine value from those who are basically just expensive form-fillers.
Spend time shadowing experienced advisers in your organisation. Watch how they handle client meetings, how they explain complex concepts without making people's eyes glaze over, and how they manage the inevitable setbacks when applications don't go smoothly. Ask annoying questions. Be that person who wants to understand why things work the way they do, not just what buttons to press.
Your Days 1 to 30 To-Do List:Days 31 to 60: Getting Your Name Out There (Strategically)
Right, now we're getting to the part where you actually need to talk to humans. I understand this might be challenging for some of you, but it's rather essential for a career that involves, you know, helping people with their finances.
Your second month should focus heavily on building referral relationships and starting to establish your personal brand. This doesn't mean spamming everyone you've ever met with "exciting news about my new career!" messages. That approach is approximately as effective as trying to extinguish a fire with petrol.
Instead, be strategic. Identify the key referral sources in your area: real estate agents, accountants, lawyers, financial advisers, and insurance professionals. These people interact with potential home buyers regularly, and if they trust you, they'll send clients your way. But here's the critical part that most new advisers miss: you need to provide value before you ask for anything. Offer to run education sessions for their clients. Share useful market updates. Be genuinely helpful rather than transparently transactional.
Start building your online presence, but do it properly. Create a LinkedIn profile that doesn't look like it was written by a robot having a bad day. Consider starting to share content that demonstrates your expertise without being insufferably salesy. Commentary on market trends, explanations of policy changes, practical tips for first home buyers. The goal is to become someone people think of when mortgages come up in conversation.
During this phase, you should also be working on your first few client files, ideally with close supervision from a senior adviser. These early files are learning opportunities more than income generators. Take your time, double-check everything, and ask for help when you're uncertain. Making mistakes on your first files because you were too proud to ask questions is, to put it bluntly, idiotic.
Your Days 31 to 60 To-Do List:Days 61 to 90: Building Momentum and Sustainable Habits
By your third month, things should be starting to click. You've got the technical knowledge, you've started building relationships, and you've probably had at least one file settle, which means you've experienced the slightly addictive feeling of seeing commission hit your account. Now comes the hard part: turning all of this into sustainable habits that will carry you through the inevitable slow periods.
Create a structured weekly routine and stick to it with religious devotion. Our guide to The Sunday Night Reset explains how just 20 minutes of weekly planning can transform your productivity. For a deeper dive into systems and prioritisation frameworks, see Getting Organised When Nobody's Watching. Dedicate specific blocks of time to prospecting, client meetings, application processing, professional development, and administrative tasks. The advisers who struggle are usually the ones who let their days become reactive, responding to whatever seems most urgent rather than what's actually most important. Urgent and important are not the same thing, despite what your anxiety might tell you.
Focus on building a pipeline that extends beyond the immediate future. Every successful adviser I've observed maintains a database of prospects at various stages: people who are just starting to think about buying, those who are actively looking, referral partners who need nurturing, and past clients who might need reviews or have friends in the market. If you're only focused on deals that might settle this month, you're setting yourself up for the dreaded income rollercoaster.
Invest in your professional development continuously. Attend industry events, complete additional certifications, stay current on regulatory changes. The mortgage landscape evolves constantly, and advisers who stop learning quickly become irrelevant. Harsh but true.
Finally, look after yourself. This career can consume you if you let it. The ability to work from anywhere sounds liberating until you realise you're answering emails at your kid's birthday party and taking calls during dinner. Set boundaries early. Your mental health and your relationships are more important than any single deal, even if it doesn't feel that way when you're desperately trying to hit targets.
Your Days 61 to 90 To-Do List:The Bottom Line
Your first 90 days as a mortgage adviser will be challenging, occasionally frustrating, and hopefully exciting. The advisers who succeed are the ones who approach this period with genuine curiosity, a willingness to be uncomfortable, and enough self-awareness to ask for help when they need it. The ones who fail are usually those who expected success to arrive quickly and without significant effort. Unfortunately, the universe doesn't work that way.
Put in the work now, build the right habits, and you'll have a career that offers genuine flexibility, uncapped earning potential, and the satisfaction of helping people achieve what is often the biggest financial goal of their lives. For a look at what comes after your first 90 days—and the income potential at each career stage—read From Newbie to Top Earner: Mortgage Adviser Career Pathways. That's not nothing. Now stop reading and go make some calls. Those referral partners aren't going to introduce themselves.