NMP National Mortgage Professional July 2023

REFERRAL REVOLUTION

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES IN MORTGAGE

LEAD GENERATION

SPECIAL SECTION

Glory AND Guts

HE BUILT THE NATION’S LARGEST BROKERAGE. WHY MIKE KORTAS STILL HAS HIS DUKES UP

REFERRAL REVOLUTION

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES IN MORTGAGE

LEAD GENERATION

SPECIAL SECTION

Glory AND Guts

HE BUILT THE NATION’S LARGEST BROKERAGE. WHY MIKE KORTAS STILL HAS HIS DUKES UP

26 Benchmarks & Best Practices: The Snickering Keyboard Don’t let your to-do lists become good for laughs.

28

Non-QM Resource Guide

30

My Best Deal: A Rare Fraud Victory

Due diligence saves client from $400,000.

32 Data Bank

34

Shifting Markets

The nonbanks are taking over originations.

40 Referals In Strange Places Stop heckling real estate agencies – and consult these pros instead.

60

Non-QM Lender Directory

61

Wholesale Lender Directory

Originator Tech Directory Private Lender Directory

AMC Directory

62

Facebook Thoughts: Bad Ideas That Sound Great

Be Better, People.

There’s a lot of “woe is me” schtick going on these days in the mortgage industry. It’s certainly easy to empathize with that: more than 80 percent of the market from two years ago has evaporated, and the remaining purchase business is difficult, especially with rates keeping to the high branches. But being a mortgage originator means, at heart, being an entrepreneur, a sales pro who finds ways to overcome obstacles. It’s good to remember that fortunes have often been forged in down markets.

There’s just something about the provocation of challenging times that inspires the human will. We see it in Olympians, in first responders, in warriors. It’s not just the crush of momentary defeat but the inspiration and drive to shake off the shackles of failure that propels some to do what others only dream about — or who complain that something can’t be done while others accomplish the very thing.

That’s why we’re fascinated by Mike Kortas, the founder and leader of NEXA Mortgage. In a very few short years, NEXA has grown to be the nation’s largest mortgage brokerage, boasting far more originators than any other industry player.

Is this because Kortas is an Ivy League-trained MBA-brandishing wunderkind? No. It’s because Kortas is a man who’s experienced homelessness, dropped out of high school, who’s faced life’s meanest challenges, and overcame all of that. He’s a man who’s invested in his own self-worth and turned that belief into action.

Kortas is over-the-top — he doesn’t filter his comments, he likes to show off the fruits of his success (such as his private plane), and he is both quietly confident and outspokenly brash. And he is forcing a change in the originator industry. His business plan is attracting more originators than anyone else, and he’s enticing those in the retail channel to migrate to the broker model. What he’s doing is working, and it’s making his competitors take notice.

That’s the beauty of entrepreneurship and the magic of competition. It makes everyone be better. It’s the opposite of moaning that “woe is me.” It’s the story of success.

STAFF

Vincent M. Valvo

CEO, PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Beverly Bolnick

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Christine Stuart

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

David Krechevsky

EDITOR

Keith Griffin

SENIOR EDITOR

Gary Rogo

SPECIAL SECTIONS EDITOR

Mary Quinn

MULTIMEDIA PRODUCER

Erica Drzewiecki, Katie Jensen, Ryan Kingsley, Sarah Wolak

STAFF WRITERS

Rob Chrisman, Dave Hershman, Erica LaCentra, Harvey Mackay, Lew Sichelman, Mary Kay Scully

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nicole Coughlin, Nichole Cakirca

ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES

Alison Valvo

DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC GROWTH

Steven Winokur

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Julie Carmichael

PROJECT MANAGER

Meghan Hogan

DESIGN MANAGER

Stacy Murray, Christopher Wallace

GRAPHIC DESIGN MANAGERS

Navindra Persaud

DIRECTOR OF EVENTS

William Valvo

UX DESIGN DIRECTOR

Andrew Berman

HEAD OF CUSTOMER OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT

Tigi Kuttamperoor, Matthew Mullins

MULTIMEDIA SPECIALISTS

Melissa Pianin

MARKETING & EVENTS ASSOCIATE

Kristie Woods-Lindig

ONLINE ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Joel Berman

FOUNDING PUBLISHER

Submit your news to editors@ambizmedia.com

If you would like additional copies of National Mortgage Professional Call (860) 719-1991 or email subscriptions@ambizmedia.com

www.ambizmedia.com

© 2023 American Business Media LLC. All rights reserved. National Mortgage Professional 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

VINCENT M. VALVO Publisher, Editor-in-Chief

Recruiting?

It’s Your Connections

Take advantage of the relationships your existing loan officers have

BY DAVE HERSHMAN, CONTRIBUTOR, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

Rates are up. While loan officers who were totally focused upon refinances get out on the street for the first time in years, managers will be contemplating recruiting more loan officers, so that they can keep up the same company or branch volume in what may be a lower volume year. Those managers will hire recruiters,

cold call and/or advertise to bring in loan officer candidates. And for 30 years, I have been counseling that there is a better way. But if you don’t believe me, then read this excerpt:

Per a 2016 Loan Officer Recruitment and Retention Study of high-producing loan officers by Floify LLC, 43% found their employers through a colleague who referred them to the company. A quarter of the originators were recruited by their new employers, while 15 percent worked for a company that was involved in a merger. Only 8% reached out to the new employer on their own initiative.

The way I have read the study, which was released as a white paper, is that only 25% of loan officers are recruited by the methods that most turn to when looking to expand their staffs.

What is the better way? What I teach loan officers and managers is to open their eyes so that they will see the many opportunities around

them. And these opportunities are going to be a part of their sphere. Where in their sphere? Well, the study gives a great lead in that regard.

If 43% were recommended by a colleague, then the greatest opportunity a manager can take advantage of is their present employees — includes loan officers and operations personnel. Many of your employees have been in the business for years. That means they know a great number of people still employed in this industry, including loan officers. Thus, I would focus upon these relationships. Many also may know those who want to get in the industry.

The next question is — how do you take advantage of these relationships? The most traditional method is to offer an incentive for the employee to help recruit. And while this is certainly a great idea, it is not typically enough to get the employees engaged enough in recruiting.

To get a higher level of engagement, you need to add additional levels of involvement. Ideas might include:

• Bringing up the topic on a regular basis. For example, in your last sales meeting did you bring up the topic of recruiting? Did you ask for your loan officers’ help and let them know how important their help is in this regard? You need to do this not once — but on a regular basis.

• Distribute recruitment materials and give them guidance regarding what to say to those they know.

• To go even further, meet with your employees and have them list those they know well who are of a high quality. Would they be willing to make an email introduction and/or set up a lunch? Promise your employee that you will not be calling to harass their contacts, but just to network — which is another strategy we will cover at another time.

There are other ways to get employees involved, from holding contests to having a formal mentor program in which they can participate. But I think you get the idea. I don’t understand why someone would put an advertisement somewhere before they exhaust all possibilities through their sphere.

And don’t get the impression that your employees are the only part of your sphere which can bear fruit. I hope to get to some of these in future columns as well.

Yes, I have been training the industry on recruiting and leading for decades. Have written the book for the MBA on

the topic. We even have included this topic in our on-line mortgage school. But if you won’t believe me, hopefully you will believe the hard data which proves the point every time. n

Dave Hershman is the top author in this industry with seven books published as well as the founder of the OriginationPro Marketing System and the OriginationPro’s on-line comprehensive mortgage school. Dave is also Director of Branch Support for McLean Mortgage. His site is www. OriginationPro.com and he can be reached at dave@hershmangroup.com

Promise your employee that you will not be calling to harass their contacts, but just to network.

The Customer (Experience) Is Always Right

Why focusing on service and customer experience may move the needle

ERICA LACENTRA, CONTRIBUTOR, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

The 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

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

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

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 long-term success. n

Erica LaCentra is chief marketing officer for RCN Capital.

Save yourself the headache of … damage control and focus on … great customer experience from the start.

40 Years Later, AI Finally Finds Housing

Modern innovations include conversational responses

Apparently, this month’s story is coming to you from the Great Beyond. Because ChatGPT says I’m a goner. Been dead for four years now.

It’s darn hot here. But let me assure you this is not being typed by some amorphous artificial intelligence algorithm. No, it’s really me, alive and somewhat still kicking.

Let me explain: A friend asked ChatGPT, “Who is Lew Sichelman?” The response was somewhat off the mark. The OpenAI program said, among other things, that I wrote for a certain newspaper, which I never have, and wrote a book, which not only did I not write but doesn’t even appear to exist,

It also reported that “sadly, Lew Sichelman passed away in 2019.” I didn’t do that, either. But at least I rated a tad of remorse.

Such are the vagaries of AI. It’s analogous to the old computer science

LEW SICHELMAN, CONTRIBUTOR, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

whipsaw, “garbage in, garbage out,” or nonsense input produces nonsense output. Now some folks think what I write is nonsense, but beyond that, you have to be specific; the more specific, the better. Otherwise, you might unintentionally murder someone, me being a case in point.

Anyway, AI is all the rage right now. And it’s moving rapidly into the housing sector. But it is certainly not new. Forty-odd years ago, I ran into an Ohio newspaper publisher who had created a program that would write ads for real estate agents, the premise being that most agents were lousy copywriters. An agent would enter the pertinent details and out popped ad copy.

Here’s an example: “REGAL HOME: VIP residence with parkside charm. Remodeled, stone-pillared Colonial on 18 acres, first-owner pride, 18 fireplaces, master-suite, modern kitchen, 12 BR/12 baths, pantry, finished basement, swimming pool. Near bus. Fencing, formal dining rooms, garden, wood

paneling, balcony, servants quarters. FHA-VA $30 million.”

‘MORE PANACHE’

In case you haven’t guessed, the description is for the White House. It’s not very scintillating, but it did the trick, relieving the fictional listing agent from an arduous chore. Even though newspaper advertising isn’t what it used to be, AdWriter is still hanging on, writing copy and such for about a dozen or so companies. “It was built for print,” says Ken Douthit, the son of AdWriter’s founder, Hal Douthit.

But other outfits have come to the fore recently that offer a little more panache than the Ohio company’s original work. After a paragraph identifying the property as the White House, here’s the beginning of Restb.ai’s 335-word listing description for the presidential mansion:

out is not worth the few seconds it takes to view the results. It’s called a “hallucination” in technology lingo.

BEWARE THE RISKS

AI is a “very powerful tool as far as being creative,” Tony McGrory of the BTG Group, which is building tiny homes in New Mexico, told me. “But there are a number of downside risks.”

