Emerging LO

TALES OF A NATURAL BORN FIGHTER RACKING UP REALTOR REFERRALS

TOP TIPS: HOW TO BE A MORTGAGE INFLUENCER

Brand Spanking New

At American Business Media, our Originator Connect Network is the largest producer of mortgage conferences in the nation, and we track who attends our events (and sign up for our various publications and newsletters at www.nationalmortgageprofessional.com). For the past couple of years, we've seen that a lot of our attendees are newer to the industry. They're building their business, figuring out their path to success, and looking for great partners, broad opportunities, and the best tech to get them where they want to be. But we know what you're thinking: who the heck is getting into this business now? The numbers, actually, are thrilling. In 2023 alone, 125,405 new NMLS licenses were issued – an average of more than 10,000 a month! And that pace hasn't let up.

But the numbers don’t make it easier to be a newbie. Sure, some are off to rollicking starts. But the group discussions on Facebook and LinkedIn are loaded with beginner LOs asking questions like how to choose the right company to work for, whether it’s a good idea to start in a call center or just hit the ground running, how to attract clients via social media, how to develop referrals and referral networks, and so, so much more.

Those groups, though, don’t always provide a great environment for getting questions answered. We applaud the posters who are legitimately trying to help, but their voices often get overwhelmed by all the vitriol from others mocking the questions and urging the amateurs to just quit.

What’s lost in those posts is the acknowledgement that anyone starting out now is a hero. This is a tough market, and those who tough it out are the ones who are going to be the industry leaders five to 10 years from now. And this group is just setting up their own relationships, their own business plans, their own paths to success.

VINCENT M. VALVO CEO, Publisher, Editor-in-Chief vvalvo@ambizmedia.com

That's why we're coming out with this special publication. It’s built on new reportage from our staff of savvy writers and bringing back inspiring advice and stories from our collection of magazine titles such as Mortgage Banker, NMP Magazine, Mortgage Women Magazine, California Broker and more.

This special is exclusively targeted to originators on the rise, focusing on those in the industry for three years or less. We're highlighting content that specifically shows how to be better, how to market smarter, how successful LOs got that way. This is being distributed digitally to originators across the nation, and physically at our huge Originator Connect conference in Las Vegas in August and at our Dallas edition of the Texas Mortgage Roundup in September. (By the way, want free connection opportunities and FREE classes for your NMLS renewal? Just check out our show schedule at www.originatorconnectnetwork.com/events).

So, welcome to Emerging LO. And congratulations on being part of this incredibly rewarding industry. You can count on us to be your friend and guide on this journey.

STAFF

Vincent M. Valvo

CEO, PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Beverly Bolnick

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Katie Jensen, Erica Drzewiecki, Ryan Kingsley, Sarah Wolak

STAFF WRITERS

Alison Valvo

DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC GROWTH

Julie Carmichael

PROJECT MANAGER

Meghan Hogan

DESIGN MANAGER

Christopher Wallace, Stacy Murray GRAPHIC DESIGN MANAGERS

Navindra Persaud

DIRECTOR OF EVENTS

William Valvo

UX DESIGN DIRECTOR

Andrew Berman

HEAD OF CUSTOMER OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT

Matthew Mullins, Krystina Coffey

MULTIMEDIA SPECIALISTS

Melissa Pianin

MARKETING & EVENTS ASSOCIATE

Kristie Woods-Lindig

ONLINE ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Nicole Coughlin

ADVERTISING ASSOCIATE

Submit your news to editors@ambizmedia.com

If you would like additional copies of Emerging LO magazine, call (860) 719-1991 or email subscriptions@ambizmedia.com www.ambizmedia.com

© 2024 American Business Media LLC. All rights reserved. Emerging LO magazine is a trademark of American Business Media LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Advertising, editorial and production inquiries should be directed to: American Business Media LLC 88 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, CT 06089 Phone: (860) 719-1991, info@ambizmedia.com

Thrive

WITH A FOCUS ON Consumer Experience

BY MICHELE BODDA SPECIAL TO EMERGING LO

MAGAZINE

Michele Bodda is president of housing, verification solutions and employer services at Experian.

Today’s borrowers expect a simple, fast, and convenient online process

ortgage lenders operate in a landscape shaped by several challenges, each demanding a strategic response. Economic volatility, rising interest rates, regulatory changes, and the lingering effects of the global pandemic create a dynamic environment that requires lenders to be agile and

It can be challenging to determine where to hone your focus. I believe there are steps we can take to retain customers and drive business growth in our current environment and beyond.nIt begins and ends by focusing on the consumer experience. I believe this focus is crucial for mortgage lenders to build trust, differentiate themselves in a competitive market, and

Here are four strategies mortgage lenders can implement to enhance the consumer experience:

Make getting to know your customer your priority: Today’s lenders have access to an unprecedented amount of information that can be used for good. By leveraging data and analytics, including credit data, income and employment information as well as property data, lenders can gain a complete view of a consumer’s financial needs and personalize interactions in meaningful ways.

Meeting rising consumer expectations depends on knowledge. Data allows you to tailor communication and offers based on each person’s preferences, history, and needs. Beyond that, personalization can enhance the overall customer experience by making borrowers feel valued and understood, helping to provide the personalized experience borrowers want.

Prioritize education for aspiring homebuyers: Knowledge is power. And this is an area where many prospective homebuyers could use your help. Experian research shows a common barrier for consumers who aspire to own a home is not knowing where to start. Many are unaware of reliable sources of information.

At the same time, many consumers denied a mortgage do not know how to get approved in the future. By

prioritizing education, being a trusted source of information, and connecting borrowers with tools designed to improve their financial health, lenders can grow their business while helping make the dreams of homeownership a reality for more consumers.

Today’s lenders have access to an unprecedented amount of information that can be used for good.

Communicate transparently: Let’s face it, to people outside of the industry or to an inexperienced borrower, much of the jargon used in the mortgage process can seem like a foreign language. Establish clear and transparent communication channels with borrowers. Keep them informed about the status of their loan application, any required documentation, and the overall timeline. Provide an opportunity for borrowers to ask questions and respond in a way they’ll understand.

Streamline for a seamless consumer experience: Today’s borrowers expect simple, fast and convenient online experiences. Many mortgage lenders struggle to meet borrower expectations because they depend on outdated systems. For example, many lenders rely on complex and time-consuming manual income and employment verification, which can increase costs and potentially extend closing dates. This is problematic for lenders and borrowers alike. Today’s lenders can save money, reduce buyback risks, enhance security, and accelerate time to close by leveraging the latest innovations in income and employment verification, including Experian Verify, to meet borrower expectations effectively.

The mortgage industry is uniquely positioned to change peoples’ lives for the better. By embracing a consumer-centric approach and implementing these strategies, mortgage lenders can not only weather market uncertainties but also thrive and contribute to sustainable business growth.

Take a minute and remember the last time you got a mortgage loan. What helped you feel confident, supported, and seen? Building trust, fostering loyalty, and prioritizing the consumer experience will undoubtedly set lenders on a path to success, regardless of the challenges that may lie ahead.

How To Ask Someone In Your Network For A Favor

Just because many of us are working remotely doesn’t mean staying connected becomes any less valuable. In fact, we all might need a little bit more human connection these days.

BY GREG DELINE CONTRIBUTING WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

When you’re alone with yourself (as most of us have been recently), it’s easy to see the value of community and why building a professional network is important. No one can think of everything, and a strong professional network can bring new ideas to the table — along with different perspectives, personal and professional advice, and emotional support.

Once mortgage brokers and originators recognize the value of professional networks and learn how to start networking, the next hurdle is often how to ask for a favor professionally. We all know the feeling: a lump grows in your throat, your tongue suddenly ties, and you can just feel the flop sweats coming on.

Before you tuck your tail and abandon the request altogether, remember that overcoming that fear is essential to benefiting from your professional connections. It’s important to build mutually beneficial relationships with your network to help one another fuel your successes.

Finding the right words to ask for a favor isn’t always easy. Even as an experienced entrepreneur, I still get nervous from time to time and feel my confidence shaken. But through the years, I’ve found that asking for favors professionally really boils down to four simple rules.

Be Direct

Remember, a lot of people do like to be helpful and appreciate the opportunity to assist others. Instead of assuming

your connection won’t want to help you and floundering nervously on small talk to start the conversation, be direct. Just say this: “I was hoping you could help me out.”

Framing it directly and positively from the get-go will lower the risk of seeming like you’re just trying to get something out of your connection. What’s more, getting to the point quickly is much more efficient, and your connection will value your respect for their time.

Be Complimentary

Think about why you are going to this person specifically for a favor. Do you like their ideas? Do they tend to have a unique perspective? Whatever the answer, let your connection know why you’re coming to them.

BE PREPARED TO RECIPROCATE. THANK DEMONSTRATEYOU! RESPECT & GRADITUDE

Offering a compliment isn’t just considerate. It’s good etiquette when asking for a favor professionally. Sharing the reasons why this person is essential to whatever it is you’re asking makes it about more than just what they can do for you.

Ask Ahead Of Time

If you’re asking someone to go out of their way to help you, the last thing you want to do is rush them. Waiting until the very last minute is likely to make you appear unprepared and disorganized.

Instead, ask for what you need as soon as you know you need it. Having months to deliver a favor is a lot less stressful than having mere days or hours, and you want to make your request as easy as possible to fulfill.

Show Your Gratitude

You don’t want to develop a reputation as someone who takes but never gives. Asking for a favor should never feel like you’re trying to pick someone’s pocket. You should always be prepared to reciprocate.

Even if your connection doesn’t ask for a favor directly in return, be on the lookout for ways you can help out. Can you cover them in a meeting when they have a conflict? Can you take anything off their plate when they’re having a busy day? Even simple actions such as bringing them coffee or treating them to lunch can show your gratitude and willingness to help out in the future.

The most successful professional relationships are win-win, and that means both parties benefit from each other. That’s why an essential step in networking is learning how to ask for a favor professionally. Especially for entrepreneurs just starting out, asking your connections for help can pave your path to success. Don’t be afraid to ask for favors from your professional networks — just be sure to demonstrate respect and gratitude when you do.

Empowering Women In Mortgage Welcome to the Mortgage Women Leadership Council

A warm welcome to you! I’m Kelly Hendricks, the Managing Editor of Mortgage Women Magazine and Senior Vice President of Delmar Mortgage, and it brings me great joy to extend this invitation to you. Throughout my career in the mortgage industry, I’ve been fortunate to have leaders and mentors who played pivotal roles in shaping my journey. I am thrilled to introduce a transformative initiative – the Mortgage Women Leadership Council, created by Mortgage Women Magazine.

In my role, I’ve experienced the challenges that women face in leadership within the mortgage sector. These challenges led to a profound realization — the need for a dynamic network to empower women in our industry. This realization is the driving force behind the creation of the Mortgage Women Leadership Council. I believe in the power of collective support, and I am excited about the opportunity to share and benefit from each other’s experiences.

Our mission is clear: to promote and empower women’s leadership in the mortgage sector. The council aims to create a supportive environment for professional growth, mentorship, and networking. Joining the

council comes with various benefits, including networking opportunities and access to industry-specific professional development resources. We understand the unique challenges women face in mortgage leadership and have tailored mentorship and support systems to address them.

I invite you to join this movement to empower women in the mortgage industry. The Mortgage Women Leadership Council is committed to fostering a welcoming and supportive environment. Your involvement will not only contribute to your personal and professional growth but also play a crucial role in advancing women’s leadership in our industry. To join or get involved, simply click here to apply.

Thank you for considering this invitation to join the Mortgage Women Leadership Council. For further inquiries about the council and details on how to join, please contact Beverly Bolnick at bbolnick@ambizmedia.com. Let’s work together to advance women’s leadership in the mortgage industry — because collective action brings about meaningful change.

Kelly Hendricks Managing Editor, Mortgage Women Magazine

Our voices

Access to a Powerful Platform: Amplify your voice and influence through Mortgage Women Magazine, exclusive sponsored programs, email newsletters, and impactful events.

Editorial Opportunities: Showcase your expertise and insights through editorial features in Mortgage Women Magazine, gaining visibility and recognition among industry peers.

Awards and Recognition: Receive well-deserved recognition through our award programs, celebrating your achievements and contributions to the mortgage industry.

