Call us today 09 320 0847Kirsty Hastie – Loan Writer
With a 20-year corporate career in financial and medical underwriting under her belt (think: life insurance), Kirsty uses her analytical skills to look at things in different ways. She started as a customer services officer with Sovereign Assurance (back in the day!) and worked her way through the ranks into management and various specialised roles, ending up as a highly respected underwriter.
The skills of analysing underwriting risks in business and health have transferred well into her work at Hastie Mortgages where she was originally tasked with undertaking a full blown process review to prepare the business for the new licensing regime that applies to all financial services businesses from 2023.
“The business had become so busy that the team were struggling to keep up with the normal workload as well as keep the business itself ticking over while also gearing up for the new regime. I helped sort that out”.
Kirsty describes herself as a ‘list girl’ and is highly organised, exactly the skills you want from someone doing that kind of review. That review is complete and she now has her teeth into her financial service qualifications (specialising in mortgages) and expects to have that completed by early 2023. That will put her in a great position to assess loan applications in much the same way as she used to look at insurance applications.
However, she says “there’s so much jargon and acronyms in banking… I have a spreadsheet of all of them so that I can refer to it and use normal English in conversations.”
She argues that the difference between any adviser or mortgage team (and the reason you’d choose one over another) comes down to communication and customer service, and Kirsty is the type of person who would rather pick up the phone than send an email.
Kirsty remembers her first experience buying a house with another adviser.
“It was terrible – slow, painful and I never would have recommended going through the process to anyone. But I can see that Campbell has learned from that experience and ensured communication and keeping in touch with our clients every step of the way – and he feeds that through to the team.”
Kirsty loves working in a small close knit team where every decision counts. She says the team just gets on so well and they’re all good at what they do “Jo is an amazing support to Campbell, Paula has an amazing phone temperament and Cherie has years of experience”.
When asked about values, Kirsty recognises that hers are very much aligned with Campbell, and that probably explains why they’ve been married so long! It’s about doing the right thing and spending time with people who fit with that.
Kirsty has had some significant challenges in her journey including the long, complex and ultimately unsuccessful process of staring a family. She also recalls a scary moment when something popped in her spine and she couldn’t walk which led to multiple surgeries. Major hurdles like these have taught Kirsty how to be persistent and determined to get through the hard times.
The Hastie’s are now a cat family. There are two felines, Maggie is Campbell’s cat and Daisy is Kirsty’s.
Kirsty is definitely a homebody. She sews, knits (makes quilts for the neonatal intensive care unit), gardens, cooks, and entertains. She jokes about Campbell having a wine habit but she admits to enjoying a Central Otago Pinot Noir or Riesling herself. Especially if that’s on an ebike in the Gibbston Valley. And especially if that’s something from ‘the incredible’ Mt Rosa vineyard.
Kirsty has travelled all over New Zealand – probably one of the few Kiwis who have explored our backyard. Born in Dunedin, Kirsty moved to Auckland when she was just seven, but there has always been something special about Central Otago. She has completed the Milford Track, one of the great walks of New Zealand and is planning to do the Hollyford Track.
From a large family (Kirsty is one of five siblings and another four step siblings so ten brothers and sisters in total!), they enjoy getting together often, and always with a roast and lasagne.
Kirsty’s last word…
“Plan and prepare and get started early. Because it can take time and you may not be as ready as you think you are. The criteria change nearly daily, so planning to tick off all the boxes as much as possible will help you achieve your financial goals faster.”
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