One, obviously, is accuracy. While some descriptions “can be plausible,” McGrory told me, “they can have only an element of truth. If the information isn’t verified, you can very quickly transmit misinformation.” The product “has to be absolutely verified,” agrees Long & Foster agent Hill Slowinski in Maryland, who uses ChatGPT. “I had to put a lot into (the narratives) to customize them,” he told me. “But it gives me a logical outline and pointed out some

“This stunning Neoclassical-style building features a striking white exterior, adorned with grand columns and intricate detailing. The White House comprises 132 rooms, including 35 bathrooms, spread across six levels, providing a mix of formal and informal spaces to cater to the diverse functions of the presidential office.”

Restb isn’t new, either. It’s been around for eight years or so. But it is just now publicizing its technology. At the same time, a string of artificial intelligence-powered technologies have moved into the housing space recently, all aimed at making it easier for agents to automate the time-consuming task of writing property listing narratives, among other things.

There are chatbots such as ChatGPT from OpenAI, Google’s Bard, and Microsoft’s Bing, among others. All work a little differently, and all leave something to be desired. At best, they may require the agent to tweak the results. But at worst, what they spit

things I hadn’t thought about.”

ChatGPT responds to questions, prompts, and a list of agent-provided features. Within seconds, it culls vast amounts of data from the Internet, books, articles, and websites, and produces listing descriptions. Restbi, on the other hand, is not a bot, at least not in the true sense of the word, Chief Product Officer Nathan Brannen explained to me. It doesn’t chat, either.

Rather, it uses computer vision to scan photos submitted by the listing agent. It extracts details from the images and information from data providers like CoreLogic and Black Knight plus tax records and school districts from public sources. The technology then writes a complete description that automatically populates the agent’s particular multiple listing service platform.

The program can identify more than 300 features, taking the story far beyond the details noted in a typical listing. And it can spin out write-ups in more than 50 languages. Agents can even select

“[AI is a] very powerful tool as far as being creative,”

> Tony McGrory of the BTG Group

different styles or tones – whimsical, for example, simple or straightforward –and, like AdWriter, can write to any word count an agent desires.

Of course, AI has found its way into the mortgage space, too. But even though it has only recently found its way into the public consciousness, it’s been around for some time. For example, Sun West Mortgage’s AI system MORGAN was developed “over decades,” says CEO Pavan Agarwal.

MORGAN is a 24/7 personal assistant accessible via chat that delivers guaranteed responses to borrowers within minutes. Better yet, it can handle even the most complex loan scenarios, eliminating the paperwork and associated time and costs many lenders dread. But at its core, it “delivers a very accurate and complete (underwriting) analysis” in minutes rather than weeks, thereby offering every borrower an equal shot at financing.

Then there’s Ocrolus, which uses AIdriven document automation for faster and more accurate lending decisions. The Manhattan-based company combines state-of-the-art AI from across the sector to process bank statements, pay stubs and the like without human involvement and produce a single

solution so lenders can act with confidence. The system is enabled by its massive document data set built, the company says, from processing hundreds of millions of document pages.

Ocrolus most recently integrated OpenAI’s GPT “embeddings” into its set of technologies, including subsystems from Amazon and Google and its own proprietary deep learning architectures. “Most documents we receive are processed with no human interaction,” says Zach Haehn, senior vice president of engineering. “By expanding our technology platform, we’re creating more efficient ways to deliver the accurate data and analysis lenders require to make more informed decisions in the fastest way possible.”

And let’s not forget Radian and the mortgage insurance company’s AIpowered “Homegenius” search portal. Using image recognition technology adapted from what is being developed for driverless cars, the system analyzes listing photos to assess room conditions and a property’s overall value.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Zillow and Redfin have recently incorporated ChatGPT into real estate listing sites. The plugins allow would-be buyers to

describe the homes they are looking for in a conversational way. Then, in a blink of an eye — or a flash in the pan? — the chatbots will pull up relevant listings.

Just as the bots save agents time in writing listing descriptions and ad copy, the Zillow and Redfin bots are intended to save buyers hours researching and scrolling and clicking on listings, most of which aren’t what they are looking for, anyway. Says Redfin’s Vice President of Product Ariel Dos Santos, the plugins can suggest houses and neighborhoods that may not have been found with a conventional map-based search.

Hype? Perhaps. That’s why real estate strategist Mike DelPrete is taking a cynical stance, at least for now. “It’s so difficult to separate the signal from the noise,” he advised agents on a recent podcast, “that all of it should be treated with a bit of skepticism ... It needs to be ‘eyes wide open’.” n

Lew Sichelman is a contributing writer to National Mortgage Professional magazine. He has been covering the housing and mortgage sectors for 52 years. His syndicated column appears in major newspapers throughout the country.

“It’s so difficult to separate the signal from the noise.”

> Mike DelPrete, real estate strategist

Home Base Appraisal Management

Sandy, Utah

HomeBaseAMC.net

Michael@homebaseamc.net

(801) 449-9200

AREA OF FOCUS: Apprasial Management Company — We Care — INC 5000 Fastest Growing 5X

DESCRIPTION OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES: From a Regional powerhouse to a national INC 5000 fastest growing company five years running. Home Base Appraisal Management has put their stamp on the Apprasial industry and brought service levels to all new heights. All of this without a marketing team!? This company truly breaks the mold with their different approach to the industry of real estate appraising.

WHOLESALE LENDER RESOURCE GUIDE

ACC Mortgage Rockville, MD

ACC Mortgage is the oldest NonQM lender that has never stopped lending in 22 years. We specialize in Bank Statement, ITIN, P&L, Foreign National and DSCR lending. Price, Product and Process are what make for Non-QM success.

ACCMortgage.com

LICENSED IN: AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MD, MI, NV, NJ, NC, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA

Newfi Wholesale

Emeryville TX

DSCR, Bank Statement, 1099, Asset Depletion, Buydowns, Full Doc Non-QM

No one knows Non-QM like us. Newfi Wholesale is an exception-based Non-QM lender dedicated to helping brokers find success. We offer a full Non-QM product suite including: Full-Doc, Bank Statement, 1099, Asset Depletion, Interest Only, NonQM ITIN, Non-QM Buydown, DSCR 1-4 & 5-8 Units, DSCR Condotels, Graduated Payment Mortgages, and more. At Newfi about 1/3 of our funded deals have exceptions that we make in-house!

newfiwholesale.com

(888) 415-1620

Change Wholesale

Irvine CA

PCV Murcor

Pomona, CA

pcvmurcor.com

sales@pcvmurcor.com

(855) 819-2828

AREA OF FOCUS: Nationwide Real Estate Valuations Management — Appraisal Management Company

DESCRIPTION OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES: Licensed in all 50 states, plus D.C., PCV Murcor provides nationwide appraisal management and valuation advisory for residential and commercial real estate. An industry leader with over 40 years of experience managing valuation needs for mortgage lending, financial institutions, estate and litigation, real estate investors, and mortgage servicers.

Change Wholesale gives mortgage brokers an unfair advantage to close more loans, faster. Our CDFI certification from the U.S. Department of the Treasury allows us to offer proprietary programs that are tailored to meet the needs of commonly overlooked prime borrowers. Our flagship Community Mortgage requires no income, employment, or DTI documentation. Prime borrowers looking for their dream home or vacation getaway can get approved with just the first page of the bank statement.

ChangeWholesale.com

(949) 255-6085

info@changewholesale.com

LICENSED IN:, AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MS, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY

support@newfi.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WV, WI, WY

HOW

NMP’S MONTHLY SECTION OF HANDS-ON PRACTICAL ADVICE

BUILD A BROKER

How To Get 5-Star Reviews

Become A Master Of Small Talk

YOUR FIRST MILLION DOLLARS

Workers Want To Still WFH

BENCHMARKS & BEST PRACTICES

Is Your To-Do-List Laughing At You?

MY BEST DEAL Beating Back Fraud

CAREER TICKER

People On The Move

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE //

> Megastar Financial Corp., a Denver-based mortgage company, announced that Mike Aberle has joined the company as president.

> FormFree hired Jonathan Nahil as chief technology officer. He has more than 20 years of experience as a software architect and leader of development teams at technology organizations.

> Lender Price, a Californiabased provider of digital lending technology for the mortgage industry, appointed industry veteran Paul Orlando as its chief strategy officer.

> Cenlar FSB, a national mortgage loan subservicer, named Michael Biddle to the newly created role of chief data scientist.

BY SARAH WOLAK, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

As the lending industry becomes increasingly competitive — and digital — loan officers are recognizing the importance of strengthening their online presence through customer reviews.

In an age where nearly everything is reviewed online, the days of simply trusting family and friends isn’t enough.

Even Yelp and Google reviews have competition with review platforms such as Experience.com, Podium, and Trustpilot that promise success and strong reputations.

Especially in a tight market, even just one positive review can improve a loan officer’s visibility, attract new clients, and solidify a reputation. As customers are waiting on the sidelines for rates to drop and inventory to catch up, loan officers in particular are playing survival of the fittest, which is causing many to become discouraged and unable to reach a solid customer base.

From Paul Cassidy’s perspective, loan officers should be in charge of their own brands and take it upon themselves to rein in customers. Cassidy, who is Experience.com’s regional VP of business development, says that online reputation should account for at least 20% of organic business.

“Nowadays, we rely so much on what people say, and it’s not just our family or our friends,” he said. “More reviews usually means higher trust, so it’s worthwhile for [LOs] to invest in reviews.”

Experience.com, which brands itself

as an experience management platform, helps with online presence, listing management, and review automation and integration, according to Cassidy. The site acts as a dashboard for anyone — including LOs — to keep track of their review pipeline. But Cassidy says it’s not Experience.com doing all the heavy lifting.

“You want to make sure that you’re beating the competition. That means investing in good algorithms and knowing who you market to. Google trusts and suggests people who have good, current,

recommended is replying to online reviews and engaging with your consumers.

“You should publicly thank that consumer, it boosts your SEO,” he explained. “Experience.com isn’t an SEO company, but [being boosted] is an outcome of our product.”

LET THE STATS SPEAK

and relevant reviews,” Cassidy said. “There are other factors that go into it, too, like having good, updated profiles and that your information is consistent across your profiles.”

Paul Cassidy, regional VP of business development, Experience.com

Cassidy also said that advertising the specific products in which you specialize is important in order to cater more toward “niche” searches from potential customers. A pro tip that Cassidy

If LOs are relying solely on their referrals, they might want to reconsider, according to Vincent Petrillo, Trustpilot’s vice president of commercial for North America. Trustpilot hosts over 167 million reviews and is free to anyone who has had a buying or service experience in the past 12 months. Petrillo says that as long as a user has a Trustpilot account and doesn’t have a conflict of interest with the business they’re reviewing, they’re free to post.