Community Support: Become part of a dedicated community committed to celebrating and driving meaningful progress in the mortgage sector. Connect with likeminded women leaders, share experiences, and foster collaborative initiatives.

Mortgage Women Magazine: Enjoy your complimentary digital subscription to Mortgage Women Magazine, the premier publication for women in mortgage. Read advice, learn about industry updates, and take in the inspiring stories of your peers.

Become a member today.

Join us and be a driving force in creating a more inclusive and thriving mortgage industry. Together, as a united community, we believe we can make real change.

Enjoy 1 year of your individual membership free!

Use code MWM2024

As a valued member, enjoy these benefits: EMERGING24

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

ACTION PLAN

A personal pipeline of $200 million. Hiring dozens of new originators and processors. Blogging weekly, speaking frequently. Shashank Shekhar isn’t going to let anything stop his growth plans.

BY GEORGE YACIK | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

End over end in freefall, 120-mile-an-hour gusts like icy daggers plucking at your clothing, your ears full of rush and roar. Stepping out of an airplane 15,000 feet above Earth isn’t for the weak willed.

For Shashank Shekhar, it’s an escape, it’s an adventure, but perhaps most importantly, it’s a metaphor. Because where some see certain doom, he sees the thrill of victory – the same triumph over adversity that’s helped him become one of the most successful loan originators in the mortgage industry.

Or maybe Shekhar’s story is even simpler than that. To quote a shared line in the revolutionary Broadway musical “Hamilton” between Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette: “Immigrants. We get the job done.”

When you see Shekhar, you see a fit, well-spoken man who looks comfortable in the way that business casual tech execs or Los Angeles entertainment VPs look comfortable: nice suit, open collar dress shirt, well groomed. He portrays the image of a successful, but approachable, pro. For an immigrant from New Delhi, India, it’s the image of the American Dream.

And that’s what Shekhar is trying to nail down. From nothing, he built a personal origination portfolio of nearly $200 million a year. Now he’s trying to build something much, much more.

PLAN

SHASHANK

As the founder of San Jose, Calif.-based InstaMortgage, Shekhar’s attempting to create a company where he’s the least successful originator. He is recruiting raw talent and teaching them what’s worked for him. He’s looking at national expansion. And he’s on a tear on the speaking circuit to get the word out.

Debra Donahue, a regional account executive at Cardinal Financial in San Jose, California, not far from Shekhar’s office, says she has worked with him for several years over a few different companies.

“We all know he’s a large producer,” she added. “He has a very good business model and he runs his business very professionally. He’s got a great team of processors that support him. He’s very thorough and his loans are very well put together. He runs a great business.”

Regarding the recent seemingly overnight growth in InstaMortgage’s plans, Donahue is unfazed. “Growing the model is just a natural progression in his business,” she shrugs.

Of course, Shekhar’s trying to do all of this in a challenging economy – kind of like jumping out of a plane, confident you’ll live even without the safety of the aircraft and reveling in adrenalinefueled challenge to win. But then, he’s faced odds like this before.

Learning In, And Leaning Into A Recession

Clearly, Shekhar must love a challenge. In 2008, he was only two years out from leaving his native India. With less than $2,000 in savings and no contacts, he started as a mortgage broker, just as the U.S. residential real estate market was collapsing.

That first year he made only seven loans, but he persevered. Learning how better to connect with clients, how to market better. And each year, his production increased – often in seismic spikes. In 2019, practically single-handedly, he originated nearly $200 million of volume at InstaMortgage.

“It was crazy for sure to want to get into mortgages in 2008, but as Warren Buffett said, you buy when everyone is selling and sell when everyone is buying,” says Shekhar, who was 32 at the time.

“I saw an industry where 65% of the people left in those years, and I was coming in. But if you believe this is a long-term industry, from that perspective you feel good and that you will end up with a bigger market share. So, looking back, 2008 and part of 2009 were bad for me, but I wouldn’t do anything else different.”

That attitude helps explain his confidence in the midst of high interest rates, as he stands by his plan to double the number of employees working for him. It’s an expansion that started halfway through 2019, but it got off to a quick

“Very early in my career, I figured out that most of the things loan officers traditionally do, like networking and trying to schmooze Realtors, did not work for me.”

worked there for two years before they shut down due to the financial crisis in 2008,” Shekhar recalled.

His first mortgage job was First Priority Financial, a broker turned banker in California. But he wanted the freedom to work the market the way he wanted. He took a leap of faith and launched InstaMortgage in April 2008.

What he saw then, he sees again now. “When things get difficult, you have a lot of people who leave the industry because they are used to easy business. They’re not used to the unemployment and foreclosure rates rising to record levels and lending guidelines much stricter than they used to be. That leaves the better-quality professionals, which I think is the way it should be. For people like us, I see it as an opportunity to gain an even bigger market share. I’m very confident.”

In mid-2019, it was easy to be confident about the

economy getting better. The conditions helped fuel the decision it was time to make InstaMortgage beyond a one-man band. While InstaMortgage was doing fine based on his own performance, Shekhar wanted something more.

“When you produce on your own, you’re not really creating a legacy or anything that has any value because if you stop originating tomorrow, the company has no value,” says the married father of two daughters who lives in Saratoga, California. “I wanted to create value for the company itself and not just me as an originator.”

He waited more than a decade to expand because “I wanted to get to the point where I could add value to people who join my team in terms of training them and helping them get better and produce more. Until I reached a point where I considered myself one of the top 10 or 15 loan officers in the country or I knew enough to teach them, I should

Shashank Shekhar with his wife Smita Wadhawan and daughters.

not hire them. I couldn’t add value until I was good enough myself.”

SELL, SELL, SELL

In just a few years, InstaMortgage has grown to hundreds of originators. “I simply looked at recruiting loan originators the same way I look at getting borrowers. You need to assess enough value and offer the right solution to their needs,” Shekhar asserts.

Take, for example, the ability to build leads via social media. That’s what appealed to Blake Bogese of Blake’s RVA Loans in Richmond, Virginia. He was a retail mortgage originator before he reached out to Shekhar last year. “I was drawn by his reputation and the way he operates and creates leads for himself through social media and his educational approach. That’s really what you’re signing up for.”

How does Shekhar get people to jump ship? “I think when the loan originators are thinking of changing companies, their top three requirements are: competitive rates along with wide product range; processing and technology that can make their life easier and help them grow; and, finally, leadership that is sales focused and can mentor them to take their business to the next level. I made sure InstaMortgage checked off all those boxes.”

“I thought last year I was at a point where I felt comfortable to hire people and add value to their business and help them grow, which I have seen in the past 12 months. Most of my loan officers who have come on board have had their best months in years.”

Despite such a massive hiring effort in such a short period of time, while originating for himself, Shekhar still has time for young brokers like Bogese, 33.

“He’s not just the CEO of the company, he’s also a personal mentor,” Bogese says. “I wanted to be on the broker side but not be a one-man team. He’s extremely available and he has a great team behind him. Instead of 20 or 30 people [on the processing side], he’s got two or three rock stars who are really good processors and closers. He hires the right people and delegates to them and allows them to take ownership, which allows him to take care of his own production.”

While Shekhar’s business philosophy is highly focused, so are the methods he has used to achieve his success. Not for him are the traditional ways mortgage brokers typically get loans.

“Very early in my career, I figured out that most of the

things loan officers traditionally do, like networking and trying to schmooze Realtors, did not work for me,” he says. “Either I wasn’t cut out for it, or I didn’t feel comfortable doing it. So, I made a promise to myself that I would make sure the business comes to me.”

The Brand Builder

He started working on his personal branding platform, which he says not many other loan officers were doing at the time, and few are doing even now. He started what he says was one of the mortgage industry’s first blogs in 2009. He followed that with three books, plus countless speaking engagements at webinars, seminars, radio shows, TV shows, and videos, “really every online and offline medium you can think of.”

So far, he’s authored hundreds of blog posts, most of which are available on InstaMortgage’s website. “I write all the blogs myself,” he says. “It is very time consuming, but I have averaged one blog post a week for 11 years. I am very proud of the fact that there is consistency there. The good thing about a blog is that the more you write, the more authoritative you are, and the more business you get.”

Cardinal Financial’s Donahue agrees. “He has a great reputation, which is well deserved,” she said, adding that his methods continue to bring him visibility. “I am on the board of the local chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals and Shashank has always been extremely giving of his time and industry knowledge to our chapter and speaking at our events.”

Most of Shekhar’s message is targeted at first-time homebuyers, mainly high-income professionals in the technology industry. Many are immigrants unfamiliar with buying a home and getting a mortgage. InstaMortgage is located in the heart of Silicon Valley.

“They need the most amount of education and are looking to find out how the process works,” he says. “If you are refinancing or buying your second or third home, you probably already know how most of the process works, so you’re just shopping for the best rate. But if you’re buying your first home, there is a lot of education that’s required. The education platform I created has stood the test of time. I still get leads on a daily basis.”

By the end of 2019, Shekhar was still doing about 75% of InstaMortgage’s production by himself. But today he only accounts for about 25%, with a goal to eventually get that figure down to 10-15% by next year as he adds more people and increases total production to $1 billion. But that doesn’t mean his personal production will suffer;

“I am having more conversations with retail lenders than ever before, and we are recruiting at a much faster pace than I have in the past 12 months.”

he still expects to originate about $150 million himself annually. “I want to keep my personal production consistent and increase my company’s production,” he says.

While the economic situation has crimped mortgage production, mainly for purchase loans, Shekhar says the current market is ideally suited for mortgage brokers.

Ideal Market For Brokers

“It’s been extremely beneficial being on the broker side because we are not just tied to one lender,” he says. “If I were a loan officer at a bank, I would not be able to originate anything except loans with high credit scores. And a lot of non-bank lenders raised their rates and are completely out of the market. But because I am a broker, I deal with more than 60 lenders and have the option of moving from one lender to another. Having that option has been a lifesaver for us.”

That has also helped him recruit new loan officers to

Shashank Shekhar at American Business Media's Originator Connect conference, the nation's largest gathering of mortgage professionals, in Las Vegas every August. originatorconnectnetwork.com/events

InstaMortgage. “The fact that there are more options in the broker channel is going to work to our advantage,” he says. “I am having more conversations with retail lenders than ever before, and we are recruiting at a much faster pace than I have in the past 12 months.”

Shekhar’s ability to survive the 2008-2009 real estate crash makes him confident that he will survive – and even thrive – this time around, too, even if the mortgage business remains in the doldrums for a while. It’s not hard to see the allure of overcoming such challenges for a man who enjoys sky diving from 15,000 feet, confident he’s going to stick the landing.

“If you are in this for the long run, 12 months is really not that big a deal,” he says. “Interest rates will continue to remain low, which means there will be enough refinance opportunities. Then, once this passes, whether it takes 12 or 18 months, there will be a lot of pent-up demand, which means the purchase market will come back.”

InstaMortgage, he says, will be there. Standing firmly on the ground.

Nailing Down Reliable Realtor Relationships

Real estate agents are constantly hounded by LOs for referrals, but stand out by demonstrating success

BY SARAH WOLAK | STAFF WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

RRealtors are bogged down with referral requests. And in a sluggish market where deals are hard to come by, they’re drowning in dismal leads and are attempting to weed out promising loan officers.

Of course, in the fast-paced and competitive world of real estate, collaboration between real estate and mortgage professionals is key to success. Real estate agents and loan officers often work together closely to help clients navigate the complex process of buying a home. Inevitably, these professionals end up forming close relationships that symbiotically benefit the other’s business. And loan officers know this to be true.

Real estate agents are their go-to referral base and confidants when it comes to finding borrowers. But many LOs have taken to bogging down agents with dry

marketing pitches, incessant phone calls, and requests to talk things over at the local coffee shop. This excessive hounding has left many real estate agents feeling frustrated and overwhelmed — especially when it comes to determining who deserves their time.

Perry Pappas, a real estate salesperson for Coldwell Banker, says that he gets several messages per day from loan officers trying to pitch him. “I constantly am getting told that [LOs] could help me with postcards and marketing materials or with open houses, but I don’t need help with that,” Pappas explained. “What I’m really looking for [is loan officers] to pitch … the products they offer and the knowledge they have about those products.”

