Stephanie Murray Mortgages - Helping People INTO HOMES

Elite businesswoman Stephanie Murray is passionate about fashion and finance, horse racing and hope, and making the mortgage process an easy lope.

But one of her biggest drivers is to support people into homes through charity and her business, Stephanie Murray Mortgages (SMM). “I began my banking career at 17, which was a long time ago now, and began lending at 21 years old.”

She started the mortgage advisory company in late 2015, flying solo for just one month and then swiftly expanding. Now, she has mortgage teams in New Plymouth, South Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Wairarapa, Kāpiti, Hutt Valley, Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, Christchurch and Nelson.

“I wanted to be able to keep doing what I loved but offer customers ALL options by not restricting them to one bank, and I wanted to have a team of dynamic, professional and driven advisors to do it with,” she writes in a blog on the SMM website. “It was something that had been done before by many – but I wanted to do it BETTER.”

For her efforts, Stephanie has received an NZ Adviser Elite Women 2024 award recognising her as one of the best and most influential female mortgage leaders in New Zealand. NZ Adviser’s profile on her says: “Murray, specialising as a mortgage expert, takes pride in making the mortgage process stress-free and seamless. She offers personalised lending structures and pricing from a diverse range of lenders, ensuring the best fit for each client.” The mortgage broker and director has helped hundreds of clients reach their property dreams.

Another key area for Stephanie is supporting the Roderique Hope Trust, which is a local Taranaki housing charity. The trust provides a range of services for families in the community who are struggling with housing security. It provides transitional housing, the Sustaining Tenancies service and the Ready to Rent programme.

“At the moment our figure of money raised for Roderique Hope Trust, from 11 charity events is over $165,000,” she says.

The 12th charity event, called Noir Blanc, has just been announced. SMM’s annual three-course fundraiser will be held on September 21, with all the proceeds going to the charitable trust.

“It is important to me to give back – it’s not all about the bottom line. There has to be some other factor to make me feel like I have been true to who I am.”

That’s captured in an extract for Stephanie Murray Mortgages’ mission statement: “Our success will enable us to provide housing assistance to the under-privileged within those provincial communities.”

The mortgage advisor has also helped hundreds of clients fulfil their property dreams by offering all banking options to ensure the best solutions. Stephanie has a wealth of knowledge through personal experience in buying and selling, rental property investment, building, and property development. She and her advisors work face-to-face with clients and also use online video platforms to connect when necessary or preferred.

At the 2017 TSB Taranaki Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards, Stephanie and her team won the New & Emerging Excellence Award and were highly commended for the Employer of Choice Award. They followed that up in 2018, receiving highly commended in both Small Business Excellence and Employer of Choice.

The forthright and natural leader has many parts to her on-the-move life. She is Vice President of the Taranaki Property Investors Association and a mentor for Business

Mentors New Zealand, along with various school age mentoring programmes.

SMM is also involved with Innovate Taranaki and has sponsored the last two events, and in 2023, Stephanie was a judge/selector.

“The real me is pretty much, what you see is what you get. I am pretty straight-up and everyone always knows where they are with me. I am extremely passionate about what I believe in, head strong, focused and determined. This often gets me into some situations,” she shares in a blog post.

“I am a lover of fashion, wine, and horse racing . . . they go well together.” And she always puts her best foot forward.

An online story in Location Homes shows her in a home dressing room, beside beautiful shoes and boots placed artfully on glass-fronted shelves. A Stuff story published on November 18, 2017, puts her in the spotlight at Canterbury’s Riccarton Park Racecourse.

The style queen was shocked to be crowned Best Dressed Lady in the popular Fashion in the Field competition. She won wearing an outfit she designed herself and had made by Lushington Jackets in New Plymouth.

On the mortgage business front, for Stephanie it’s all about doing the best for her clients and supporting her team to be the best they can be. “Starting your own venture is by far one of the most challenging and rewarding things you can do. It takes over your whole life if you are passionate about it and SMM is really my baby,” she writes.

“I love being able to ‘better’ clients’ and families’ financial situation and making a real difference in their lives. Homes and investments are significant to families’ security, and it’s a pleasure to influence progress with our knowledge and experience.”

email: stephanie@stephaniemurray.mortgage