Petrillo, vice president of commercial for North America, Trustpilot

“We were founded in 2007 on the basis of people freely

> Aimee Eller has joined PRMG as its new general counsel. She comes highly skilled, with over 25 years of experience in mortgage banking.

> Treliant, a consulting partner to the global financial industry, has named Karin J. Lockovitch as senior managing director, regulatory compliance and mortgage.

> PRMG, a full-service mortgage lending company, announced the hiring of Ellen Skaggs as the new HECM divisional manager.

> The Washington Trust Company announced Rolando Lora has been appointed executive vice president and chief retail lending officer.

Vincent

“Nowadays we rely so much on what people say, and it’s not just our family or our friends.”

> Paul Cassidy, regional VP of business development, Experience.com

being able to make choices and build trust based on reviews. A study that [we] did in 2020 showed that 89% of consumers in the U.K., U.S., and France check online reviews before making purchases,” he said. “Narrowing that down, 93% of U.S. consumers say online reviews have an impact on their purchase decision.”

Petrillo explained that in the mortgage industry, many consumers are eager to read reviews before making the biggest purchase of their lives. “We [at the company] see a lot of businesses in the financial services industry coming to us for our services since they know that their customers are looking for trust and a soundboard for their own financial decisions,” he said. “These companies naturally want to strengthen and secure their reputations. Consumers want — and need — to read about them.”

Christian Kartchner, an account executive at Podium, says that as the mortgage industry tightens, consumer habits have shifted alongside the market.

“Customers are always on their phones and like to look at reviews,” he said. “[Reviews] are the modern word of mouth. It’s natural reinforcement and confirmation [bias] to see a product or service that has tons of good reviews.”

REVIEW ME, PLEASE

“Please review me!” may not be a phrase that LOs want to reiterate to their customers, but sometimes, getting reviews

— especially worthwhile ones — takes the extra push.

Peter Costakos, senior vice president at CrossCountry Mortgage, says that he started campaigning for reviews after a colleague of his bragged about having over 400 Zillow reviews. “I knew I needed to up my game if I were to compete for customers,” Costakos said. He says that CrossCountry uses Total Expert, a Minnesota-based software company, to manage its reviews, but that he himself decided to jump all-in for reviews.

“I have about 78 individual Google reviews and just under 200 Zillow reviews,” he explained. “With Google, it can be difficult because many reviews are categorized under the company as a whole, which takes away from the individual professional.”

Costakos says that he always encourages his customers to write reviews. But as he continues growing his business, Costakos says that he notices customers taking the initiative to write reviews before he even asks.

“People are taking time out of their lives to write something,” he said. “So when asking for reviews, it has to be personal … and organic. Especially with your approach, you should try and match the energy of the customer. For example, you should try to ask customers to review at the high of the mortgage process, which is typically when they’re cleared to close. Especially if the loan was challenging, at that moment

they’re thrilled and engaged working with you.”

For Sean Zalmanoff, founder and chief loan officer at Better Rate Mortgage, there’s a specific time to ask clients for reviews.

“There’s a time period which I call the magic window where not much is expected from the customer or me, so when I ask a customer for a review during that time that the customer feels like they absolutely owe you it,” he explained. “At that point the loan is basically cleared, but the customer will focus on giving you that review. And for me, every customer that I’ve asked to leave a review for me has done so.”

Zalmanoff says that he specifically asks for Google reviews since the platform is his “single largest referral source.” He says that Yelp only showcases six out of the hundreds of reviews that he has, and Facebook reviews can be spammy.

“As an individual, Google reviews are what drive people to my business,” he said. “When people call me up directly from a review they read, they’re seeking me out to do business with them. It’s my loan to lose.”

Petrillo says that getting a review shouldn’t be a hassle, especially when customers value your services and feel prompted to write reviews on their own.

“Having customers review and be vocal about their experiences offers a different level of insight into your business,” he explained. “You as a business have so much opportunity to learn from that review.” n

Christian Kartchner, account executive, Podium

Peter Costakos, senior vice president, CrossCountry Mortgage

Sean Zalmanoff, founder and chief loan officer, Better Rate Mortgage

Master The Art Of Schmoozing

Transform social awkwardness into networking success

BY KATIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZIBE

Schmoozing. It’s the ability to engage in lively and friendly conversation with strangers. It’s a tough skill for the socially awkward to achieve but without it your career is going to sputter to a stop.

Making connections with referral partners, account executives, and homebuyers is not just a crucial part of the business, it is the business. Yet, there are many in this industry who describe themselves as hardworking, analytical, and motivated, but not socially inclined.

That’s OK — charm, confidence, and being articulate does not come naturally to everyone. But to be perceived as an expert and a trustworthy professional, loan originators need to have a bit of game. In other words, they need to know how to schmooze.

Schmoozing it up at Suncoast Mortgage Expo, May 2023.

“Schmoozing is such a good Yiddish word that people have adopted,” said Julie Thum, Brooklyn-based Realtor and broker. “I’m always schmoozing … but in a good way. I’m not schmoozing to sell myself. I’m schmoozing to build relationships with people.”

There’s plenty of advice on the internet about how to improve social skills; some is good and some is bad. But here is some legitimate advice from psychologists and psychotherapists to help the anxious LO break from their shell, along with some experienced real estate agents who are tired of seeing LOs make the same networking mistakes.

IGNORE THE TIGER

Social fears likely come from insecure and incorrect assumptions about one’s self. Am I being annoying? Am I coming off as awkward? Am I going to embarrass myself? I’m no good at small talk. What if we have nothing in common? These thoughts only lead people to believe they’ve already failed before they even tried.

“That can be just anxiety’s way of trying to get us to avoid the situation,” said California clinical psychologist Maria-Christina Stewart. “It’s this fight, flight, or freeze response that we can have … like a tiger’s about to bite us.”

Stewart works with a variety of patients including executives from a plethora of industries who need guidance when it comes to general anxiety, social anxiety, or even just anxiety related to their careers.

“When we get into these anxious situations … the mind will give us thoughts that are quite distorted. Like people are gonna think, ‘I’m stupid.’ People that are socially anxious very often think everybody’s thinking about them, right?” said Stewart, “But, frankly, they’re not thinking about other people. Rather, they’re probably thinking the same thoughts about themselves.”

CROWD FEAR

“The problem of being shy in a crowd is a problem for many, and I have been to many events where mortgage folks and real estate agents will stare at their

phone or talk to the one person they know,” said Robert Thompson, a career coach and long-time real estate agent with Allison James Estate & Homes, based in Alexandria, Virginia.

This is a typical fear response that does nothing to help build new connections. Given the tough market environment, loan officers and brokers are chasing down Realtors, financial managers, and any referral partners they can find to build up their referral network. Now is not the time for holding back.

“I tell my clients that honesty is the best policy,” Thompson said. “If you walk up to a stranger and tell them you are nervous, most people will try to make you comfortable. They will see and respect how honest you are.”

Most of the time, when that tiger comes out, the socially anxious person will run and hide. To avoid failure or embarrassment, some loan officers and brokers go right into their rehearsed sales pitch as if they’re doing a cold call. “Hi, my name is John Doe and I have X years of experience in the industry, work with a wide variety of lenders, and have access to a variety of loan products …”

According to Thum, there’s nothing that people hate more than a hard pitch. “A hard sell never works,” Thum said.

local senator. She does plenty of things outside the scope of real estate where she can meet lots of people.

“It’s good to get involved in community things also because people get to know you that way,” Thum said. “Then you could end up doing business with them that way, too, because they already know you on a different level.”

Again, no hard pitches! It’s better for loan originators to casually mention their profession during conversations — slyly weave it in, said Thum. She suggested this approach: “Oh, what do you do? Oh, well I’m a loan officer with XYZ mortgage, so if you know anybody looking to move or needs help with their mortgage, just let me know.”

NAVIGATING NETWORK EVENTS

Socially anxious loan originators dread networking events or work events of any kind. Walking into them and mixing with a sea of people engaged in conversations with others can be intimidating for anyone.

Most likely, the loan originator has set expectations to make as many connections as possible, or a goal to speak with every person there. After all, this is

“People don’t like that. I get random calls all the time from LOs. I had one the other day, and I didn’t just hang up on him. Normally I do. I’ll say, ‘I have like four that I work with,’ then say, ‘Thank you, don’t bother me anymore.’”

Instead of cold-calling people, loan originators should try getting more involved in their communities. Thum, for example, is on the local community board, runs a fundraiser for cancer research from her office, and dabbles as state political coordinator for her

a tough market, and loan originators are willing to do whatever it takes to secure more referral partners, gain more clients, or learn from their peers. But Dr. Stewart says that might be too much pressure for a socially anxious person.

“Having one meaningful connection is going to be much more useful long term than having spoken to many people that then forget about you,” Stewart said. “Instead think, ‘I’m gonna show up here and see what kind of connections I can make.’ So then the networking event isn’t

“If you walk up to a stranger and tell them you are nervous, most people will try to make you comfortable.”

> Robert Thompson, career coach and long-time real estate agent with Allison James Estate & Homes

BUILD-A-BROKER

any different than how we’re showing up at any other point in our day. We’re looking for meaningful connections.”

Don’t be the person that shows up and has short, meaningless conversations with people just to hand them a business card. The only thing that accomplishes is the disheartening sight of left-behind business cards littered across tables.

Furthermore, introverts may think they have no advantages when it comes to public social events, but that’s not true. Introverts have a natural inclination to be better observers, according to psychotherapist Valentina Dragomir, founder of PsihoSensus Therapy. And this is especially important while schmoozing.

“Paying attention to the body language of the other person can help you determine if someone is interested in your conversation or not,” Dragomir said. “This can give an insight into how they are connecting with the topic on hand and how confident they are while speaking up. This can help you adjust your pitch accordingly, change your topic or end the conversation if necessary.”

SCHMOOZE, NOT BOOZE

Speaking of social awareness, it’s best to avoid consuming too much alcohol at these events. One or two drinks can help the Nervous Nelly relax a bit more, but too much can make one seem unprofessional.

“Know if alcohol will help or hurt you during the event,” said Melissa Kaekal, licensed professional counselor and creative director at Morgan Hill Institute, based in Port Charlotte, Florida. “More than two drinks will reduce critical thinking and lead to poor professionalism. If you don’t want to drink for any reason, don’t. Peer pressure still exists even after high school, but, thankfully, we’re better able to hold to our integrity.”