That’s why for Pappas, reputation matters for both the individual loan officer and their company. “Not every loan is a 30-year with an 800 credit score. Knowing that a bank or a loan officer has versatility when it comes to

hairy loans is extremely important,” he said. “It’s also important that they resemble a similar work ethic that I have. A lot of buyers find their LOs through their realtor and that makes them an extension of me and my work.”

PROUD TO PARTNER WITH

There’s a reason that “referral partnership” involves “partner” as a part of the phrase. Essentially, Pappas says, that’s what real estate agents are seeking out. “I’m looking for LOs who work like Realtors,” he said. “[I want] someone who adds value to the deal, that’s going to have your back, someone who is going to work like a realtor in the sense of being accessible on weekends … and that means being accessible to and staying in touch with clients. Not everything can wait until Monday morning.”

So what makes Pappas a proud partner? He says that product knowledge and being proactive during the transaction are imperative. “I’m looking to see if they’re aggressive on fees, rates, closing costs, and trying to get [borrowers] into good programs, not just to benefit their back end,” he said.

Brian K. Lewis, a luxury real estate agent for Compass Real Estate, also has high expectations as to how a loan officer should approach him. Being a Manhattan agent, Lewis says that he looks for loan officers who can keep up with his fast pace and help him iron out issues in the closing processes. “We’re in sales just like loan officers are,” Lewis said. “I’m always looking for shortcuts to success … the LOs that I love are no-nonsense, productive, they will tell you quickly in three bullet points or less how they can help you, they’re connected to the underwriters, and they can cut through the BS when there’s a problem.”

Lewis says that he gets pitched by loan officers weekly about what they can offer for his business. But Lewis says that he doesn’t want marketing materials or open house adornments; he wants an advisor. “I’m looking for an LO who is immensely productive who is easy to reach and communicate with, and [has a] can-do attitude,” he said. “You want to be able to tell [an agent] quickly a story or two about how you personally saved a deal because of the way you work.”

PROVING VALUE

Real estate agents have reiterated that they don’t want flyers, balloons, or fancy pens from LOs. What they want is a smooth closing and for a loan officer to provide them with something of value. Lewis says that he constantly goes to the same mortgage broker, Sari Rosenberg from Citibank, for his deals. “Sari always asks what she can

do for me to prepare me for the weekend,” he explained. “[She] tells me about issues, has a depth of knowledge, fixes problems, and, if she can’t help me, aligns me with the best people for the deal.”

Sean Cochran, a broker and realtor at eXp Realty, says that he’s tired of getting weekly calls from loan officers asking to get coffee with him. “I tell every LO who calls me ‘you first,’” Cochran said. “Instead of calling me for my business, give me a call when you have a preapproved buyer in my area that is unrepresented by a realtor. First, we try, then we trust.”

“What I’m really looking for [is loan officers] to pitch … the products they offer and the knowledge they have about those products.”

> Perry Pappas Real Estate Salesperson Coldwell Banker

Cochran says that the first LO to approach him with an unrepresented buyer is someone that he still uses today. That was four and a half years ago, and since then, Cochran and the same LO have continued a working, reciprocal relationship.

But aside from getting business from LOs, Cochran says that he also looks to see if LOs are doing education for their audience in some form. He wants to see them putting themselves out into the community and providing some form of useful content. “You see realtors on social media all the time. But borrowers should really be going to loan officers first, but it’s not the loan officer that they’re seeing first on social media,” Cochran said.

Cochran formerly served as a mortgage company recruiter and as a loan officer, so he knows that expectations are high for the average LO from everyone in the industry. “The LO always gets blamed for everything,” he said. “A loan officer’s job is hard. If the deal falls apart, the LO gets blamed. It’s a thankless job.”

ROOKIES, NEWBIES

whatever you call them— LOs just jumping into the game have to be quick on their feet ... and they’re better for it

BY ERICA DRZEWIECKI STAFF WRITER EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

After a storm of new loan originators flooded the market during the ultra-low interest rate environment of 2020-21, many of their ships sank come mid-2022. That’s when the Federal Reserve yanked mortgage rates back up in an effort to calm its wild child, which goes by the name of inflation. The souls daring to enter the industry over the last yearand-a-half are finding their footing in what some call unprecedented times. We’re checking in on the newbies and wrangling up a few veteran LOs to show them the way through the dark.

BRAND SPANKIN’

STRONGER (WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU)

I“see it as a blessing in disguise, because if you can survive in this market the past few years, then you can survive in any market,” says Sal Ali, director at InstaMortgage in Dallas.

Ali leads a team of new LOs, providing training and coaching opportunities at the ready.

“The blessing is that you're in the business at the most challenging time. Yes, you're still getting deals, which is awesome. But with this downtime, you're able to leverage tools, tech, resources, networks. Lay the groundwork for when it actually is going to get busy.”

His advice to fresh-faced MLOs is to step off the ledge with full abandon.

“Just jump in. Don’t second-guess yourself. If you’ve done your due diligence on whatever file you’re setting up, the only way to get the answers you’re looking for is to just get started. Submit the loan, ask the question, send the email, make the proactive move. The quicker you’re comfortable doing that, the more comfortable you’ll be in this space.”

Not every loan file gets approved and for some it’s just not right away.

“You also have to be good at giving bad news sometimes,” Ali says. “And to experience that early on is extremely valuable for your career.”

Ali had a corporate background in sales and IT when his brother Dan, also an LO, encouraged him to pop the 9-to-5 bubble and start clean. He began working as a loan officer assistant 12 years ago, before getting licensed in 2014.

“I started cold-calling … doing refinances at a high volume,” he recalls of those early days. “I had to experience the challenges of a rookie early on and overcome them at a very quick pace.”

The industry has grown up a lot since then. Today’s new LOs face similar, but different trials.

“They're entering the space when the industry has already passed that first adaptation,” Ali says. “We've already started to evolve, incorporating tech, expedited underwriting, imaging software, auto chatbots, [and] auto uploads. In my time, tech was up and coming, so we took full advantage. I understand the tech like the back of my hand. But now that it's standard, the next level up is AI. I think these new LOs are really going to do a good job of taking advantage of it.”

CRUSHING GOALS

Julian Yuen was licensed in late June 2023, and his goal was to close four loans by 2024. Yuen accomplished that feat in April 2024 and is now on his way to closing four more.

SPANKIN’ NEW

“I’m focused on progress over perfection, instead of being super results-oriented. I feel like that brings me more joy, more fulfillment,” Yuen says. “I'm going to make sure I continue to meet people and learn more about the myriad products out there so that I can be honest with myself at the end of the day. If I hit it, great. If I didn't, at least I know I exhausted all options in trying to hit that goal.”

In Yuen’s world, it’s more important to build a strong foundation than it is to quickly stack files.

“It’s not necessarily like I need to be the top producer or chase this certain volume or number of units,” he says. “But I am chasing after new trainings, new opportunities to grow, different programs that I can offer my borrowers. At the end of the day, if I can give them that five-star client experience, that's an accomplishment, and I can go to sleep happy.”

ROCKET TO SUCCESS

Once a senior director and mortgage banker at Quicken Loans (now Rocket Mortgage), Ali “Ace” Charafeddine now trains teams of LOs to maximize their profits tenfold.

“It's not about the mortgage, it’s about how you're changing people's lives,” says the author of The 10 Keys of Sales and founder of virtual

“I STARTED COLD-CALLING … DOING REFINANCES AT A HIGH VOLUME. I HAD TO EXPERIENCE THE CHALLENGES OF A ROOKIE EARLY ON AND OVERCOME THEM AT A VERY QUICK PACE.”

> Sal Ali, director at InstaMortgage, Dallas

InstaMortgage Dallas Director Sal Ali works on a laptop while his brother Dan looks on. Dan got Sal into the business of being an LO several years back.

InstaMortgage Dallas Director Sal Ali, who says the new generation of LOs is "going to be something special" if they embrace new tech and go full steam ahead through today's difficult market.

“I'M NOT A MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR—I'M A THERAPIST, AN ATTORNEY, A COUNSELOR, A FINANCIAL ADVISOR, I'M WHATEVER THE CLIENT NEEDS ME TO BE. AND ONCE THEY HAVE THAT DOWN PAT, WORK HARDER THAN EVERYBODY ELSE.”

>

Ali “Ace” Charafeddine Author of The 10 Keys of Sales and founder of virtual training course Acez Academy

training course Acez Academy.

“I truly believe that sales fundamentals can be duplicated in any industry,” Charafeddine says.

As a consultant for West Capital Lending, he helped the Irvine-based lender grow into a mega broker, now surpassing $1 billion in volume.

“That was a very proud story for me, because when I started, I had no experience and I was still able to be a number one in a company with thousands of people. And that was because I only focused on the relationships and the genuineness of helping people.”

He encourages new LOs to hone their communication skills and put in sweat equity.

“If they can have a conversation with somebody, go deeper than anybody else and make that person truly feel like they understand their life, and then customize an option that makes sense for them, that will be their

Ali “Ace” Charafeddine

biggest competitive advantage. I always say I'm not a mortgage originator – I'm a therapist, an attorney, a counselor, a financial advisor, I'm whatever the client needs me to be. And once they have that down pat, work harder than everybody else.”

TAKE IT PERSONALLY

Acomputer science and engineering graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yuen has applied his institutional knowledge to originating.

“In the world of computer science, we're taught how to break problems down, understanding inputs, outputs, constraints, edge cases…that correlates to guidelines in the mortgage world,” he explains. “What are the inputs? Borrowers, income, debts, their goals. What are their edge cases? Are there any exceptions that can be made? Just finding the different puzzle

pieces to help get them into a loan program that meets their home ownership goals.”

Hugo Gonzalez, another new LO at Equity Smart, began his originating journey at the tail end of January. A former “Big Four” public accountant and professional video game player of Super Smash Bros. fame, Gonzalez likes making his own schedule. It was an old friend he ran into at the bar who encouraged him to consider becoming an LO.

“A lot of the things I loved about being a competitive video game player aligned with being a mortgage loan officer,” he says. “I decide my schedule, I decide how hard I want to work, if I want to see success.”

Strong interpersonal skills are what Gonzalez believes are his superpower.

“I'm a terrible salesperson, but what I am good at is having people work with me, trust me. I don't really have to go out there and sell. I can just go out there

Acez Academy founder Ali Charafeddine, who helped West Capital Lending grow into the mega broker it is today. Charafeddine, who was once a top-producing LO at Quicken Loans, (now Rocket Mortgage) teaches LOs and other sales professionals how to maximize their own success.

DTRAINING AS A DEVELOPMENT TOOL

ebra Killian, director of Mortgage Education and Training at CLOES.online, and a course instructor and subject matter expert at Dynamic Directions, Inc., a provider of real estate and mortgage education and training, co-founded the Charter Oak Lending Group, LLC, where she originated and closed over $1 billion in residential mortgages.

Killian began teaching real estate continuing education 20 years ago. She recently returned from a cross-country road trip, teaching classes about mortgage finance to trade associations in South Dakota, Louisiana, and Oregon.

“It's a very difficult market to originate in and if you can't get the business, well then you're not going to succeed,” Killian says. “If you get the business and you can't perform to expectations, you won’t make any money in this business.”

When course participants are seeking a certificate of completion for a license, Killian doesn’t use the opportunity to sell her own services. However, the experience alone is enough to plant a seed in hearts and minds. That’s what happened after she taught at the Triple Play Conference in Atlantic City several years ago.

“I can't tell you after the class how many people came up to me and said, do you have a business card? That's the effectiveness of teaching. If it's done well and done right, I think it's a good business generator. I would periodically get calls from people out of the blue. who would say, I took your class and I have a customer and I was wondering if you could help them. There [are] short- and long-term benefits for gaining business.”

Newer LOs should remember that real estate agents are not their only potential referral partner.

“There are a lot of other people out there that have input into the mortgage process,” Killian points out. “CPAs, financial planners, estate planners, real estate attorneys…”

Killian says that one of the first questions she asks a new LO is whether they are business-to-business or businessto-consumer. “Because if you have to go out and find 100 consumers, that's going to take a long time and a lot of effort. But if you can find five people to refer you to 20 consumers, well now you're maximizing your efforts and time,” she elaborated.

A program she wrote called Instruct, trains LOs who have a desire to teach.

