Mortgage Magic Makers: Nathan Miglani

The past four years have been a whirlwind,” says young, dynamic mortgage adviser Nathan Miglani. “I have achieved things I never even dreamed about eight years ago when I came to New Zealand from India as a student with practically no knowledge of English. I realised early on however, that in order to succeed here I needed to learn about and understand Kiwi culture and the way business is conducted in this country.”

Nathan came to Christchurch to study business. His family owns a construction company in India and Nathan had always wanted to be involved in commerce and finance. “I got my first part-time job washing dishes in a restaurant. From there I moved on to working at McDonalds, then a petrol station and eventually landed a full-time sales position at Harvey Norman.”  It was while Nathan was working at Harvey Norman that he made the acquaintance of two prominent Christchurch businessmen; Bert Govan and Rob McCormack, who he says simply changed his life forever. “They told me I had a real talent for connecting with people and that I was wasted in sales. They advised me to look for work in the banking sector.”

Nathan explains that while he was at Harvey Norman a large part of his role was preparing finance applications for customers. “It may sound bizarre, but it was at this time that I fell madly in love with finance. So I took the advice I was given and successfully applied for a job with the ANZ. I spent nearly two years with the bank working in their home loan division. I loved the role. Most of all I loved being able to create finance solutions for clients and to help them into their first or their tenth home.”

Eventually Nathan decided it was time to set up his own mortgage broking and advisory business. “So many people told me the early days on my own would be horrible. It certainly wasn’t easy and I worked crazy hours to start with, but the clients came and I soon needed to have support from others.” Now Nathan has a team of five. “We are a family, all caring for each other and for our clients. We do want to expand over the next few years and become a household name for mortgages in Christchurch. We would like people to think of us first whether they need advice on buying their first home, managing their property portfolio or refinancing their mortgage.”

So from that first job washing dishes Nathan is now the top South Island franchise owner and mortgage broker for Loan Market, the biggest mortgage firm in New Zealand. “I bought my first home a few years ago and now also have an investment property portfolio, so I can give practical hands-on advice to my clients as to what will work best for them now and into the future.”