Rather than using alcohol or a cell phone as a crutch in these situations, Stewart suggests bringing a friend or coworker. Turning to a friend instead of a phone is much better. If someone is on their phone, they seem too busy to talk or disinterested in what’s happening around

Networking a crowded floor at New England Mortgage Expo, January 2023.

them, making them look unapproachable. Having a friend, however, is a good distraction and will not turn off others from joining conversations.

MASTERING THE ONE-ON-ONE

The loan originator sits at a diner booth, staring into the eyes of a client they need to impress. This originator may be wonderfully intelligent and experienced in the industry, but doesn’t know how to articulate this. They fumble their words, then clamp their mouth shut. Sweat starts to bead around the forehead, and internal chastisement takes place for sounding awkward, causing the nervousness to spiral out of control. That’s the nightmare every shy originator thinks about.

So, how can loan originators avoid this scenario from happening?

In Thum’s experience, she would typically invite those who already know and trust her. The ones that have referred her to their friends or family are the ones who get special treatment. For the anxious loan originator, Thum suggests not inviting a random person for coffee or lunch. It will be much harder to overcome nervousness.

Furthermore, the loan originator should not immediately dive into business after exchanging hellos. Instead, ask questions such as how is your family? How have you been? Did you hear about so-and-so on the news today? This is a people business, so act like a real person. In most cases, it’s the client that brings up real estate, Thum said, so she doesn’t have to.

“How’s the market? They always wanna know. And, of course, I’ll discuss it with them. But I try to talk about everything else,” Thum said.

Another dreaded what-if scenario is what if the conversation comes to an awkward pause or kind of dies off? How do you fill the silence?

First, don’t fear the silence. Only awkward people think it’s awkward. Use the pause to regroup and think of another topic. If it’s hard to think on the fly, then a good strategy might be to plan conversation topics ahead of time, so

they’re always in the back pocket.

“One thing that could be helpful is reading the newspaper that morning before you go to see if anything interesting happened or if anything is relevant to this conversation,” Dr. Stewart said. “You run into this awkward pause and then the person says, ‘By the way, I know this is so off topic, but did you see that blank happened?’”

over the country.

“I have a guy in my chapter who’s an auto body collision guy,” Thum said. “He’s been in the chapter for like 14 years or something. At first, he was extremely shy, and so nervous to get up in front of people. And we always had our business meetings every Wednesday in person. When he had to give his 10-minute presentation, he was

But if the anxious originator did not have time to prepare conversation starters or simply needs a moment alone to regroup, go to the bathroom. This is an easy out that allows the originator some time to think or look up current events on their phone, and then return to the table with renewed confidence.

“They’ve told you something, so then you can look it up. Because the more you can circle back to something they’re interested in and get them talking about that — especially if it’s something you’re interested about too — that’ll help build that connection,” Dr. Stewart said.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Sure, cold calls may work from time to time, but in between those good calls are people who respond rudely or immediately hang up. That’s why networking events and individual meetings are better for building longterm, genuine connections. So what are some other ways originators can connect with referral partners? Thum recommends joining a local Business Network International (BNI) chapter just as she did. BNI America hosts networking events all

a nervous wreck. I was like, ‘Don’t worry, it’s just us.’ You know what I mean? ‘It’s OK if you make a mistake or whatever.’ And it really helped him.”

For those who may need more than a few tips and need to seriously practice talking to people in person, joining a BNI chapter may be the best way to go. These chapters are comprised of people across various industries who may be able to lend unique advice and allow originators to form new connections that are out-of-the-box for the typical mortgage professional.

“Every week you have a 60-second infomercial and you’re basically referring business to one another on a weekly basis,” Thum explained. “The referrals can come from anywhere besides your own chapter.”

Networking groups and volunteer work in the community are simply ways to get in front of more people. That’s what all this is about. Originators can practice anywhere they go. On the subway, at the grocery store, at a local park — any public place works. After learning to strike up conversations with strangers and engage in some small talk, their confidence will improve.

It’s hard to know how easy it can be for those that don’t try. n

“Having one meaningful connection is going to be much more useful long term than having spoken to many people that then forget about you.”

> Maria-Christina Stewart, clinical psychologist

Pantless Productivity

From cubicles to couches ... embracing the remote work revolution

, CONTRIBUTOR, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

Remote work has emerged as a widespread practice in the workplace. It’s safe to say that the traditional workplace is forever changed due to the Covid pandemic.

Between 2019 and 2021, the number of people primarily working from home tripled from 5.7% (roughly 9 million people) to 17.9% (27.6 million people), according to new 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) released by the U.S. Census Bureau. More recent statistics now put that percentage at more than 26% as of the end of 2022. More than 36 million Americans are expected to work remotely by 2025. Nearly half of the workers in the District of Columbia now work from home.

Another geographic area with a high percentage of remote workers is San Francisco and Oakland.

A report from Owl labs in 2021 found that 55% of respondents say they work more hours remotely than at the physical office. And some companies are reporting that remote workers are more productive and happier. Flexibility for family schedules, eliminating stressful and timeconsuming commutes, freedom to work from any location and reducing expenses for work-related clothing and meals are among the reasons that workers mention for working away from the traditional office setting.

Technology has made remote work an ideal reality for so many people who otherwise may not be able to participate in the workforce.

Whether you’re freelancing or telecommuting from a full-time job,

you really can be just as productive, if not more, than a cubicle dweller. Just remember this advice for succeeding on the home front:

• Start your day off right. You may not have to work a rigid 9-to-5 schedule when working at home, but take your job seriously. “Report” to your desk, wherever it is, at an appropriate time ready to work. Some experts recommend showering and dressing as if you’re going to the office to get into the right frame of mind.

• Understand what your organization needs. Working from home means you won’t get as much direct feedback and instruction from your boss throughout the day. Get clear expectations from your manager so you’ll be working on the right tasks and the right schedule.

and adequate for the demands of the job. Make plans for alternate locations if necessary for power outages and internet issues. And if you are planning to work from a really remote location, such as a mountain retreat or a tropical island, check in advance for connectivity issues.

• Take breaks as needed. Don’t work yourself to exhaustion trying to prove you’re just as productive at home as you would be at work. Although you shouldn’t start a home renovation project in the middle of writing a report, there’s nothing wrong with spending a few minutes emptying the dishwasher or putting laundry away to clear your mind and relax a little.

• Evaluate your progress regularly. Keep track of your workload and your goals so you can review how much you’re getting done

Set short-term and long-range goals that align with your organization’s objectives.

• Establish firm boundaries. Family members and friends should know when you’re working and realize that you can’t be interrupted for trivial reasons. Keep your door closed (if you have one) and let the answering machine pick up the phone. Emergencies aside, don’t get distracted by irrelevant chitchat.

• Stay connected with people. Don’t let them forget you back at the office. Check in frequently with emails and phone calls to let people know you’re on top of things. Visit the office when you can and maintain your friendships with co-workers. You want to be thought of as a full member of the team, wherever you are.

• Make sure your internet and phone connections are reliable

and whether you need to make any adjustments. As your own supervisor, you’ll need to keep an eye on what you’re accomplishing so you don’t fall behind.

Let me share a little secret that sales people have known for generations: working remotely is hardly a new phenomenon. In this profession, a lot of work gets done on the golf course, at a ball game, or over a good meal. As a lifelong salesman, I appreciate the flexibility. But I am grateful for those back at the factory who show up every day to manufacture the products that we sell!

Mackay’s Moral: Getting down to business doesn’t need to mean getting to the business. n

Harvey Mackay is a seven-time New York Times best-selling author with 15 books.

Technology has made remote work an ideal reality for so many people who otherwise may not be able to participate in the workforce.

Why Your To-Do List Is Laughing At You

Being organized and clear puts you on the path to success

MARY KAY SCULLY, COLUMNIST, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

Benjamin Franklin once said, “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.” We’re all looking for more hours in the day and getting organized is a sure-fire way to make sure you maximize your time and set yourself up for success, regardless of the current state of the market.

To many people, organizing your thoughts and work just sounds like one more thing to add to the ever-growing to-do list, but let’s look at the benefits of being organized to better understand how important it actually is.

KNOW YOUR NEEDS

First of all, getting organized helps you know your needs. Starting your day

by simply getting organized can help you efficiently accomplish so much more. Having a clear expectation for what your customers, team, and partners need from you helps ensure you stay on track to get everything done.

You can apply this to any area of your work. Take meetings, for example. Before you meet with someone, ask yourself: who am I talking to? Which programs may be appropriate for them? What collateral do I need? What am I trying to accomplish? Is this a pre-approval or application? Is this a purchase transaction or a refinance? This simple exercise helps you be more prepared and, in turn, maximizes your time with customers, partners, or

whoever you’re meeting with. We can all agree that there is nothing worse than an unproductive meeting and nothing better than a quick and efficient one.

BE MORE ACCURATE

Being organized also helps you be more accurate. To put it bluntly, sloppy work often brings a sloppy end product. Organization will help you know exactly what you need from your customer and what you already have — meaning, you can take a complete application with less back and forth — and fewer errors.

I’ve said it once — or 50 times — and I’ll say it again: it’s your job as the loan officer (LO) to take a complete and accurate

expectations for what you want to see completed daily, weekly, or quarterly. This helps everyone do their part in working toward that goal. It’s easy to think of goals as big-picture plans for the year, but goals also can be as simple as a to-do list for the day.

Your team cannot effectively execute if you are not organized and clear with what the team needs to accomplish. Taking a small amount of time to be clear about goals can pay off tremendously when your team is able to work efficiently to reach them.

DELEGATE YOUR WORK

Speaking of your team, you are all there to help each other. When you are organized and clear, it also helps identify areas where you can delegate to another team member and prioritize areas where you cannot pass the work. As the LO, you are the only one that can take the application or talk about rates and products. By law, your processors cannot handle any of that.

application. If you are organized and clear with your borrower, it will put you both on the path to success. And your processors and underwriters will thank you too.

MANAGE YOUR GOALS

We’ve also talked about goal setting and goal management many times before and organization is key here, as well. You cannot reach your goals if you are not clear on what you are working toward. You may think you have your goals in order, but could you list them out or write them down? If not, your goals are probably not as organized as you think.

Having organized goals also is critical for your team. Be sure you have clear

With this in mind, it’s important to understand how your organization is structured so you know who can assist with certain tasks and who cannot. Delegation is not about passing every task off to someone else, but rather it’s about maximizing everyone’s time. There is likely someone on your team that has some extra time in their day and by delegating a small task to them, it could free you up to do the important tasks that no one else can handle. The bottom line is, your company is organized the way it is for a reason. Be mindful of that and understand how you can use that structure to maximize your time and reach your goals.