“You can’t be brand-spanking new,” Killian said .” You have

to be a competent originator. But for people who've been in the business a year or two and have done a reasonable amount of volume who can develop a level of confidence, which comes from competence, I think it's a very good way to get business.”

As a teacher of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) home finance resource certification class, and writer of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s School of Loan Origination, Killian has seen the strongest LOs keep up with professional development.

“If I could create a degree program for a mortgage originator or a real estate professional, it would include real estate, contract law, finance, math, communications…” she says. “All the stuff that some people get over here and some people get over there, but they all don’t get it all.”

LOs who get into this business for the wrong reason, or with the wrong perspective, will find out soon.

“This seems to be a newer phenomenon to me – people saying, I'm looking for somewhere to hang my license or a sponsor. I want to work remotely. I need somebody to provide leads and training, and I want 200 basis points. You ain't getting that. That's not the way this works,” Killian says. “There is foundational knowledge that every single originator should have, but 85% of them probably don't have it and never get it. They may go and take a webinar here or a seminar there, but they don't have anybody pulling this picture together and connecting the dots.”

Debra Killian, director of Mortgage Education and Training at CLOES.online, and a course instructor and subject matter expert at Dynamic Directions, Inc., a provider of real estate and mortgage education and training.

“I TREAT EVERY LOAN AS IF IT WERE MY OWN, ENSURING THAT THE CLIENT, WHO I OFTEN CONSIDER A FRIEND, IS GETTING THE BEST DEAL THEY CAN AND IS EDUCATED AND EMPOWERED ALONG THE WAY.”

> Amber Stout Custom Rate LO

and have people like me and then that can translate into business.”

What he calls his “training wheels loan” was with a near-perfect file and a borrower who shopped him.

“It came down to me being willing to go to a lower rate, honestly for this deal,” Gonzalez says. “Because it was my first, I was willing to go as low as it took because I just wanted the experience. I didn't care about the money.”

Gonzalez sealed the deal on April 16 and took off from there. “I’ve got another purchase closing this Wednesday, two HELOCs hopefully closing next week, a couple pre-approvals out there,” he told NMP Magazine in mid-May.

Custom Rate LO Amber Stout considers her knowledge of finance and experience as a property investor her LO-armor.

“Since graduating college with a finance degree, I understood the power of wealth creation through real estate and decided to purchase rental properties several years after graduation,” she says. “The benefits of owning properties, particularly the cash flow – gave me the freedom and flexibility to leave my W2 job, solidified my decision to pursue this career. I wanted to help others build wealth through real estate.”

Stout also desired the ability to work from anywhere and build her own business.

“In my opinion, personal growth is essential for business growth, which excites me,” she says. “My education in finance, experience in owning rental properties, extensive network of investors, and past

sales experience have all contributed to my success in this career thus far.”

TO NICHE THEIR OWN

Stout found her niche working with fellow investors, but also first-time homebuyers with an interest in becoming investors someday.

“I think it's crucial for rookie LOs to determine their ideal client and who they are best able to serve,” she says. “This will allow them to learn how to solve that particular client's problems and effectively market to and attract that specific type of client. Most importantly though is being able to provide enormous value to that particular clientele as that will create raving fans and therefore referrals.”

Gonzalez, on the other hand, is sampling a little bit of everything right now.

“I feel like my niche is just gonna be ‘jack of all trades.’ I know that takes a lot of work, research and understanding, but so far at least I’ve been completely open to that and learning everything I can.”

He takes seriously the fact that every borrower is different, and the more information you have about them, the better. A lesson learned quickly after those first few files.

“The experts will tell you something, but they might not say it with a full understanding of the scenario. So my philosophy from now on is going to be trust, but verify,” Gonzalez says. “If I'm asking an AE or an underwriter anything, I'm always gonna verify what they say. That's not to say that anyone does a bad job. It's just the nature of this business. There are so

“IF I MEET SOMEONE AND I KNOW FOR A FACT SOMEHOW THAT THEY WOULD NEVER GIVE ME A DEAL, WOULD I STILL TALK TO THEM AND WOULD I STILL BE WILLING TO HANG OUT WITH THEM? IF THE ANSWER IS YES, THEN THAT'S SOMEONE WHO I WANT TO WORK WITH. BECAUSE IF I GET ALONG WITH THEM ON THE LEVEL WHERE IT DOESN'T HINGE ON A DEAL, THEN HOW CAN A DEAL NOT HAPPEN EVENTUALLY?”

> Hugo Gonzalez

New LO with Equity Smart Home Loans Hugo Gonzalez, during an interview in his previous life as a streaming video star. Gonzalez, a former professional video game player, is now originating for Equity Smart Home Loans.

many details to consider. Not everybody can be 100% right without all the information.”

A first-generation American, Yuen is bilingual in Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese and was able to use his multi-language background to find a niche.

“I remember doing a lot of translation for my parents growing up, which has been so helpful in my mortgage career, helping potential home buyers understand the mortgage process in the Chinese language,” he explains.

That’s invaluable to real estate agents with clients who don’t speak English, and Yuen is becoming accustomed to working with foreign nationals, investors, and borrowers with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs).

“Folks are working one to two jobs a day trying to support their family, whether it be at restaurants, casinos, the service industries…so I'm usually chatting with them during the evenings, sometimes late into the night,” he says. “Maybe they have some family members who are going to help with the gift fund so I'm making sure I adjust my time zones to those in Hong Kong, et cetera. Just being available for them – they can feel that.”

Industry jargon like escrow and title can be confusing to English-speaking people, never mind Englishlanguage learners. “Being that support system, being their advocate, has been very fulfilling. So I'm really grateful to have stumbled upon this career.”

HERE COMES THE SUN

Stout is still practicing speed of delivery with clear-to-close. Securing a client’s documents upfront and correctly setting up their file is key.

“This way, when we have an accepted offer,” she explains, “I may not need any additional documentation, or if I do, it’s very minimal.”

The challenge is understanding every client’s unique needs while getting them the best possible deal to meet those needs.

“I treat every loan as if it were my own, ensuring that the client, who I often consider a friend, is getting the best deal they can and is educated and empowered along the way.”

As Stout puts it, her one-year production goal of $15 million is “audacious.”

“A larger goal allows me to think differently about how I approach business and the decisions I must make to achieve it. I've been in the business for five full months and have closed $3.8 million, so I have quite a ways to go. However, I'm up for the challenge and learning every day how to better serve and add value to my clients and referral partners.”

This job takes a kind of grace that is learned with experience. Unlike Tom and more like Jerry, Yuen and Gonzalez quietly craft a plan of attack. They don’t jump in faces at an open house or another event where potential borrowers are on the loose.

“I try to make sure that my real estate partners are the star of the show, which obviously they are, right? It's their listing, they're trying to meet more people, et cetera,” Yuen says. “Having the ability to read the room and understand when and where to talk about loans, finding those right moments, is critical.”

“I'm not here to make people attending the open house feel awkward as I bombard them with financing facts and business cards,” Gonzalez says. “I'm just hanging out and talking. And once there's a need for financing or questions, we start talking about it.”

He keeps in touch with five or six real estate agents on a regular basis.

“Now they haven't all given me deals, but I have one specific philosophy that I'm hoping I adhere to for the rest of my career: if I meet someone and I know for a fact somehow that they would never give me a deal, would I still talk to them and would I still be willing to hang out with them? If the answer is yes, then that's someone who I want to work with. Because if I get along with them on the level where it doesn't hinge on a deal, then how can a deal not happen eventually?”

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— LaDonna Lockard, CEO

YOUR CAREER IN HIGH GEAR

The Customer (Experience) Is Always Right

Why focusing on service and customer experience may move the needle

BY ERICA LACENTRA | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

TThe mortgage industry is a highly competitive landscape with so many companies and mortgage professionals all vying for the same business. Especially in today’s marketplace when it can be infinitely more challenging to stand out based on rates and terms.

What can mortgage professionals do to differentiate themselves from the competition? It’s time to focus your attention on customer experience. Providing a positive customer experience can not only help mortgage brokers and originators stand out from the crowd, but it can also help drive more business, and not just your next transaction, but long-term recurring business. So, if you haven’t given any thought to what kind of experience you are providing for your clients, there is no better time than the present to focus on this aspect of your business.

HOW IMPORTANT IS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?

When you think about improving how your clients are interacting with you and what your customer experience is like, it’s important to realize how much this encompasses. From the moment a potential client lands on your website to submit that initial inquiry, all the way through closing, and potentially even into servicing, the customer experience refers to the overall impression a client has of your business based on all their interactions with your company. Sure, you may have a general idea

that a positive interaction will drive more transactions and a negative interaction will cause a decrease, but it may be surprising to know just how much of an impact each interaction can have.

When it comes to a positive customer experience, according to a survey by Khoros, a customer engagement software company, “when making a purchase, 83% of customers cited good customer service as their most important criterion for deciding what to buy.” Also, in a separate HubSpot survey, it was found that “68% of consumers say they are willing to pay more for products and services from a brand known to offer good customer service experiences.” Not only are clients seeking out companies with great customer service as a prerequisite of what businesses they will work with, but they are also willing to pay more for a better customer service experience.

The biggest takeaway, however, comes down to customer retention and how much repeat business you could potentially get just based on a positive customer experience. In a Salesforce research study, it was found that “91% of customers say they’re more likely to make another purchase after a great service experience” and “78% of customers would even forgive a company for making a mistake if they received excellent service.”

Focusing on creating a great customer experience can result in not just that first transaction, but the second, and the 10th and even beyond. Plus, it provides a greater sense of security knowing that a client wouldn’t immediately run to a competitor should a mishap

happen. Developing customer loyalty with a positive customer experience can be invaluable to the longterm success of a business.

On the flip side, it’s almost scary to see just how detrimental a negative customer experience can be for your company. In that same survey by Khoros, “65% of customers said they have changed to a different brand because of a poor experience.” You could potentially lose about a third of any repeat business if you aren’t putting customer service first. Even worse still, in a report released by Zendesk, a customer service software provider, “After more than one bad experience, around 80% of consumers say they would rather do business with a competitor.” So, these clients aren’t just stopping business with you, they are purposefully seeking out your competitor for their next deal. With every bad experience you provide, you are essentially sending your clients right over to your competition.

Plus, as most of us in the mortgage industry know, word of mouth is extremely powerful. It won’t just be that one unhappy customer yelling into the void about a bad experience. “A customer who is dissatisfied will tell

between 9-15 people about their experience, with over one in 10 telling 20 people about their bad experience.” That wronged customer is likely going to tell their colleagues and other industry professionals, spreading the word of the negative experience like wildfire, and further damaging your company’s reputation. Save yourself the headache of trying to do damage control and focus on creating that great customer experience from the start.

SAVE FACE & STAND OUT

In today’s highly competitive mortgage industry, it is no longer just about rates and terms. Focusing on the customer experience will give your business the edge it needs to thrive amongst the competition. Businesses that prioritize a positive customer experience can expect increased loyalty, repeat business, and overall higher satisfaction. So, if you are looking for ways to stand out in a sea of competitors, focus on prioritizing your customer experience for more business and longterm success.

Erica LaCentra is chief marketing officer for RCN Capital.

BURROW INTO BORROWERS’

Getting insight into borrowers' needs builds better relationships and more closings

BY SARAH WOLAK | STAFF WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

In the complex world of lending and borrowing, loan officers play a crucial role in facilitating successful financial transactions and helping borrowers sail through the experience as smoothly as possible. As borrowers navigate the loan application process, they often have specific expectations from their loan officers — especially in the current purchase market. Understanding these expectations can help loan officers provide the service needed to make borrowers feel at ease during the largest financial transaction of their lives.

Albeit a bump in consumer optimism, according to a Fannie Mae housing survey, customers are still weary when it comes to home buying and borrowing. The report noted that “affordability constraints continue to hinder overall homebuying sentiment, with only 23% of respondents indicating it’s a good time to buy a home.”

According to ICE Mortgage Technology’s “What do borrowers want?” e-book, consumers are most looking for flexible loan options, to have a lender who creates a “tailored experience,” and help understanding what options are available to them when it comes to what they can afford.

But it doesn’t stop at affordability concerns. Borrowers are facing a mixed bag of emotions as they navigate inflation and economic volatility while trying to successfully put an offer in on a home. Loan officers then take on the role of being a default handyman when it comes to ensuring that a borrower’s process goes smoothly. But borrowers have their own laundry lists of preconceived notions as to how their loan processes should go.

