From case manager to underwriter: delivering Buy-to-Let deals with Jess Kayli

Jess Kayli talks about her time moving through the case management and underwriter teams at LendInvest.

Take a closer look at our up-to-date Buy-to-Let deals and rates.

I joined LendInvest as a Buy-to-Let case manager in 2018. This was a position I held for a year and a half before I was asked to join the underwriting team as a trainee underwriter. 

This was an exciting opportunity for me. I wanted to progress in my career but also further my Buy-to-Let knowledge. Prior to joining LendInvest I had worked exclusively in unsecured lending, so Buy-to-Let underwriting was the next step on what had been a big learning curve for me from the very beginning.

Right away though I knew I would be in good hands, as case managers we had always worked closely with the underwriting team and I knew they would be able to support me as I started the new role. 

Having that close relationship was a good thing because at the start a lot of my training was sitting with them, watching what they did, asking questions and learning the process before I started taking on my cases. 

At first when I took on cases I worked closely with members of the team who would oversee my work and review it with me. Over time I began taking cases through to preparing for an offer, where it would then be signed off and offered to the clients.

Being adaptable

Part of making this step work has been adapting my perspective when approaching deals. 

With more responsibility over the progress of the case, the knowledge of our criteria and how the process works becomes more important as it is important for me to have the confidence to make decisions myself rather than referring quirky deals to others. 

This is where I feel my background in case management has been really helpful to being a good underwriter, because during my time overseeing those cases I’ve seen every type of deal come through and observed closely how our underwriting team manages it. This has been a valuable experience to bring to my cases. 

That knowledge and experience is what I think helps create a good underwriting experience, as well as developing close working relationships with brokers which we do more and more with every deal we complete. 

For all the technology we use to make our jobs easier and the deal faster, that relationship is what helps deals move smoothly, and its what I see with well-packaged deals when a broker has provided us with the basic documents and clear information around the deal which goes on to make our experience so much easier. 

We all want to get brokers and their clients the right deal at the right time, and it is building those partnerships which makes that happen.

Take a closer look at our up-to-date Buy-to-Let deals and rates.