Organization is not an extra step but a necessary one if you want to be successful. Taking the time to get organized can lead to better outcomes for you, your team, your borrowers, and your partners. n

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

If you are organized and clear with your borrower, it will put you both on the path to success.

Acra Lending

Lake Forest, CA

Acra Lending is the leader in NonQM Wholesale and Correspondent lending programs. Offering a range of programs and services geared toward helping mortgage professionals and borrowers achieve their purchase and investment goals. We are committed to providing simplicity, consistency and an optimal customer experience.

acralending.com

(888) 800-7661

sales@acralending.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NC, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WY

Champions Funding

Gilbert, AZ

Mission Driven Non-QM + CDFI Wholesale Lender

At Champions Funding, we Non-QM all day, every day! It’s our core business, and we live to serve underserved borrowers through our valued broker partners. We put diversity and inclusion into mortgage lending by empowering the mortgage broker community to provide solutions for non-traditional credit profiles and those who cannot get approved with standard financing. Through our highly coveted CDFI certification backed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, we can offer our flagship neighborhood products and tap into a $1 Trillion market of historically underserved communities in the country.

Focused on speed to closing (in days, not weeks), smooth processes, and user-friendly access to our underwriting and support teams, we offer modern, flexible, and responsible non-traditional lending solutions.

champstpo.com

(949) 763-9494

Wholesale@ChampsTPO.com

LICENSED IN: AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, HI, IL, IA, MD, MI, NJ, NC, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA

FIND IT.

Civic Financial Services

Redondo Beach, CA

CIVIC delivers fast, honest, simple lending for real estate investors.

Description of your products or services.

CIVIC Financial Services is a private money lender, specializing in the financing of non-owner occupied residential investment properties.

CIVIC provides Mortgage Brokers and Real Estate Investors with a fast and cost effective funding source for their real estate investment needs.

civicfs.com

(877) 472-4842

info@civicfs.com

LICENSED IN: AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NJ, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI

THE COMPANIES AND TOOLS YOU NEED

When searching for products or services to help your business, browse through our Resource Guides, or find a specific provider through one of our Directories.

Originator Tech, Non-QM, Wholesale, AMC. These listings provide quick, easy access to the resources you need, all in one convenient location.

Find

Global Integrity Finance LLC McKinney, Texas

DSCR Rental NO DOC Loans

As a direct, private lender, Global Integrity Finance takes a commonsense approach to underwriting, with all approvals made in-house. We are dedicated to providing quick responses to time-sensitive loans, often times with the ability to close in as few as 3 business days. At Global Integrity Finance, we value referrals and our brokers are protected. We are committed to the highest level of customer service, because our success thrives in building relationships.

globalintegrityfinance.com

(214) 548-5190

toby@globalintegrityfinance.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AR, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI

Luxury Mortgage Corp. Stamford, CT

Non-QM, Wholesale, Delegated Correspondent, Non Delegated Correspondent

The Simple Access® Non-QM suite of products was built around the idea that it doesn’t have to be complicated to finance a home. We have created a diverse selection of borrower friendly programs that are simple, innovative, and flexible. For more information on our Correspondent division, visit www. luxurymortgagecorrespondent.com

luxurymortgagewholesale.com

(949) 516-9710

tpomarketing@luxurymortgage.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AK, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WY

Newfi Wholesale

Emeryville TX

DSCR, Bank Statement, 1099, Asset Depletion, Buydowns, Full Doc Non-QM

No one knows Non-QM like us. Newfi Wholesale is an exception-based Non-QM lender dedicated to helping brokers find success. We offer a full Non-QM product suite including: Full-Doc, Bank Statement, 1099, Asset Depletion, Interest Only, Non-QM ITIN, Non-QM Buydown, DSCR 1-4 & 5-8 Units, DSCR Condotels, Graduated Payment Mortgages, and more. At Newfi about 1/3 of our funded deals have exceptions that we make in-house!

newfiwholesale.com

(888) 415-1620 support@newfi.com

LICENSED IN: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WV, WI, WY

Wire Fraud? Not On My Watch! $400K Saved

How much was your best deal for?

This falls under the category of saving $400,000 against wire fraud.

My client received a legitimate-looking email from her “Realtor” telling her wire instructions changed. She followed the guidance of the “urgent” email and wired $400,000.

That evening, she advised the agent she had sent the wire per her instructions. The agent called me. Realizing the gravity of the situation, I left my dinner party.

The fraudulent wire went to Wells Fargo Bank, where I worked previously. So I knew the corporate contacts and made numerous calls up the corporate ladder three hours late into the evening, begging and pleading with them to hold the receiving account funds. They refused, repeatedly citing confidentiality.

My client got the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) involved at 7 a.m. the following morning. By the sheer grace of my numerous urgent pleading calls and the CBI call early the next morning — Wells Fargo did put a hold on the wire. It was 48 agonizing hours before we knew the outcome of the saved funds (less $300).

What made it your best deal?

Saving my client the $400,000 from wire fraud fills me with joy beyond description. My pride in answering my client calls on evenings and weekends made a lifetime of difference to my client. She’s a schoolteacher. This $400,000 was her nest egg. Had I NOT taken that call during my dinner party — and she lost her funds — well, I shudder to think of what her future may have looked like. Fortunately, all is well, by a miracle!

What else was interesting about the deal?

This situation brings to light how rampant wire fraud is. Even after the numerous notifications to be on alert of wire fraud by me, Realtor, and title, the client was busy in her workday and overlooked that the sender wasn’t really her Realtor.

I can appreciate Wells Fargo’s privacy laws. And those dozen or so calls that evening to Wells Fargo — not once did any employee relate or recognize that Wells Fargo might be on the receiving end of a fraudulent wire request. Additional calls continued to be made over the 48-hour window by the client, myself, and CBI.

Wells Fargo called me and reported that they never are alerted in enough time to save funds. This was the rare exception. Saving $400,000 for my client falls under heroic efforts. And one more reason why I always answer my phone and am available for those I serve.

Instagram: instagram/bettercallnau

Facebook: facebook.com/kathynaumortgage

As it turns out, Wells Fargo DID take my phone calls seriously, and my swift action that June Monday evening in 2022 made the difference in Wells Fargo placing a hold. The following day would have been too late. When Wells Fargo called 48 hours later to inform us all but $300 had been saved, they explained the fraudsters gain access to a dormant account (such as an elderly person’s savings account), and when the wire goes in, they’ll pull out a small amount of funds to ensure they can access the account. Then move the full amount overseas. At that point, the money is NEVER recovered. n

Kathy Nau Mortgage Consultant PEAK LENDING TEAM

NONBANKS Reclaim The Throne

Mortgage market shifts as brokers thrive

BY KATIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZIBE

Nonbanks have made quite the comeback over the past decade. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, nonbanks originated only 12% of mortgage loans nationwide. By 2021, they were back on top, originating 64% of loans. Brokers, of course, fall under that nonbank umbrella along with retail loan officers. Retailers own a majority of that market share, but given current market conditions, originators may see better business on the broker side this year.

BANKS VERSUS NONBANKS

In a down market, banks often try to shed costs by severing or scaling back the mortgage arm of their business because it can be a drain on capital. Wells Fargo backed out of the mortgage business, Bank of America Corp. exited wholesale, and JPMorgan Chase laid off hundreds in the home-lending sector in 2022. Lenders, on the other hand, exist solely to sell mortgages and will fluctuate in size however they can to adapt to the current market.

A 2022 report from the Stratmor Group states that many banks have abandoned the wholesale channel because it’s perceived as riskier. This has negatively impacted bank market share given the fact the wholesale share of the market has been trending up, driven by a handful of nonbank lenders such as United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM).

“Banks, it’s a tough business, right? It is cyclical, and if you’re a bank there’s a lot of other things that they do,”

UWM Chief Strategy Officer Alex Elezaj said. “So I think, you know, just the cyclicality of how they manage their people — the ups and downs of it — is very difficult to do. So I think a lot of banks just say, ‘Hey, is it worth it to do this? Or should we focus on different areas of the business,’ like deposits

or different types of loans that might be better suited for them.”

Some banks also have become stricter by stiffening borrowing terms and scaling back on products perceived as riskier, such as FHA loans.

“The real question for me is should we be in the FHA business at all,” said Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase bank, on the second quarter earnings call in 2022. “We want to help these, but we can’t do it at great risk to JPMorgan.”

But avoiding FHA means avoiding a significant share of first-time homebuyers coming into the market this year. Many brokers have been seeing more FHA clients recently, considering these buyers were priced out of the market during the pandemic housing boom.

Dwell Mortgage CEO Shane Kidwell said he saw more “cookie-cutter loans” during the pandemic than he had ever

seen in his 12 years working in the mortgage industry.

“Almost everyone could afford to get a home because rates were so low, it didn’t matter that prices were skyrocketing out of control,” Kidwell said. “Fast-forward to today, and I think for the next 12 to 24 months we’re seeing a lot more variety of people and loans that are coming into the market.”

Kidwell said he has seen many more first-time homebuyers and people coming in at a lower price point. Generally, he has seen people gravitate back toward government loans or specialty products like construction or investment-style products.

Ultimately, banks are shying away from riskier products because they rely on maintaining a bigger margin. Yet, Shah Tehrany, CEO of Madison Mortgage Services, said brokers don’t care for profits as much as banks do.

Tehrany worked as a bank loan officer for over a decade before transitioning to the broker side of the business. He said, “The journey for me was really just more around not wanting to work for these retail companies with inflated margins and be able to actually give our clients …

“A lot of these retail organizations, their margins are just really heavily padded,” Tehrany continued. “And so it sort of precludes us from being able to really deliver some really good rates and

RETAIL VERSUS BROKER

The necessity for more nontraditional loans is what also allows brokers to thrive, more so than retail loan officers. Brokers have a real advantage in a high interest rate environment where more and more borrowers cannot qualify for conventional loans. Brokers have access to

Maximilian Masters, director of sales, Timeless Mortgage

a wide variety of loans through different lenders, giving them an advantage.

Retail lenders have needed to cut back on staff due to waning demand in the market, and Kidwell explains that this typically means losing support for nontraditional loan products. Again, this means losing out on first-time homebuyers and those looking for more affordable loan options.

“What most retail lenders have been doing is they’re shrinking their support teams. And so when you shrink support, the first thing they’re gonna do is take their nontraditional loan products and they’re gonna stop supporting those,” Kidwell said.

Homebuyers are also prioritizing low interest rates in this environment, and brokers likely have more access to these lower rates just by having more options and choice. Also, competition is still tight given the low amount of inventory throughout the country, so it increases efficiency to have brokers shop around for the buyer.