CONNECTION OVER TRANSACTION

Take Josh Welch for example. Welch bought a house at the tail end of 2020 when they were flying off the shelves. U.S. housing gained about $2.5 trillion in value in 2020, and Welch took a risk by competing for his Connecticut home. He went through Freedom Credit Union — based in Springfield, Mass., — and used a loan officer named Lisa Mish. “She’s actually a colleague of my father’s,” Welch explained. “I chose to work with that

credit union because they don’t sell off mortgages to a third party, so I knew who would have insight into my mortgage file at all times.”

Welch said that despite the tumultuous market, Mish was responsive and proactive, especially when it came to putting in offers. “Keep in mind that it was still pandemic times, where if you saw and liked a house you needed to put in an offer on the same day,” Welch said. “Lisa was on top of helping us with letters of intent to each of the offers we made. And she was awesome with helping me get a new preapproval when I changed jobs during the process.”

Welch says that he looked at 12 homes and put in an offer on four. He said each separate offer was an emotional process and he was devastated when the third house he put an offer in on had sold. “It’s so easy to get discouraged,” he said. “Even though the mortgage process itself was straightforward, buying was incredibly difficult and stressful.”

Welch said that even though Mish was swamped with other borrowers, she always made his loan feel important. “I would 100% go back to her if I bought another house today, I wouldn’t do anything differently,” Welch affirmed. “Nowadays mortgages are online and don’t have relationships. But with Lisa, it’s now a lifelong connection instead of a transactional relationship.”

that both of their companies participated in. “Growing up in a small town community is everything. I chose Jason Verraneault and NorthStar because I recognized their brand from contributing to community events that my employer was also involved in,” she explained. “Every time I ran across Jason and his team they carried themselves with such poise and professionalism [and] I knew I wanted to work with them when I started looking into real estate.”

“Nowadays mortgages are online and don’t have relationships. But with [my LO], it’s now a lifelong connection instead of a transactional relationship.”

> Josh Welch Homebuyer

Mish says that making time for Welch’s loan was difficult but not impossible. “At the time I worked with Josh, I had 50 loans in my pipeline,” she said. “I stayed up often til 2 or 3 in the morning just making sure my customers were comfortable and secure. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling burnt out then — everyone was.”

FIRST-TIME BORROWER

For a newcomer to the housing market, buying a house is a stressor on its own. But securing a mortgage — especially as a young adult — is an entirely different playing field. Nicole LaRose, a native of Eastern Connecticut, decided to pursue an investment property purchase at just 22 years old. LaRose works at a local manufacturer and says that she met NorthStar Home Loan’s owner through community events

LaRose said that her mortgage experience was a “breeze” and easy on her end after the initial steps of filling out a preapproval. “I applied for preapproval online and a team member from NorthStar reached out to me right away telling me exactly what they needed,” she said. “I felt like a lot of the work was taken off my hands and I was never left guessing. After I was under contract, my loan company did all the work behind the scenes and I rarely had to get involved, which was nice because there were other factors of the purchase that needed my full attention like what I needed to flip the property.”

But what she found was that NorthStar’s connections also came with her mortgage. “I’d say the familiarity between my loan company, Realtor, and contractor made the transaction so much easier. Going back to the small town aspect, my Realtor and contractor actually knew Jason from NorthStar and they had worked together multiple times,” she said. “It was like I had drafted a team of professionals that seamlessly worked together to help me succeed.”

LaRose’s loan was unconventional, too, which was why it was crucial that her transaction went smoothly. She applied for a HUD 203(k) loan which, according to HUD’s website, “enables homebuyers and homeowners to finance both the purchase (or refinancing) of a house and the cost of its rehabilitation through a single mortgage, or to finance the rehabilitation of their existing home.”

But LaRose said that if there was any difficulty with handling that loan, the NorthStar team didn’t seem to show it. “In my situation, the window of time between going under contract and closing was nearly three months, at no fault of my loan company,” she said. “This was a trying time for everyone involved but the NorthStar team never gave up and stayed persistent with me.”

HANDLING UNIQUE DEALS

Jason Verranealt, LaRose’s loan officer, says that LaRose’s loan situation was a unique one that his team helped her navigate at the littlest cost possible. “She found a HUD-owned property, which means that the previous owner had an FHA loan and defaulted on that,” Verraneault explained. “HUD has a $100 down program instead of the normal 3.5% down payment, and we piggybacked that with a 203K loan for all the rehab and renovations.”

Verraneault says that with any customer, North Star’s goal is to get through all the tough paperwork and documentation at the beginning. “We also try and

touch base with the realtors and the customer at least once a week for updates, even if the update is that things are still going smoothly,” he said. “We even invested in tech that sends automatic text updates during loan milestones such as when the appraisal goes through. It gives our customers peace of mind.”

For Mish, irregular loan or not, every borrower she works with wants the same traits out of her. “A customer’s main need is really knowing every step of their loan,” she said. “Whether it’s in the appraisal process or in underwriting, they want communication and more than that, they want to close the deal.”

“I saw it change my life and it made me go all in.”

Minh Nguyen

What’s A Mortgage Co-founder & Partner

MORTGAGE INFLUENCERS:

Three Common Mistakes

BY KATIE JENSEN | STAFF WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

Converting clicks to leads and leads to funded loans is the entire point of social selling, but sources say it takes more than good content to get borrowers across the finish line. If an originator has been consistently putting out content but not generating leads, they need to take a step back and ask themselves what problems need to be addressed.

Is my content going to the right audience?

Content needs to reach an originator’s target borrowers. If the originator is licensed in multiple states, it’s wise to make content involving those specific states so that borrowers in those states are directed to those videos, Nguyen said. Using hashtags and keywords in the video description – #California if that’s where the originator

is licensed, or #FHA if that’s the borrower demographic – also helps refine content.

The creator’s choice of platform may be another reason for not building enough leads.

“TikTok is where you find all your content because they build out like more of a Google version of finding content. Instagram’s more hashtags,” Nguyen said. And, stop using LinkedIn for consumer-targeted content, he added. “LinkedIn’s more for brand building… but you’re not gonna get the business that you want to get out of it.”

Many people assume to know what the audience demographic is for each app, like Gen Z uses TikTok, millennials like Instagram, and older generations prefer Facebook. Those user trends are generally true, but it’s not the whole picture. Faulty assumptions mean missed opportunities, as Phillips learned when she first started

posting content. Originally, she thought TikTok was for kids.

“I’ve had borrowers in their, you know, fifties, sixties — I think even one in her seventies — that found me through TikTok. So, you know, I was totally wrong,” Phillips said. “I was really surprised at the range of ages that I ended up attracting.”

Informing Phillip’s assumptions now is the fact that, since the pandemic, TikTok has expanded its footprint to reach a much broader audience of consumers.

Am I making magnet content and anchor content?

Magnet content, Nguyen explained, attracts people to influencers’ videos and channels. Anchor content, meanwhile, gets the audience to stay and interact with your page for a while. Without a balance between the two, originators may see their social strategy stagnate.

“They’re all doing anchoring content,” Nguyen said. “So the platform is not finding them a new audience.”

Overall, mortgage is not a sexy topic. And yet, originators’ videos compete for views with every other video on their chosen platform, including funny cat videos, celebrity gossip, and breaking news from around the world. How can mortgage videos be equally magnetic?

Nguyen recommends making short form content — 15 or 20 second long videos. Do memes, duets, or stitches (see graphic) about anything mortgage and real estate related.

DEFINITIONS

Duet:

Duet allows you to post your video sideby-side with a video from another creator on TikTok. You must have a public account to allow others to Duet with your videos.

Meme:

Most people know what image memes are, but what are audio memes?

Essentially, they are trending sounds on TikTok that people add their own video to, like the “It’s Corn” song or the “Oh no” song to signal something bad is about to happen.

“Unless you are this amazing presenter, like the real Wayne Turner or the mortgage kitchen, you’re not God’s gift to real estate mortgage. So do trends,” Nguyen said. “Don’t do all these talking videos… Do all the easy content that doesn’t even require you even being in the video.”

Anchor content is where the real substance lies, though. For this type of content, creators may discuss industry insights and provide advice to homebuyers. Creators may answer questions like: Should I use a broker? What’s an FHA 203K loan? What is The Fed doing? How do I get a lower mortgage payment in today’s market?

Are my videos aesthetically pleasing?

Mortgage professionals know that when they’re meeting a client or associate, they need to look nice. The same rule applies for video content. Some creators dress and act more casually online than they do inperson, which is okay, but the video should have some aesthetic appeal.

The location where the video is recorded should have good lighting and a pleasant-looking background. Avoid having anything in the video that may distract the audience. Don’t get too fancy with your editing, warned Phillips.

“I see a handful of loan officers or mortgage brokers put out content that is super edited to where it looks really aesthetically pleasing, but it is not connecting with the viewer because it looks too overproduced,” Phillips said.

Stitch:

This is a creation tool that allows you to combine another video on TikTok with one you’re creating. If you allow another person to Stitch with your video, they can use a part of your video as a part of their own video.

Phillips said she’s made a few videos like that herself, but they didn’t get a lot of engagement. So, what’s the point of putting in all that effort?

Having great visuals is especially important when posting to Instagram, Nguyen said, whereas TikTok is more audio based.

Visuals also include captions, which can help users find your video if they identify or show interest with those key terms, such as FHA, DPAs, or first time homebuyers.

“So when you talk on TikTok and on Instagram too, if you put it in the captions and then the description, you’re telling Instagram and TikTok what you want,” Nguyen said.

Financial Literacy Mentor

Educating borrowers has potential to pay dividends down the road

BY MARY KAY SCULLY | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

WMary Kay Scully is the Director of Customer Education at Enact, leading the development of the company’s customer education curriculum.

We are living in the most connected era of human history. Nearly everyone has access to all the information they could ever want or need on the internet via smart phones or laptops. Despite this, there is still a significant need for greater financial literacy among today’s adults.

Look at the P-Fin Index, for example. An annual barometer of financial literacy among U.S. adults, the index includes 28 questions that examine eight functional areas of financial knowledge, including borrowing and saving. The 2023 survey found that, on average, U.S. adults correctly answered only 48% of the study’s index questions and that Gen Z, followed by Gen Y (often referred to as millennials) performed worst, answering only 38% and 45% of questions correctly respectively.

With the average age of a first-time homebuyer falling squarely in the millennial age range, according to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), loan officers have to be prepared to fill the gaps in their firsttime home buyers’ financial knowledge.

WHY IT MATTERS

Greater financial literacy is, understandably, linked to greater financial well-being. In the 2023 P-Fin study, respondents with a very high level of financial literacy consistently had better financial well-being than respondents with a very low level of financial literacy. In fact, those with a very low level of financial literacy

were found to be more than four times as likely to have difficulty making ends meet, nearly three times as likely to be debt constrained, and more than four times as likely to lack emergency savings sufficient to cover one month of living expenses. With greater financial literacy and greater financial well-being, homebuyers are better positioned for sustainable homeownership.

THE NEED FOR SMES

Buying a home is often the largest financial decision of someone’s lifetime. First-time homebuyers, especially, need someone who is educated and confident and can support them through the homebuying journey. Some younger first-time buyers may lean on their parents or another trusted source, while others do not have that luxury.

Spending so much money is daunting and borrowers want to be sure they are making the best financial decision. It’s important that no one assumes their borrowers are entering the mortgage process with all the knowledge they need. Even if they’ve bought a home before, they may still have gaps in their understanding of the mortgage process. It’s a critical skill to be able to assess the borrower’s financial knowledge and help to fill any gaps to ensure their homebuyers are fully educated about the process and the financial commitment they are making.

WHAT LOAN OFFICERS CAN — AND SHOULD — DO

Loan officers (LOs) can, and should, be the expert that buyers need. The loan origination process is more

than just taking an application, it’s being a guide and a resource throughout the homebuying journey. LOs need to be able to educate buyers about all aspects of the mortgage process, including the different loan products available, expectations for down payments and closing costs, earnest money and escrow, credit scores and their impact, mortgage insurance, and the list could go on.

