Cautious Optimism: Mortgage Industry Trends and Broker Strategies with Elena Robinson, VP National Sales First National

In this episode of Brokers for Life, host Len Lane sits down with Elena Robinson, VP of Residential Sales at First National, to discuss her 35-year journey in the mortgage industry. Elena shares how she witnessed First National’s incredible growth from a small startup to a powerhouse with 1,700 employees, all while maintaining a strong commitment to mortgage brokers. She highlights the company’s unique approach—prioritizing customer service and never competing with brokers directly.

Elena sheds light on popular mortgage products, such as insured five-year terms and stated income options, and emphasizes the importance of working with marketable properties and well-qualified borrowers. Looking ahead, Len and Elena discuss the current economic landscape and its potential impact on the mortgage industry in 2025. While cautious optimism prevails, Elena notes factors like interest rate shifts, government policies, and economic uncertainties that could influence market trends.

She also shares insights from industry experts on how brokers can navigate these changes successfully. Throughout the discussion, both Len and Elena stress the importance of broker-client relationships, ongoing education, and adapting to market shifts. Tune in for an insightful conversation packed with industry expertise, valuable advice, and a forward-looking perspective on the mortgage business.

About Elena Robinson

Elena first joined Canada’s leading residential mortgage financing team, First National Financial, in 1990 as its first Business Development Manager, a role held for three years. In 2018, she returned to help re-launch the Excalibur program, First National’s alternative lending division. With more than three decades of experience in the mortgage industry, Elena has worked across various facets, including lending, alternative lending, and brokering.

Throughout Elena’s career, relationships have remained a constant. Many of the connections made at the beginning of their career over 30 years ago have evolved into long-standing professional relationships and friendships. Returning to First National to help launch the Excalibur division felt like building a company from the ground up, requiring passion, dedication, and a deep commitment to supporting both the team and brokers.

Having been a broker personally, Elena understands the daily demands of the role and can relate to the challenges brokers face. Approachability and trust have been the hallmarks of their career, and they take great pride in being a trusted source of knowledge, advice, and support.

First National, once a small and close-knit company, has always felt like home to Elena despite their experiences elsewhere in the industry. The enduring values and relationships within the organization continue to foster an environment of trust, respect, and collaboration—qualities that have been fundamental to her professional journey.

Resources discussed in this episode:

Benjamin Tal – Economist

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Contact Len Lane | Brokers for Life:

Contact Elena Robinson | First National Financial:

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Transcript:
Len 00:02

Welcome. My name is Len Lane, and I am the founder and president of Brokers for Life Inc, and we are Dominion Lending Centers in Western Canada. The topic of our podcast will be about what we consider to be Real Life Mortgage Solutions. Welcome back. Season Three, episode one, the 25th I guess that’s our silver anniversary in the podcast. My guest today is Elena Robinson, and she is the Vice President of Residential Sales for First National, nationally, right?

Elena 00:36

Yeah, across Canada. Hi, Len, how are you?

Len 00:40

I’m great. How are you? Welcome to the podcast. It’s personally we’re recording from the studio here today, and let’s introduce you to the audience. Maybe give us a background in your industry, in the industry there.

Elena 00:56

Every time I talk about my background, it sort of tells you how old I am, because I’ve been in this business for over 35 years. I actually started in the trust side of the business. It was called Victoria and Grey Trust, or, as we jokingly used to call it, vicious and greedy. I don’t know if there was, I don’t believe they were located outside of in Western Canada. But, and I’ve only ever done mortgages, I, you know, started a very young age, and sort of never had other career change other than progress, progressing in this industry. And then I ended up at First National at when they were just a little startup company, and I think I was like, either the eighth or 10th employee, so yeah, it was a big leap of faith, because, you know, I had come from these major, big trust companies and I had worked with some of the individuals, like one of the owners, Moray Tawse, and we can talk about Moray and Steven, but Moray worked for Central Guaranteed Trust. You know, who else Doug Farmer? Doug Farmer from First National also worked at Central guarantee trust. And Scott McKenzie, the gentleman who hired me to come over to first national as their very first BDM so and you know, I did eventually leave. I got married and became a mortgage broker for over 20 years. But it’s amazing to see the growth of this little startup company of First National to where it is, like 1700 employees now and across Canada when we were just a little operation in Ontario and and that’s because of Moray Tawse and Stephen Smith.

Len 02:44

Yeah, you know, the size of it is, I’m a shareholder, so I’m blown up here. It’s, you know, it’s amazing to watch what, what they’ve done, what he continues to do. I don’t think retirement is in his sights as it isn’t in mine, either.

Elena 03:01

Oh Steven? Oh no, I think he’s, he’s in his early 70s, and he just keeps, you know, like, as you know, he obtained Home Trust a couple of years ago. He’s, you know, part owner of Canada Guarantee. And, yeah, he just, he, he’s non-stop, that gentleman. But it’s funny because people don’t know that, like, you know Stephen Smith and Moray Tawse own First National and from, you know how they started was Moray worked at Central Guarantee Trust in the mortgage department. He was like the manager of the mortgage office. I actually worked at another mortgage office, but, and then he met Stephen, and they, you know, Stephen was trying to sell mortgages. He was an investment dealer for a small boutique company, and that’s how they connected. And then they thought, well, why not build a company where, you know, you deal with mortgage brokers and pay them commissions and the rest is history.

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