“Retail lending is going to have higher interest rates because of the layers of management that are either required or just very traditional in retail lending,” Kidwell said. “So when you remove those layers, you obviously remove all

that cost. And so the broker that either works for a brokerage or the broker owner has a much more competitive interest rate out of the gate.”

UWM has definitely helped the broker channel with its Game On initiative, blowing its competitors out of the water. The lender announced at the beginning of the year that it’s giving up to 125 basis points to brokers to use on any loans they lock with the lender, with a maximum of 40 basis points per loan. The company itself has benefited immensely from these aggressive price reductions, winning over 54% of the entire broker market, according to its fourth quarter earnings report.

“We’ve seen increasing market share overall in wholesale over the past couple years,” Elezaj said. “Just this year, a quarter to date, a couple thousand retail loan officers have left retail and joined wholesale. And they’re gaining more deals, and they’re winning business because of it.”

While other companies are struggling to make payroll, UWM has about 500 brokers partnering with their business per week, and thousands by month, Elezaj said. And their broker partners are raving about how UWM has contributed to their success.

“Our account executive with UWM has been incredible,” Kidwell said. “They are truly invested in brokers.”

“We love UWM,” Tehrany said. Madison Mortgage Services is ranked sixth among UWM’s top broker partners. “They’re a great company that’s focused on a lot of the same things that we’re focused on, which is speed, quality of execution, and good rates.”

The grass sure does seem greener on the wholesale side, but before retailers jump ship, they need to consider what it means to be a broker. Most importantly, it means losing their support system.

Maximilian Masters, director of sales for Timeless Mortgage, previously worked in retail before becoming a broker, and realistically illustrates the challenges that come along with that transition.

“The beauty about working the retail related side has to do with lots of support, whether it’s large marketing related teams, corporate support at an underwriting level, or a legal or compliance level,” Masters said.

The tradeoff is that brokers are allowed more freedom. They can provide their clients whatever loan product they would like from a wide variety of wholesale lenders. Masters said he was at a stage in his career where he knew enough to be “dangerous.” By that he means he knew enough about compliance and marketing to handle them himself.

“If you are a self-sufficient loan officer, meaning you self-source your business, you have a realtor base, and your purchase focused, the broker space is a wonderful, wonderful place to be right now,” Masters said.

Masters also advises retail loan officers considering switching into wholesale to not do it for the compensation rewards.

“In the retail space, it’s relatively well known that the LO is typically compensated a little bit less. … But higher comp doesn’t necessarily mean better product,” Masters said. “And it doesn’t always mean a better rate at the end of the day. … I think that both retail and the wholesale related spaces are going to yield fruit.” n

Shane Kidwell, CEO, Dwell Mortgage

Shah Tehrany, CEO of Madison Mortgage Services

TRANSPARENT PRICING. EXPERT SUPPORT.

NO add-ons to pricing based on property type, credit score, LTV or transaction type.

Wholesale Loan Features:

Up to 90%1 CLTV for loans up to $3.5 million

Fixed-rate loans, ARMs and HELOCs available

No seasoning period or limits for cash-outs

Available to LLCs and Revocable Trusts

FICO ® sco re only required for PM I loans

Only one apprai sal report regardless of loan size

Joseph Noviello

(718) 240-4780

jnoviello@ridg ewoodbank.com

NMLS ID# 625762

Bijan Farassat

(917) 731-4870

bfaras sat@ridgewoodbank.com

NMLS ID# 646654

OCN MODESTLY PRESENTS:

In 2022, we had a record turnout for our best event … yet. Let’s just say, you won’t want to miss this year’s Originator Connect and these exclusive programs:

Free NMLS Renewal * Build-A-Broker Non-QM Summit

Private Lender Forum & so much more!

*Complimentary registration available to NMLS-licensed active LOs and their support staff. Show producers reserve the right to determine final eligibility.

Finding A ReferralUnique Partner

Striking Out With Real Estate Agents?

Try Wedding Planners Or Guidance Counselors

BY KATIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZIBE

Everyone wants a home, has a home or knows someone who wants to buy a home so everyone is either a potential client or a referral source. Break the routine by seeking out opportunities from the most unlikely places.

Stop and think about what every other originator in the country is doing. They’re scrambling, aren’t they? They’re chasing after realtors like a game of cat and dog. But guess what? Realtors and agents are hurting just as much as originators because homebuying activity is down. There’s a severe deficit in housing inventory, rates are sky high, and home prices are inflated across the country.

In October 2022, when rates were just beginning to spike, Adam Smith, originator sales coach and speaker at Just The Tips Coaching, attended a conference in which a man was on stage enthusiastically advising originators to call more real estate agents.

“He said, ‘Now’s the time to double down. If you’re calling 20 agents a day, call 40.’ I’m like, why? Where does that end? You just called 20 agents that aren’t doing any business and now you’re gonna call 40 that aren’t doing any business? Anything times zero is still zero,” Smith said. Originators who have a niche can focus on developing expansive networks of referral sources that don’t involve real estate agents. Instead, they can focus on nontraditional sources such as divorce attorneys, immigration attorneys, wedding planners, or even high school guidance counselors. The potential for sources within each niche is limitless. Now, here is how to win them over.

DIVORCE ATTORNEYS & FINANCIAL CONSULTANTS

Divorce financial consultant Olivia Summerhill is constantly being bombarded with cold calls from loan originators, bankers, and wealth managers. But originators can avoid the cold shoulder by showing these divorce attorneys and consultants that they have specific designations or certifications in divorce lending.

For example, it couldn’t hurt originators to put “certified divorce lending professional” under the current position field in their LinkedIn profiles. Then, when they go to connect with divorce attorneys or financial consultants, they won’t have to do as much convincing.

“Niching down and actually specifically working with one type of clientele that’s gonna most likely get them in the door,” Summerhill said. “If someone on LinkedIn reaches out to me and they actually have a certification and divorce as a lending professional, I’m more likely to have a conversation with them.”

Summerhill works primarily with high-networth women going through divorces — a fascinating niche. The words “high net worth” can bring a smile to a loan officer’s face because of potentially bigger commissions. However, to be deemed trustworthy by attorneys or divorce financial consultants, the originator must be patient and emotionally intelligent.

Divorce is an intensely emotional process, even for the person who chooses to leave the marriage. It’s common for divorcees to feel overwhelmed and confused — most don’t have a clear

roadmap for how to process the loss of a spouse, the building of a new life, and creating an identity separate from the marriage.

“The emotions that go into it are probably the most complicated part of it,” Summerhill said. Even in best-case scenarios where the divorce is amicable and collaborative, she said, “The emotions going into that house are going to be more elevated — let’s just use the word extreme — than selling the house because the kids are out and we want to go buy a vacation home and then travel the world.”

Summerhill takes on celebrity clients from time to time. Due to confidentiality laws and agreements, she cannot disclose who these celebrities are, but she can explain her decision-making process in picking a loan officer to take on those particular clients. The number one rule is don’t swoon too hard.

“They have to be extremely confidential and they absolutely have to be discreet,” Summerhill said. “For that trust to work, you can’t be impressed with names. … You have to be able to say no to these people who have most of their world say yes to them. They have the managers, they have the staff, they have all of these assistants saying ‘yes, absolutely.’ So you can’t be intimidated by them.”

IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS

Renata Castro of the Castro Legal Group has been an immigration attorney for nearly a decade, but her career in immigration law spans longer than that. Castro used to raise EB-5 capital for foreign investors looking to move to the

Olivia Summerhill, a divorce financial consultant.

United States through U.S.based investments. She has a team of about 10 loan officers she refers clients to — all certified and experienced in working with immigrants.

Castro previously worked as a loan officer on the wholesale side for the now-defunct Green Point Mortgage and World Savings Bank, so she understands the complexities of working with this demographic.

“The main problem with financing or working with immigrant clients is that a lot of loan officers don’t take the time to understand the different tiers of immigration status,” Castro said. “They don’t ask the lenders the hard questions from the get-go. So they will just submit a pre-approval, get some kind of rate quote, and not delve into the different layers of that deal.”

Without asking lenders the hard questions, originators can’t gather all the proper documents and will see their deals implode at the closing table. Then they need to call back the attorney asking for a copy of a green card or a letter from a lawyer.

Castro says she sees this happen time and time again, typically from loan officers who haven’t taken the time to learn the different requirements.

“It is essential to understand all the limitations imposed by temporary immigrant status, such as work visas — which are limited in scope of time and authorization,” Castro said. “The best way to do that is to meet with an immigration attorney who will likely become your referral partner, and ask to be educated in the different visas.”

Any originator out there who is fluent in a foreign language should consider working with immigrants

and connecting with their attorneys. Language fluency is important, but not essential, Castro said. Alternatively, a mortgage broker can have team members who are fluent in the language of the target market. She advises that it’s easier to focus on one market at a time.

BUSINESS CONSULTANTS FOR IMMIGRANTS

The American Dream isn’t necessarily about buying a house; It’s about building generational wealth. While homeownership is a primary catalyst for building wealth, immigrants also can accomplish this by starting a family business. According to the Small Business Administration, immigrants account for 18% of business owners with employees and nearly 23% of business owners without employees. Additionally, 37% of employer businesses involving accommodation and food services and 46% of transportation and warehouse nonemployer businesses are owned by immigrants.

The data clearly demonstrates that many immigrants love to pursue the entrepreneurial path, but getting a business loan from a bank is notoriously difficult, especially for those who have poor credit or no credit at all. For example, Japan has no formal nationwide credit system. In many other countries, a borrower’s creditworthiness is calculated differently than in the U.S., so immigrants’ credit scores may transfer over poorly.

James Chittenden, a business consultant and co-founder of OneClickAdvisors.com,

works with immigrants who need alternative sources of

James Chittenden, a business consultant and co-founder of OneClickAdvisors.com.

funding for their business. Oftentimes he recommends that his clients pull equity from their homes to access the funds they need. In his case, the roles are reversed where he’s calling up loan officers to get these transactions completed.

“A lot of people, immigrants included, are more inclined to take a risk when necessary,” Chittenden said. “If you don’t wanna risk your home for a business, then maybe that’s an indication of somewhere in your plan you need to look at and figure out where your lack of confidence is.”

According to Chittenden, if a client is not willing to invest their kids’ college fund into this business or mortgage their mother’s house, then perhaps the business is not worth pursuing.

Chittenden has built a network of originators he can contact when clients need a cash out-refi, a home equity loan, or a HELOC to fund their startup or small business.

“The best ones are responsive and know all the possible ways to obtain credit given the client’s unique situation,” Chittenden said. “If it cannot be done, they are ready with answers to help the client turn today’s ‘no’ into a ‘yes’ in the future, or alternative financing. My clients tell me which lenders handle them well.”