Homebuyer education courses and resources are a

additional loans or when it is time to buy another home. Additionally, borrowers that have a trusting relationship have greater potential to refer their friends or family who also need some additional education during the homebuying process.

LOs serve a critical role not just in getting borrowers into homes, but helping them make well-informed financial decisions during the process. Serving as a subject matter

Every borrower needs someone that can answer their questions and talk through decisions with them.

critical tool, but loan officers should be prepared to assist their borrowers, as well. Every borrower needs someone that can answer their questions and talk through decisions with them.

The time that LOs take to educate borrowers has potential to pay dividends down the road. By serving as a subject matter expert and trusted resource, LOs are not only helping the buyer make an informed financial decision, but they are building a relationship. If the buyer sees their LO as a valuable resource and financial mentor, they can be more likely to come back when they need

expert and trusted advisor can assist borrowers of all ages and financial backgrounds. According to Vince Shorb, the CEO of National Financial Educators Council (NFEC), “Most college graduates spend close to 16 years developing skills that will allow them to get a high-paying salary. However, these people typically spend little to no time learning how to save and invest their money.”

Financial comprehension is key for loan officers who want to succeed and see their borrowers do the same. And it’s a critical component of helping your homebuyers attain sustainable homeownership.

WHAT I WISH

I KNEW

Masters of the mortgage industry learned the hard way—so you don’t have to.

BY SARAH WOLAK | STAFF WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

WWe’ve all heard the age-old quote: “If I only knew then what I know now…” Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and it’s easier said than done to offer sage wisdom after becoming seasoned—or just being naturally gifted—at a hobby or career.

The mortgage industry is like a roller coaster – thrilling, unpredictable, and sometimes stomach-churning. But with the right advice from those who've been around the track a few times, you can enjoy the ride and avoid the pitfalls. Here’s what seasoned mortgage pros wish they’d known when they first strapped in, put their hands in the air, and embraced the ride.

COMMUNICATION AND FLEXIBILITY

Anthony O. Kellum is the CEO of Kellum Mortgage, LLC., a brokerage based in Roseville, Michigan. Kellum says that after 34 years in the mortgage business, a lot has changed since his first day at the job in the early 1990s. “I didn’t know the mortgage would be so tenuous, with constant changes and fluctuations,” Kellum said. “I didn’t realize people would prefer technology over in-person origination, which has significantly shifted how we conduct business.”

O. Kellum CEO of Kellum Mortgage, LLC

Given the rise of social media and digital transactions, Kellum says that a lot of his success has to do with flexibility. “I wish I understood the importance of adaptability and staying updated with industry trends, [that] would have been incredibly beneficial,” he added. Kellum also credited his people skills as something the younger him wished he knew. “Building strong relationships and networks within the industry is crucial for long-term success,” he said.

Ross Bahro, CEO and co-founder of Troy, Michigan-based Impact Loans, is newer to the game with just eight years of experience tucked under his belt. But he gave advice akin to Kellum’s: “In my first year in this field, I wish I had understood how important it is to maintain great relationships with my customers,” Bahro admitted. “You can build a strong business when your customers trust you and you know you are ‘their guy’ for life.”

Bahro also added that a lot of what makes a good loan officer is good communication. “Taking ownership in follow-up and consistent communication after the file is closed is a game changer,” he elaborated.

Pablo Martinez, CEO and broker of EquitySmart Home Loans said that after 26 years in the business he cannot stress enough how important it is to be a people person. He also

Anthony

recommended two ways to be a better people person to grow business and keep customers happy. “[I’d recommend] technology shortcuts and using online tools to grow your business,” he said. “Also, using Rapid Rescores to help customers improve their credit scores.”

Liria Palacio, a loan officer with Sun West Mortgage Company knows that after only four years in the mortgage industry the value of commitment and relatability. “When you are really committed and love what you do as an MLO, you won't regret spending hours on the phone providing quality information for your borrowers. If you do a professional job, it doesn't matter if your leads are not mortgage-ready, they will call you back when ready,” Palacio said.

DISCIPLINE

In a demanding career and industry, many respondents listed discipline as a core value they wish they had picked up sooner. Shant Banosian, EVP of Sales at Guaranteed Rate, has been a part of the mortgage biz for 20 years. Banosian said there’s no magic recipe for success or knowledge in the originating field. “Having success in the long term is all about commitment, discipline, and consistency,” said Guaranteed Rate's #1 Loan Officer eight years and counting. “There [are] no secret weapons, shortcuts, or magic that will create success, its all about your dedication to the business and your clients/partners.”

Blake Bianchi, CEO of Future Mortgage, has 10 years in the game. He echoed Banosian’s sentiment, saying “If there's one thing, I wish I knew back then, it would be the importance of hiring an accountability coach right from the start, like the CORE. Succeeding as a Loan Officer demands rigorous discipline and training.”

Bianchi added that in order to find success, one must become “obsessed” with their craft and align themselves with others who have achieved greatness.

“Many loan officers I meet work limited hours, avoiding evenings and weekends, precisely when business is happening. To excel, you must out-hustle and out-market your competition consistently,” he said.

Ross Bahro Impact Loans CEO and co-founder

Erica LaCentra RCN Capital Chief Marketing Officer

Sean Zalmanoff Better Rate Mortgage CEO and Chief Loan Officer

Blake Bianchi, Chief Executive Officer and founder at Futuremortgage.com, has been in the industry for 10 years, working his way up from his early days as a production partner at Caliber Home Loans.

“Finding a lender to work with that offers highly competitive pricing is crucial because consumers prioritize this, and you lack the knowledge of more experienced loan officers. Without the experience, competitive pricing combined with hustle increases your chances of earning referrals significantly.”

KNOW THYSELF

Admitting that you don’t know all the answers is a tough blow to the ego, but a necessary one to find success. Erica LaCentra, RCN Capital’s Chief Marketing Officer, has learned about the mortgage business over the past 11 years the unconventional way: through marketing efforts. “You won’t know it all and you will have A TON of questions during your first year in this industry and that is okay! The mortgage industry can be extremely complex, nuanced and frankly overwhelming when you’re first starting out,” LaCentra admitted. “You cannot expect to be an expert off the bat. It’s okay to say you don’t understand and ask for help. Frankly, I’d say ask as many questions as possible and pick other industry veterans’ brains as much as possible.”

LaCentra argues that admitting you don’t know isn’t embarrassing, it’s empowering. “Not knowing isn’t a sign of weakness and not asking questions will hurt you and stunt your ability to grow,” she said.

Pavan Agarwal shared a similar sentiment. The CEO of SunWest Mortgage Co., Agarwal started in the business in his early adolescent years alongside his father, Hari. “Your biggest enemy is your ego and your pride,” Agarwal shared. “Be patient, and like Joan Jett said, the destination is unknown.”

With the mortgage business being extremely focused on compliance and structure, Sean Zalmanoff stressed how important it is to not lose your values or sense of self. The CEO and chief loan officer at Better Rate Mortgage commented, “The #1 thing every loan officer needs to know is to be themselves. There are 100,000s of people who need your services, don’t worry about trying to be someone you’re not to appease everyone, you’ll miss out on finding your tribe.”

Zalmanoff, who has been in the industry for 22 years, recommended taking the friendly route.

“Be that person when you talk to people, when you meet them and on social media and you’ll make more friends, after all the person with the most friends in the industry wins the most business,” he said.

Mauro Guzzo, the owner of Guzzo & Co. who has been in the mortgage space since 2018, agrees with the sentiment of trusting yourself and retaining a sense of self above all. “I would change the people [who] surrounded me at the beginning and those who I trusted when I started,” he commented. “I would be wiser with my choices, and invested much less in physical things and more in marketing.”

“Your biggest enemy is your ego and your pride. Be patient, and like Joan Jett said, the destination is unknown.”

> Pavan Agarwal CEO of SunWest Mortgage Company

Your Network Is Your Net Worth

Use social capital to climb the ladder of success

BY DR. VANESSA MONTAÑEZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

Have you ever heard of the saying,

“Your network is your net worth?”

This is a common saying that many of us take for granted because we do not feel it applies to us as women. I firmly believe that using social capital is critical for women’s career success. In a male-dominated work environment, women tend to have fewer and weaker connections than men in the dominant coalitions that provide essential resources and opportunities for top executive positions.

While men use “networking, ingratiation, and self-promotion strategies” (Val Singh et al. 77) to further their careers, women, to their detriment, “prefer to rely on extra high performance and commitment for visibility to their seniors” (Val Singh et al. 77). Women need to cultivate relationships at work and use social capital to climb the ladder of success.

Social capital has gained popularity in business and leadership for the past few decades. Using social capital provides a return on investment through social relations. In addition, there is a benefit from networks or belonging to a membership of sorts. Social networks are valuable to those who belong to them because they provide a return on investment. Roberts (2013) explained,

“High levels of social capital have been shown to have a positive impact on multiple facets of organizational life, including individual career success, compensation and placement, employee recruitment and retention, team effectiveness, interdepartmental resource exchange, product innovation, and entrepreneurship, as well as external relationships with suppliers, regional production networks and other firms” (Roberts 54).

Social capital is made up of nodes connected by a set of ties. Nodes are connected by ties. This creates a network between two individuals.

As more individuals convene, the network expands. Social capital is a structure of how leaders and followers interact and how relationships evolve within the individuals. Some structures are better than others. The ideal structure of social capital is open and diverse.

Within the social capital structure, the network or group must be an open platform where anyone can join. For example, a woman who wishes to join an organization, network, or group to grow her social capital should be allowed to join. Also, the individual or members of the network should be

diverse, from different age groups, ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds. A diverse organization provides the diversity of thought and ideas.

Where the individuals meet or connect is called a network. The network is the structure of social capital. A network is a group of interconnected individuals. Social interaction is essential to an individual because the greater the number of contacts, the more likely the individual network grows. Individuals can use their networks for personal or professional use, gain access to information, create awareness, influence, or possibly find employment. Social networks are an ongoing process and “provide another avenue for turning resources into capital” (Lin 192). Networks take time to cultivate and grow trust. Keele (1986) defined networks as being composed of weak social ties, exchanging information, and providing support.

Networks enhance the social position and contacts of the individual based on their position and influence. Furthermore, there is a common phrase, “it is not what you know, but whom you know.” The power of networking and building one’s social capital can create benefits. For instance, networks support women’s integration into a male-dominated culture while giving them an opportunity for shared powers and confidence to advocate and act for organizational change.

ERGs & MASTERMINDS

Women must join organizations to grow their networks, contacts, and career advancements. For those women that work in large companies, I encourage you to join a business resource group (BRG) or employee resource group (ERG). Employee resources groups are an employee-led group that fosters inclusivity and builds internal community. Typically, ERG provides personal and professional support to its members. ERGs are meant to be supportive rather than exclusive.

Most ERGs are based on volunteers and support organizers with opportunities to create events, educational classes, and networking. For example, you are a woman loan officer who just started at a large bank. The bank has several thousand employees whom you do not know. You only have met your team of ten but not the other departments of the bank. You are a small fish in the immense ocean. How do you venture out safely to meet other team members? You join the women’s ERG. You want to meet other women team members from the bank. Not only do you meet other like-minded professional women but you meet potential new clients. As you grow your lending career, you must grow your networks. Joining an ERG is one solution to meeting others in your organization.

Another option, if you work for a small organization and do not have the resources, is to start your mastermind group of women. A mastermind group is a term coined by the infamous Napoleon Hill. Creating a mastermind group comprises people (usually six to eight) who come together regularly — weekly, biweekly, and monthly to share ideas, thoughts, information, resources, feedback, and contacts. Imagine creating a loose group of leaders you meet regularly for problem-solving, career advancement, brainstorming, networking, or motivating each other, holding each other accountable, and taking action for your goals.

A mastermind group can be composed of people in your industry or profession

— or individuals from different walks of life. The choice is yours — just ensure the group is diverse in thoughts and individuals. It can focus on business, personal issues, or both. Nevertheless, for the mastermind group to be influential, those in the group need to be honest and comfortable enough to receive feedback for growth to develop. Therefore, I encourage you to join an ERG or Mastermind group to further your career.

VALIDATE YOUR NETWORK

Networks are at the core of social capital — leaders grow their networks because of their relationships with others. Beyond the size of the network, one needs to validate the quality and structure of the network. First, is the network open, which means there is structural diversity in the network where the members do not all know each other. Second, networks need to be diverse. Wilburn and CullenLester explained that “Much of the work of leadership involves working across vertical, horizontal, stakeholder, demographic, and geographic boundaries for a group and organizational success” (Center for Creative Leadership et al. 3). Next, networks are profound and leaders who build profound and quality networks are more likely to share and exchange information, resources, and services with actors from varied backgrounds. Finally, women use networking as a tool to grow their social capital.

Research shows that those with more connections and networks get more job opportunities. As a result, they get promoted faster, making more money. They are seen as top talent within their organizations. However, it can be challenging for women to network. Networking is vital for a woman to participate in. In networks, the exchange of information, collaboration, development alliances, attainment of knowledge, visibility, and encouragement are part of a network’s dynamics. (Margaret Linehan and Hugh Scullion)

However, some networks are challenging to penetrate. “Women who have been largely excluded from the informal network, which are traditionally composed of men, cite the existence of the ‘old boy’ network as a primary reason why women are ignored and indeed discouraged from seeking top management positions.” Women traditionally have been excluded from male outings, which are part of

References:

Center for Creative Leadership, et al. A Leader’s Network: How to Help Your Talent Invest in the Right Relationships at the Right Time. Center for Creative Leadership, May 2014. DOI.org (Crossref) https://doi. org/10.35613/ccl.2014.1056

the “old boy” networks, such as golfing, sports activities, hunting, fishing, cigar-smoking, athletic clubs, adult clubs, and drinking. “The negative effects of these covert barriers included blocked promotions and career development, discrimination, occupational stress, and lower salaries” (Margaret Linehan & Hugh Scullion, 2008, p. 35).

Not all exclusions are because of the “old boy” networks. According to Parker and Welch (2013), women were less likely to connect with people with power and authority. Women have fewer connections and networks because they are less assimilated in male-dominated networks where men are in closely held positions of command and influence. “Even where women have few conflicts, they can be hampered in the acquisition of social capital through exclusions from informal male networks”(Fitzsimmons and Callan 361).

DOMESTIC RESTRAINTS

Many constraints of women are also based on additional domestic commitments that interfere when networking events take place. Most networking events occur after working hours, and some women do not have the time to socialize and attend networking events. “Women may not have the same access to social networks as men, Eagly and Carli theorize, because they take on a disproportionate amount of family duties” (Weiss 5). Some findings suggested that as female networks become more robust and have more power, more females will reach senior positions with their organizations.

One’s network is one of the most competitive tools for career advancements and breaking the glass ceiling. As women, we need to attend networking events that advance our careers. Who is attending? What is the function or event about? What is your purpose for attending? Is there someone you would like to meet? Is the speaker or event relevant to your career? Successful women also put a lot more structure in their day, being proactive with their time, calls, events, and goals. For instance, they set aside time for reflection. That’s when you are envisioning new ideas, goals, and managing your networks and reaching out to relationships that you may have lost contact with. Maintaining authentic relationships is key as your network grows. Remember, your network is your net worth!

Fitzsimmons, Terrance W., and Victor J. Callan. “CEO Selection: A Capital Perspective.” The Leadership Quarterly, vol. 27, no. 5, 5, Oct. 2016, pp. 765–87. ScienceDirect https://doi.org/10.1016/j. leaqua.2016.05.001

Lin, Nan. Social Capital : A Theory of Social Structure and Action Cambridge University Press, 2001. EBSCOhost, http:// search.ebscohost.com/login. aspx?direct=true&AuthType= sso&db=nlebk&AN=74320&sit e=eds-live&scope=site&custid =s8865349

Margaret Linehan and Hugh Scullion. “The Development of Female Global Managers: The Role of Mentoring and Networking.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 83, no. 1, 1, 2008, p. 29. EBSCOhost https:// doi.org/10.1007/s10551-0079657-0

Whose side are you on?

Choose your player and watch Vincent Valvo and Andrew Berman duke it out about today’s top mortgage topics. Watch it on YouTube, or subscribe to the NMP Daily to get new episodes delivered to your inbox every week. Go to nmplink.com/daily to sign up.

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Natural Born FIGHTER

Talita

Guerrero:

a self-made entrepreneur who made it under demanding circumstances

BY KATIE JENSEN | STAFF WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

Most CEOs of mortgage companies are likely feeling queasy right about now, dealing with all the ups and downs of the industry. Talita Guerrero, who has dealt with hardships all her life, isn’t sweating it, though.

Having a premature baby at 15, launching a mortgage career in the midst of a recession (just after buying her first home), and working two jobs with two kids, while going to college full time, imbues a “never say die attitude” most CEOs just can’t comprehend.

Co-founder and owner of Right Key Mortgage, Guerrero, is a woman of many talents. Aside from being a business owner, she’s also a mother of two, a podcaster, an author, and a member of the Forbes Boston Business Council. She has a laundry list of accomplishments that would strike you breathless if said out loud, but getting here wasn’t easy. In fact, she’d likely tell you it was damn near impossible, but by sheer determination, she made it happen.

GROWING UP QUICK

At 12 years old, Guerrero, her two sisters, and parents immigrated to America from Brazil, looking for a better life with stable jobs and a good education for the children. But, as most immigrants come to learn, the American Dream doesn’t come easily, if at all.

Guerrero’s childhood was tough; her parents moved around frequently and worked tirelessly. At the time, she didn’t quite understand why her parents weren’t around, but said she later realized they were trying their best to build a brighter future. Her mother and father each worked three to four jobs, which didn’t leave them much time to be parents.

So at the ripe age of 13, Guerrero moved in with her older sister and pretty much had to take care of herself. Without the supervision of her parents, she did what any 13-year-old girl would do if they were left to their own devices: she rebelled.

I took lemons and really made lemonade out of that awful time.

Talita Guerrero Co-founder and owner

Right Key Mortgage

Those days of partying, dating, and carelessly getting in trouble did not last long, though, because two years later Guerrero’s childhood came to an abrupt end. At 15 years old she found out she was pregnant.

“I was seeing a guy who worked at the same restaurant I was, and we weren’t even really dating or anything. I was just a really rebellious teenager,” Guerrero said. “At 15, I wasn’t living with my parents. I thought I was mature and ready to be an adult, but really I had no idea.”

Living in a dilapidated duplex, Guerrero thought there was no way she could afford to have a baby. She made an appointment for an abortion, but canceled it the day before. The father of her child (who is still a close friend) and her family supported her decision to keep the child.

During that time she thought everything would go smoothly. She dropped out of high school the day after she turned 16, thinking she’d start working early and be able to provide for her child.

“You have to understand, I was a child,” Guerrero said. But in a short amount of time, she truly learned what it meant to be an adult.

said she responds with this moment. The moment she knew everything had to change.

Luckily, Guerrero’s son made it. He’s now a perfectly healthy young man, who recently bought his own investment property.

A NEW WORLD

Guerrero had to play catch-up quickly. Regardless of how rebellious her teen years were, she knew how to work hard.

A year after giving birth, Guerrero’s baby was healthier and she decided to open a cleaning business at 17 years old. In her community people didn’t follow their passions but did what they could to survive. Plenty of adults in her area worked as cleaners, so she could learn how to do it easily and how to get clients.

Only 26 weeks into her pregnancy, Guerrero went into her doctor’s office for what she thought would be a mundane visit. But the doctor had other news: she was dilated and going into premature labor.

“I thought I was gonna have a perfectly fine baby, and he was just going to be small. I just really had no idea what it was in for,” Guerrero said. “My baby weighed only two pounds when he was born, and was in the intensive care unit for three months. The doctor said he had a 50% chance of making it.”

During that first week, her baby needed a blood transfusion, and nearly died.

“That’s when it really clicked,” Guerrero said. When people ask why she got into this industry, Guerrero

“I always had this entrepreneur mindset,” Guerrero said. “I was very creative and I’ve always been a really hard worker.”

Naturally, her business took off, but it wasn’t enough to support her small family. One year later, Guerrero got a job that completely turned her life around; she was given the opportunity to work for a local mortgage company in Hyannis, Massachusetts, that needed a Portuguese loan originator.

Suddenly, Guerrero had stepped outside the bubble of her community and into a new world of suits, ties, and money. These people had a different way of accumulating wealth. They had assets instead of three or four jobs. She needed to take full advantage of this opportunity and soak in all the knowledge she could.

“I felt like I was given a chance,” Guerrero said. “Like I could do something with my life because my whole environment changed.”

Talita Guerrero with her son, Kalvin Saade, and daughter, Kylie Guerrero. after her birth in Boston, MA.

Because of her relentless work ethic and desire to learn everything she could about this industry, Guerrero saved up enough money to buy her first home in Cape Cod that year. The market had a phenomenal year, Guerrero was making more money than she ever did, and she was now able to afford a home … but the road to success is winding, and Guerrero’s life was about to hit a sharp curve.

“It was right before the crash,” she said. “I had a really good year and then the market completely tanked.”

The beauty of that time, Guerrero said, was that it forced her to take on new roles and learn even more about the mortgage industry. She balanced multiple jobs, including being a processor, an operations manager, a loan officer, and even took jobs outside the industry, like waitressing, to make ends meet.

Although Guerrero was learning so much from her new roles, she couldn’t help but feel like her life was falling in reverse. But she kept her eyes open, studying what everyone else was doing, and discovered yet another opportunity. She asked herself, why are all these Realtors buying up foreclosures and short sales? As a processor, many of her clients were starting to do this as well. What was she missing?

HUSTLING WITH A PURPOSE

By the time the market started to come back, Guerrero was 21 years old; she had a son, a daughter, and a whole new game plan. She went back to school full time at UMass’s business program, and began a real estate investing career by buying foreclosures.

“I took lemons and really made lemonade out of that awful time,” Guerrero said.

The first foreclosure she bought while the market was still down was later short sold — she didn’t make a profit but didn’t

Talita Guerrero and her son, Kalvin Saade, spending a weekend at her Killington, VT Airbnb rental.

Talita Guerrero with her daughter Kylie and boyfriend, Andrew Cook, in Scottsdale, AZ during the recording of the first season of her podcast Você Podcast, which she co-hosts with Andrea Baldini (not pictured).

lose money either. Then, she became close to a Realtor she was processing loans for and learned how to invest more strategically. In 2011, she bought a $210,000 single family home with about 1,900 square feet close to Boston. Guerrero and her two kids slept on an air mattress for three months while the renovations were being done. Two years later (because as every investor knows, that’s how you avoid capital gains tax) she sold it and made $180,000 in profit. It was enough to put a down payment on two more properties.

“That’s when I started to get really hungry,” Guerrero said.

Guerrero bought a two-family home in Saugus, Mass., and then a single family house on Cape Cod. The Cape house needed a lot of work, so on top of being a loan originator and going to school full time, Guerrero started to work at a diner on the weekends. She would wake up at four o’clock, be at the diner by 5 a.m. and work until 3 p.m., allowing her to make an additional $700 a week.

“That really set me up for my future because nothing seems that challenging now,” Guerrero said.

From there, Guerrero’s investments kept on multiplying and doing very well; meanwhile, she was excelling in her mortgage career as well. By the time she was 27 years old she was a self-made millionaire.

“I was really getting ahead,” Guerrero said. “I always had this whole attitude of always wanting to help my community because I was so clueless when I first started, and I saw what information and knowledge did to me. It transformed my life.”

PAYING IT FORWARD

In 2016, Guerrero decided to start her own company, Right Key Mortgage, focused on educating the Brazilian community she came from by helping them buy their first homes. The minute she graduated UMass she drafted a business plan, filed the necessary paperwork, earned her license, and got a processing partner.

Guerrero said she had plenty of advantages being

a broker, but as a producer, it’s hard to structure it to scale. In order to give her business the potential to grow, Guerrero decided her partner would focus 100% on operations and she would focus on sales.

“Our whole mission is we’re the company that cares,” Guerrero said. “We had a like 288% growth all the way up to last year, every single year. And that was because the market was great at the time. So we opened strategically, at the perfect timing, and were able to have this awesome structure where our retention rate is insane.”