WEDDING PLANNERS

Smith, of Just The Tips Coaching, is an expert in finding nontraditional referral sources to fit a particular niche. Nontraditional in this sense means outside the realm of typical referral sources such as realtors, real estate agents, certified public accountants, and divorce lawyers. For

example, wedding planners can be great sources for generating leads.

How did Smith come up with this genius idea of going to wedding planners for referrals? It’s simple. He thought about when a consumer typically thinks of buying or refinancing a home and who is around when that happens. In a divorce, one spouse usually keeps the house while the other refinances or they both need to buy a new house. The divorce attorney will know what the decision is and have their client’s financial information, making them a great referral source. Wedding planners are not all that different.

“Getting married is a psychological trigger that leads to the buying, selling, refinancing of homes,” Smith said. “What people are involved when that psychological trigger occurs? Wedding planners, florists, calligraphers, DJs, whatever. … These are people that don’t get the kind of love real estate agents get from mortgage originators.”

The wedding planner is likely in close contact with the soon-to-be married couple or at least the bride who is most often the primary decision-maker. The planner will likely overhear or flat-out ask the couple about their plans for moving in together and whether that involves buying property or refinancing a mortgage. If they are, the wedding planner could then hand over the originator’s business card.

However, originators can take it one step further by offering wedding planners the idea of setting up a private Facebook group. Smith demonstrates how this pitch could work:

“I am going to start a private Facebook group for

Renata Castro of the Castro Legal Group.

you, your vendors, and your customers. I’ll make you an admin even though I’ll do all the work for you. You go ahead and add all of your vendors, your calligrapher, your caterer, your florist, your DJ, so on and so forth. And then you can start adding your clients to that Facebook group,” Smith said. “If they have questions about the flowers, your florist is gonna be able to pipe up. I’ll keep my nose out of it. I don’t want to influence anybody unless it becomes a question. Somebody’s asking for information on housing or mortgages, I’ll certainly pipe up.”

HIGH SCHOOL GUIDANCE COUNSELORS

This may sound quite random, but originators with a niche in financing boomers looking to downsize, high school guidance counselors could be a great referral source.

Guidance counselors typically meet with students to prepare them for college, and they might even know if the student’s siblings have also left for college. Therefore, they should know which parents are going to be empty-nesters this spring.

“I want to form relationships with the high school guidance counselors because they have their finger on the pulse,” Smith said. “The older sibling already went through, the younger siblings are about to graduate.”

When the last kid in the house prepares to get sent off to college, that’s typically when the parents begin to think of downsizing. Or, in some cases, the parents may want to take out a HELOC or home equity loan to contribute more to

their kid’s college education fund. In other words, this is another life event that leads to the buying, selling, and refinancing of homes.

So, for any originators out there who have kids either in high school, out of high school, or soon to be entering high school, they can easily build a relationship with one or more guidance counselors at the local school.

Just a reminder, this introduction will work with a simple phone call. In today’s day and age, randomly showing up to a school is not the proper thing to do.

“I would probably use an icebreaker and say, ‘Hey, my child is in your school,” Smith said. “‘I don’t know if you’re their exact guidance counselor or if you will be, but I thought I would at least have a conversation with you about what you think kids are doing after high school. What do you recommend they should do? By the way, here’s my situation. I’m a loan officer for company XYZ, and this is my education level.’”

Notice that this is not a sales pitch, but a regular conversation. The key to building an authentic and long-lasting relationship is being friendly, personal, and helpful to people. In this example, the originator casually mentioned what they do for a living without offering their services. It’s better to avoid making a sales pitch in the first conversation.

If the originator’s child already graduated from high school, they could call up the guidance counselor and say, “I think you were my son John’s guidance counselor when he was in high school two years ago. He’s in college, but doesn’t love it. Could I just share my concerns with you and see if you have any feedback?” n

Adam Smith, Originator Sales Coach & Speaker at Just The Tips Coaching.

The Gulf Coast’s ultimate gathering

for

mortgage pros.

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.

Mortgage Banker Magazine readers like you can attend for free by using the code NMPFREE.

www.ultimatemortgageexpo.com

THE BIG THING

BY KATIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

Introducing the highly controversial and undisputed champion of the broker channel, with his company checking in at 2,144 loan originators, spanning 219 branches nationwide, totaling $5.07 billion in loan volume this past year, ladies and gentlemen, it’s NEXA Mortgage CEO Mike Kortas.

Mike Kortas is a fighter who lives in luxury but grinds away like he’s still homeless

United Wholesale Mortgage’s No. 1 star player among its broker partners, NEXA Mortgage has more than double the loan officers of its leading competitor, C2 Financial, and 48-year-old Kortas is out there hunting for more in the midst of this “LO boom” he claims is happening.

“Now is the time to grind. It’s about market share now,” Kortas posted on his Facebook page, above another post showing off his NEXA jet.

Most of his LinkedIn and Facebook posts are short motivational videos for loan originators, but that’s not the only reason people flock to his page. Mostly, they love to see the CEO battling other executives and major players in the industry — his main contender being UMortgage CEO Anthony Casa.

In February, Kortas posted a screenshot of Casa’s email that announces the kickoff of UMortgage’s first quarter capital raising venture, saying, “This is funny. Why do you need to raise capital? Hard times? I’ll buy it to save the loan officers you are trying to screw over.”

Kortas claims to be a champion for brokers, who he believes are treated unjustly at times by higherups in the industry. Although he’s considered a hero in some people’s view, to others he’s a menace, a gossip, a man who’s willing to cut you off at the knees if it means staying ahead. One thing they could all agree on is, he’s enormously entertaining to watch.

“There are people who say that I’m as cutthroat as you can get,” Kortas said. “So I’m going to let the industry answer that.”

A FIGHTER’S INSTINCT

Despite how outspoken and fierce he is now, Kortas didn’t start off that way. Aggression wasn’t something he was born with; it was

something that life brought out in him. In his early childhood Kortas was polite, kept to himself, and excelled at school.

“I didn’t have the most wonderful upbringing,” Kortas said. “I was a kid who would just take it for a long time and just deal with certain things that were going on in the home.”

But growing up in a broken home caused him to develop some rough edges. Between the ages of 14 and 16, he spent a lot of time in juvenile detention.

At 16, Kortas was in the custody of a foster mother with whom he never formed a close relationship. On his 18th birthday he was thrown out of the house — don’t call it a home — with nowhere to go.

“That was the first time I actually had to sleep in the streets,” Kortas said. “I was an 18-year-old boy that probably looked 15 walking into a homeless shelter. But that’s not the safest place for a kid, even as a male, because you had to go to an all-male homeless shelter. There was a situation that I had to … well, let’s just say I bailed out of that real quick and never went back.”

Instead, Kortas found a barn to sleep in and, with the owner’s permission, that ended up being his home for about a year. He shared a pen with a young calf being raised for slaughter with only a sleeping bag and a hay floor to keep him warm.

Homelessness taught him quite a few valuable lessons, though. For one, he developed an instinct about who he should trust and who he shouldn’t.

“I learned to hate people who say one thing and do another because on the streets you have to rely on, I guess, instincts and your judgment of people,” Kortas said. “Sometimes when you judge a person the wrong way, things go south.”

GOING THE DISTANCE

Kortas wasted no time in getting to work. While still residing in a barn, he began working two full-time jobs — a landscaper by day and gas attendant by night.

“I actually attest my work ethic today to the landscaping job,” Kortas said. “You’re talking about legitimately digging ditches and shoveling rock. Some people talk about that as a joke, but it was a reality for me.”

But the money from that job alone was not enough to sustain him. Another thing he learned was life on the streets is expensive. He didn’t have the materials to cook so he was always eating out at fast food places, ordering off the dollar menu. So, he began working as a gas station attendant when his landscaper shift ended.

Life’s circumstances had already led him to develop a strong work ethic, but what really lit the fire under him was getting his then-girlfriend pregnant when he was 19.

Mike Kortas, left, and UWM CEO

Mat Ishbia at Nexa Fest 2022.

STEPPING INTO THE RING

With a baby boy on the way, Kortas scrambled to get his life in order. He needed a job that provided more earning potential and benefits for his son. However, after dropping out of high school three times and never attending college, his options were limited. For the next four years, Kortas worked as a bill collector, which he describes as his college education in sales.

Although some would claim being a bill collector doesn’t make one a salesman, Kortas begs to differ, saying, “Getting somebody to pay money for something they no longer have is the hardest sales job in the world.

“I was orchestrating settlements with big business people at a very young age,” Kortas said. “But it got me talking to executives constantly. And it got me talking to just business like-minded people, even though most of them were small businesses that failed.”

He would constantly refer deals to mortgage companies so his clients could refinance their mortgages and pay off their debts. This is what introduced Kortas to the mortgage industry, and after talking to some loan officers he became interested. When the agency he was working for changed the way it compensated its collectors, he was confident enough to make a career switch.

It wasn’t as simple as Kortas expected, though. He entered the mortgage industry in 1998, during an environment of rising rates, but he saw other people in the industry doing well and used that as motivation. He was determined to leave those days of pumping gas and digging ditches in the past.

“The first six months in the mortgage industry were absolutely brutal,” he said. “I was working commission-only in a new industry, and there was

no training back then or licensing. It was, ‘Here kid. Here’s a desk and here’s a phone.’”

Luckily, a man by the name of Devon Sanders from North American Mortgage took Kortas under his wing and showed him how the business works, how to prequalify a purchaser, and how to read an application.

Kortas became experienced in originating subprime loans, getting financing for a customer with a 400 credit score by using referrals from his old bill collection friends.

“I was finally in a business where it didn’t matter where I came from or who I was … as long as I worked my butt off, I could make something of myself,” Kortas said.

After 9/11, rates plummeted, and Kortas reaped the benefits of a thriving industry. He opened his own branch under Nova Star Home Loans, which became one of the company’s top performers nationwide.

He needed to put in that work in order to provide for his growing family, and he was doing very well until his hubris got the best of him.

THE BIG BEATDOWN

Just as Mickey the trainer said in Rocky III, “The worst thing happened to you that could happen to any fighter. You got civilized.”

“Those are the years that I look at and say that I was unfocused,” Kortas said. “I forgot where I’d come from. Just like everybody else, I was out partying like crazy, making more money than I should have been making in my 20s. Whenever I didn’t have my son, I was in Vegas … then, of course, the financial crisis hit, and I realized that I couldn’t just step outside and pick money off the trees anymore.”

Kortas made most of his money doing refinances, but once the financial crisis hit in

>

2008, the fun was over. Businesses were shutting down, and Kortas felt completely defeated.