One of the main goals of her company is to educate the entire Spanish community about the importance of real estate and how to build wealth through investments and achieve financial freedom. On social media Guerrero makes videos speaking directly to her clients, in Portuguese and English, on smart strategic ways to buy or invest in your first, second, or third home. Her podcast, YOUPOD CAST, also educates buyers and investors

It wasn’t until last year, 2022, that her company experienced what the market did, which is a huge dip, but it managed to stay afloat.

Right Key Mortgage grew its licensing to seven states. The company was featured in INC. 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies. She also founded the You CAN Scholarship Fund for undergraduate students who are pursuing a degree after a prolonged pause in their educational pursuits, and preference will be given to those who are parenting minor children. Even undocumented citizens are eligible to apply. Last year, Guerrero also wrote her own self-help book, “Journey To a Dope Life,” written in English and Portuguese.

“We’ve had a lot of accomplishments these past seven years since we opened,” Guerrero said. “We’ve been able to help a lot of families and personally I felt this responsibility to give back now that I was able to step away from origination.”

Guerrero acknowledges this year will be tough, but this isn’t her first rodeo. She’s survived and learned to thrive through much, much worse.

Navigating The Future Of Marketing Technology

Take inspiration from these tomorrow-oriented improvements and see how they could be adapted

BY MARY MARGARET HOGAN | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

We are slowly approaching the era that was only depicted in science fiction. The supposed age of floating, self-driving cars, robot nannies, and cataclysmic alien arrivals inches nearer. While we’ve hit many of those once-fictitious landmarks already (and are approaching scarily close to others), the demand to keep up with technological advances is higher than ever.

Consider the residents of those futuristic sci-fi cities: would they ignore

instant contact collection and settle for collecting paper business cards? Would they pass up on the opportunity of artificial intelligence reigniting their brainstorming sessions for networking event themes? Potentially yes, if the aforementioned intergalactic war was occurring, they might have some bigger problems. However, as resourceful business professionals without an imminent extra-terrestrial invasion in the year 2024, surrounded by high-tech solutions for our day-to-day needs, we really have no excuse.

Zooming in on the world of event marketing, if you’ve graced the scene of a trade show floor, you’ve likely experienced the exchange of business cards — sometimes an unconceivably mundane, yet frustrating process. While some trade show attendees carry a classic pack of paper business cards, others will explore various options of QR codes, digital cards, and an amalgamation of phone-tapping-technology that all upload right to their new connections’ cellular Contacts. This is a perfect example of the occasional incompatibility of new-age technologies. Even in the year 2024, with those self-driving cars, there seems to be no clear solution for covering all methodologies of contact collection on the trade show floor.

THE FUTURE IS GAMING

Yet, we can make strides to get close. Automatic lead capture systems are popping up left and right, offering an abundance of options. From the comfort of your cell phone or tablet, these capture systems can take pictures of business cards and transcribe them instantly, integrate with conference API kits to capture badge barcodes, scan QR codes, and more to innovate your in-person lead interactions. When choosing one of these systems to adopt, it may require some Goldilocks browsing for you to decide what is “just right” for your company’s needs, and even then, it will come at quite a cost, as these lead capture systems are incredibly expensive.

However, a universal capture system on busy trade show floors is quite valuable and will soon be the standard for all event marketing occasions. With this cutting-edge technology, say goodbye to manual transcription and delayed follow-up, and step into the 21st century to make your team’s time at the booth futuristically efficient.

Get ready for this word straight out of the sci-fi future: Gamification. Does it sound fun? Good, because that’s exactly what it is! Trade show booths across the globe are adopting gaming to increase booth traffic and overall engagement. Gamification is getting increasingly popular due to its innate ability to liven up customer interactions and leave lasting impressions.

The diversity of gaming options is quite endless and consistently expanding. Traditional backyard games, such as cornhole, mini golf, or basketball, can make quite an impact in your space without digging too deep in your marketing budget’s wallet. Meanwhile, more expensive and revolutionary examples of gamification can include

digital options of classic games and more like Connect 4, claw machines, Jeopardy, and beyond.

With all these gaming options, the initial attentiongrabbing moment is already conquered; it’s just up to the booth staff to solidify the connection. Not to mention, these more high-tech gaming systems can even collect contact information for you. If not, you make the rules: “Before you play my game, give me your information.” Maybe add a please at the end, too.

BEST THINGS ARE FREE

While we’ve dove into some of the cutting-edge technologies of tomorrow that are now today, we’ve racked up quite the bill. It’s about time we explored some of the free technological advancements that are quite valuable if you know where they are and how to use them.

It seems like just yesterday, social media was the beall end-all way to secure the modernization of your company. As long as there is a social presence, engaging with your audience, your company stays hip and relevant. But we’re people of the future now; it’s time to push the envelope and elevate the role of social media marketing even further. The addition of the “live streaming” option across various social platforms dominates our TikTok and Instagram feeds but remains somewhat of an underused feature in our space.

Unlocking the potential of “going live” and communicating with your audience in real-time could be just the social media innovation your team has been looking for. Whether capturing discussions among industry experts, live-streaming from a bustling trade show floor, or showcasing your energetic employees from the comfort of the office, each instance creates the opportunity to connect directly to the watchful eyes of your audience and engage with them in a new and immediate way. With the addition of interactive Question and Answer sections at the tail end of these streams, viewers will also have the privilege of receiving answers instantaneously.

The modern element of live streaming has transformed into a space for you to create immediate, accessible, and free content straight to your customer base, all with just one click of a button. Removing any room for an editing floor or any additional filters also adds the unique benefit of adding a layer of transparency to your brand and enhances consumers' trust and confidence. Better

yet, not only do the streams contribute to your usual content, but these videos can be saved on your page as permanent content for those who missed the streams. It’s no Princess Leia “You’re-Our-Only-Hope”hologram, but it’s pretty darn close.

DON’T OVERLOOK AI

It wouldn’t be an all-encompassing article about the future of marketing technology if we didn’t dip into the conversation of artificial intelligence. Potentially a fragile buzzword for some of us marketers, AI,

trending and popular for these audiences in the future. Overwhelmed by an influx of questions on your website? A ChatBot could be your saving grace. Beyond that, there really is no stopping where AI can be integrated into your marketing systems; identify where your processes need improvement and consider implementing some artificial intelligence. These small steps towards optimizing your workflows for the modern age shouldn’t kickstart the plot of “The Matrix,” but no promises can be made at this time.

It is necessary to take the time to investigate the role technology plays in your marketing strategy.

Trade show booths across the globe are adopting gaming to increase booth traffic and overall engagement.

whether we like it or not, is becoming a very necessary tool across all industries. Instead of being annoyed or afraid, now is the time to slowly incorporate it into your team’s routines. This doesn’t need to be the overtaking AI depicted in those sci-fi thrillers, slowly making its way into our lives and soon after plotting humankind’s demise, but it can be a nice way to alleviate some of the burdens of your day-to-day workflows.

Trade show booths across the globe are adopting gaming to increase booth traffic and overall engagement.

From the well-known and free AI tools such as ChatGPT to the more complicated and premium ones now offered by every major internet conglomerate like Google and Microsoft, there are so many avenues to take when looking to modernize your marketing efforts. In terms of efficiency, most AI tools are useful when you and/or your team need to fast-track some ideas. If you’re in need of inspiration for a marketing campaign, an internal company celebration, social media theming, and more, artificial intelligence will provide immediate concepts to consider and some flavorful copy inspiration to boot.

When paying for the more premium services, AI can capture trends in your consumers’ behaviors and apply predictive analytics to see what will be

Those featured in this article are only the fringe of the futuristic tech available, and while a few of these advances may feel unobtainable in this current environment, it’s good to be aware of the innovations heading our way in this space.

There’s always room to take inspiration from these tomorrow-oriented improvements and see how they could be adapted for your team, your budget, and your needs. It’s time to catch up with the Jetsons and lean into the new era of marketing technology.

Are You Living Your Best Life?

BY TINA ASHER | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, EMERGING LO MAGAZINE

Tina Asher is a coach and founder of Build U Up Consulting.

If not, why not? Change can be really hard but you have the power to choose what you do next.

Two months before my 50th birthday, I was laid off from an industry I devoted 30 years to. I guess some people would call that a “midlife crisis” yet it was the fuel that energized me to make radical changes in my life. I became a business owner, published my first book, and have helped countless people make radical changes in their lives too.

The truth is, if that incident didn’t happen, I might still be struggling to find the right time to pursue the job of my dreams.

Don’t make choices happen for you, choose what you want and go after it. Read on for tips on:

OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES TO MIDLIFE CAREER CHANGE

Midlife is a lot like being a teenager again — only with more wisdom. We may not stay out all night and run with a wild crowd, but many in their 40s and 50s experience the same restlessness and yearning for change. We’re still asking questions about what we want to be when we grow up, but the questions are deeper, more profound. This time we won’t settle for less than what makes us truly happy.

This is especially true for the work we do. Yes, we want to pay the bills, support a family, save for old age. But, many of us now want our work to be meaningful and make a difference. We ask ourselves if not now, then when? What better time to act on those unfulfilled dreams? Work is one of the most profound ways we live our true selves, and now is the time to start doing that.

Yet, it can seem as if there’s a chasm between the knowing and the doing. We know something’s not right with our job or career path, but we tell ourselves to live with it. We set goals but feel too overwhelmed with daily life to try something new. We worry that to make a change to follow a dream

would be selfish, especially if it means a loss of income, or upsets our family and friends.

In fact, every person living out his or her dreams gives a gift to the world — a gift because it inspires others to do the same.

“We often hesitate to follow our hearts, to grow, because of perceived barriers,” writes Carole Kanchier in Dare to Change Your Job — and Your Life.

Midlife is a lot like being a teenager again — only with more wisdom.

BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS

Her book is one of many resources that help break down those barriers, the two biggest of which are fear and confusion.

Fear. We think: I’m too old to change. If I switch jobs now, I’ll have to start over at the bottom. What if I fail, then what? Fear is normal, and it’s important to acknowledge it. There are numerous tactics to help you through the fear. The most powerful may be looking to others who’ve gone through life/career changes.

Confusion. Many of us are clearer about what we don’t want than what we actually do want. We may have lived out others’ expectations of us for so long we’re not even sure what actually makes us happy. Or we’re not certain how to turn our many talents and skills into meaningful work.

Coaches are an excellent resource to help you ask the right questions to sharpen your focus and goals. They can guide you to imagine and create real work that isn’t just a job, but a whole new life. If you’re interested in a no-obligation discussion to learn how you can get support, let’s have a conversation. You can reach me at tina@builduup.net.

Whether it’s a new career or small shifts in how you work, making a change in midlife can bring new energy and joy for life. Like being a teenager again — only better.

Connect and learn from the very best in the business. Upcoming Originator Connect Network events you don't want to miss.

AUGUST

AUGUST 15 — AUGUST 18, 2024

Originator Connect

Las Vegas, NV | www.originatorconnect.com

OCN modestly presents: The greatest mortgage conference in the known universe. Originator Connect returns to Las Vegas this August for another fantastic, session-packed event. It's THE event you won't want to miss. Originator Connect is a 3-day weekend event filled with workshops, sessions, product showcases, and plenty of networking opportunities. Come early for the pre-conference events happening Thursday, August 15, including our long-running Build-A-Broker course, and new staples like the Non-QM Summit, and of course a free in-person NMLS renewal class.

SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

Texas Mortgage Roundup

Dallas, TX | www.txmortgageroundup.com

The Lone Star State’s top gathering for mortgage pros. The lineup of engaging events centered around networking, skill-building and having a great time with your peers. The Roundup is so big, we have to do it twice! Join us for the Dallas edition as we gather the best in the business from north Texas.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

California Mortgage Expo

Oakland, CA | www.camortgageexpo.com

The mortgage industry is going through a significant change. For mortgage origination professionals, it's a struggle to keep on top of all the changes, and to keep your sales strategies and marketing initiatives at their peak. You need to keep your pipeline filled, and you need the tools and directions to stay profitable, efficient, and effective. We've brought together the best in the business to create a top tier event specifically designed for mortgage origination pros.

OCTOBER

OCTOBER 3, 2024

Colorado Mortgage Summit

Denver, CO | www.comortgagesummit.com

The Colorado Mortgage Summit is presented by the Originator Connect Network. Join us for an incredible lineup of educational sessions, business opportunities, and networking events curated specifically for the entrepreneurial men and women of the Colorado mortgage industry.