For years, his brothers-in-law would ask him to start a landscaping business with them, but those memories of performing hard labor under brutal heat led him to say no every time. This time he had no choice but to take them up on their offer.

with zero team members. That recognition gave him the confidence to leave his employer, Nova Home Loans, and start his own broker shop.

“I came up with this concept of why don’t we all go and open our own company and pull all of our business together, so that we can each benefit through larger pipelines,” Kortas said. “They all

Maybe I’m cutthroat, but you absolutely know what my intentions are.”

“I ended up having to kind of cut them out, because I grew that company so fast,” Kortas said. “I [used] my knowledge from the mortgage industry. I took this company to seven states and 13 metropolitan cities … within two years. So I grew this landscape company at this rapid rate.”

Kortas hated it, though. People looked down on him for being a landscaper while he was used to being treated like a mortgage professional. While building his landscaping company, he kept dabbling in mortgages, hoping that at some point the industry would turn around.

UP FROM THE MAT

By 2010 he couldn’t take it anymore and decided to sell the landscape company, which funded his way back into mortgages. He got his licensing and was determined not to lose focus this time. However, it was the start of a very unhealthy work-life balance.

Kortas worked 18 to 20 hour days six days a week with Saturday being his “crash day” to catch up on sleep. During that time he didn’t see his family for weeks or months on end.

Eventually, Kortas began averaging 24 loans a month as an individual loan officer with no support. He was the first loan officer to be ranked in Scottsman’s Guide

thought it was great at first.”

In the end, though, none of the other loan originators wanted to leave. They were too comfortable and decidedly satisfied with the money they were already making. They didn’t want to follow Kortas down an unknown path.

Kortas, on the other hand, was miserable. Although the money was piling up, his work-life balance was wreaking havoc on his health and family time. So he left his job along with the 72 loans in his pipeline that amounted to six figures and followed his dream. n

STRAIGHT TO THE TOP

“Idon’t think it was a hard shift to open up a business because by this point, I’d already failed at business a few times,” Kortas said. “My wife was like, ‘Oh, great, here we go again. You and your serial entrepreneurship.’”

But Kortas was unrelenting and knew he couldn’t let this opportunity pass. The entire business would be focused 100% on the staff and the loan officers, and thus NEXA Mortgage was created in Arizona.

Originally, Kortas thought he would go with the banking model, but found that brokering was much more beneficial to loan officers.

As the owner of NEXA Mortgage, Kortas receives residual income, and he decided his loan officers

should as well. That’s why he set up lifelong residual income programs for his sales team so they could also reap the benefits of their hard work.

“You have an opportunity to make more money at NEXA Mortgage than any other mortgage company in the country,” Kortas said. “We believe in a few core things, though. We like to be the best at just one thing. We have just the best interest rates, and just from that alone you can grow a company very quickly. We believe we must provide loan officers the absolute best opportunity in that category, so we focus on that heavily.”

It wasn’t before long that other big players in the industry began recognizing Kortas. Networking is the name of the game in this industry and, as a talker, Kortas was able to do so easily. Of course, the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) was able to help him forge an even closer connection with UWM CEO Mat Ishbia and UMortgage’s Casa.

FACING BETRAYALS

Though some people see themselves as “big dogs” in this industry, Kortas says he doesn’t. He merely sees himself as an advocate for loan officers, and says it bothers him to no end when he sees them being deceived or lied to by higher-ups in the industry. As previously mentioned, transparency and honesty are key to

earning his respect.

Kortas firmly believes Casa, former chairman of AIME, was using the association as a big database to recruit loan officers. Although Kortas said there is nothing illegal about that, he thinks the members of the association should be aware of it.

Deceit and lack of transparency go against Kortas’s core principles. He didn’t stand for it when he was a homeless teenager, and he won’t stand for it today.

“It bothers me when I see companies or people, like Anthony Casa, who has been deceiving people for years,” Kortas said. “And look, I followed his doctrine. I was one of his soldiers. But I realized there were these side door arrangements and I don’t like them. And I’m like, ‘That’s not what you told everybody, right?’ He himself said no broker should recruit from another broker. He was the one who regulated that with an iron fist.”

Casa did not respond to any of Kortas’s claims.

In September 2022, Kortas announced that he’d be leaving AIME due to a lack of transparency and claims over online bullying from other members. Though, Kortas admits he isn’t shy when it comes to firing back on social media, and claims it’s only to defend his company and its loan officers.

“Maybe I’m cutthroat, but you absolutely know what my intentions are in doing it,” Kortas said. “The one thing you’ll never question is what my intentions are and the transparency that I have on that.” n

Mike Kortas (center) with Shashank Shekhar, founder & CEO, InstaMortgage (left), and Andrew Berman, head of customer outreach and engagement, National Mortgage Professional at OriginatorTech Live, March 2023.

Picture your dream home. Now look down. There’s a bright red line keeping you out. Join host Katie Jensen as we dive into redlining and the legacy of discrimination. You’ll hear first-hand accounts from those who’ve had to fight back to achieve their dreams. And we’ll challenge industry leaders on how to rewrite this legacy.

Most Connected Mortgage Professionals 2023

This month, National Mortgage Professional Magazine features its “Most Connected Mortgage Professionals of 2023.” They are the top industry professionals selected by editors for their participation in the world of social media. The winners were chosen in part based on the nominations we received and focused on these social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Winners were not selected based just on their numbers.

To be considered for a Gold Level Connection, a nominee must be among the top three of the categories; Silver Level Connection in two; and Bronze Level Connection in one. None of the nominees were among the top in all four platforms. All information was supplied by the nominees and reviewed by magazine staff. Social media stats are as of 5/15/2023.

All honorees are listed alphabetically by last name within each category.

John Cady

John Cady, SVP Retail at Cardinal Financial, is a 30+ year mortgage veteran and award-winning champion for leadership, sharing his take on mortgage news, lending strategy, teamwork, culture, building connections, and other trending topics. His industry outlook has proven invaluable for both seasoned professionals and those fresh to the business.

Twitter Followers: 2,948

Facebook Business Page Likes: 2,652

LinkedIn Connections: 27,070

Instagram Followers: 3,094

Jonathan Fowler

Jonny Fowler has been in the mortgage industry for 29 years, from the beginning his main goal has always been to help people. Now he travels the country teaching Realtors how to use social media to grow their business.

Twitter Followers: 398

Facebook Business Page Likes: 7,191

LinkedIn Connections: 28,080

Instagram Followers: 2646

Leti Ramos

Loan Officer Leti Ramos is an industry veteran and top producer at Academy Mortgage where she proudly serves her Dallas, Texas, community. Leti believes education is key in overcoming difficulties with homeownership. She is an advocate for non-English speakers and strives to bring awareness to affordable housing issues.

Twitter Followers: 606

Facebook Business

Page Likes: 5,200

LinkedIn Connections: 6,502 follower and over 500 connections

Instagram Followers: 6,253

Adam Smith

Adam Smith is one of the country’s leading minds in lead generation. After building a successful mortgage brokerage in Denver, he wanted to share his knowledge and Just The Tips Coaching was born. Just The Tips provides a no-nonsense approach to helping clients build repeat and referral businesses.

Twitter Followers: 952

Facebook Business

Page Likes: 6,300

LinkedIn Connections: 27,070

Instagram Followers: 1,941

Sean Uyehara

Sean, with 15 years’ experience, assists clients in achieving homeownership dreams. Originally pursuing financial planning in Las Vegas, he found his passion in loan origination. Expert in loan programs and problemsolving, he provides tailored guidance for all clients. Outside work, Sean loves fitness, reading, and family time.

Twitter Followers: 39

Facebook Business

Page Likes: 1,900

LinkedIn Connections: 3,403

Instagram Followers: 1,427

From Sprint to Apple and Beyond

THE JOURNEY TO INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS

Nick “Suwan”vichit, a first-generation Thai-American, has established an extraordinary career in the United States. He embarked on his remarkable journey at Sprint PCS and later transitioned to T-Mobile, where he held the position of Regional Director at the company’s headquarters. His professional path took a new turn when he joined Apple Inc., initially based in the Midwest and subsequently involved in special projects in New York. Eventually, Suwan found himself in Las Vegas, leading 17 B2B sales teams dedicated to the comprehensive Apple Ecosystem.

In the summer of 2018, a childhood friend introduced Suwan to the mortgage industry, which led him to join On Q Financial. Building on his experience, he later became the West Region SVP at Sprout Mortgage before assuming the role of Head of Retail. With over 20 years of experience, Suwan has consistently excelled in business development across various sectors.

Suwan’s true passion lies in delivering innovative solutions, which perfectly aligns with the ethos of A.I. Sun West Mortgage, where he currently operates. Suwan’s outstanding network includes over 30,000 followers on Instagram and Linkedin. Notably, his followers encompass influential figures such as worldfamous DJ Steve Aoki, members of the Thai royal family, boxing world champions, media moguls, inventors

from Apple, Microsoft C-suite executives, venture capitalists, and telecommunications pioneers. Residing in Las Vegas, Suwan is deeply connected within the industry, given the city’s prominence as a global tourism hub and a prime destination for industry events.

In summary, Nick “Suwan”vichit’s journey as a first-generation Thai-American has been marked by his impressive career trajectory. From his early roles at Sprint PCS and T-Mobile to his endeavors with Apple Inc., his path has been defined by excellence. His transition into the mortgage industry, leading teams at On Q Financial and Sprout Mortgage, further highlights his versatility.

With a passion for providing innovative solutions, Suwan’s current role at A.I. Sun West Mortgage allows him to truly shine. Supported by a vast network of influential connections, he continues to make a significant impact within the industry from his base in Las Vegas, a city that epitomizes global tourism and serves as a hub for industry gatherings.

Nick “Suwan”vichit, A.I. Sun West Mortgage,

Eric Mitchell

Eric is also the executive vice president for Gold Star Mortgage and oversees all development strategies for their 500+ employees … nationwide! He develops innovative strategies proven to revolutionize the way Loan Officers and Realtors partner, generating unprecedented market reach. He is also a certified master practitioner in neuro linguistic programming.

Twitter Followers: 179

Facebook Business Page Likes: 937

LinkedIn Connections: 29,947

Instagram Followers: 1,552

Katy Parsons

Katy originally got into photography as a way to consistently generate content for social media and form connections. The conversations that are sparked by wildlife photos have lead to amazing connections with industry leaders and consumers alike. Nothing beats sharing your passion publicly, and having business grow as a result.

Twitter Followers: N/A

Facebook Business Page Likes: 4,775

LinkedIn Connections: N/A

Instagram Followers: 6,779

Nick Suwan

With 20+ years of experience in business development, “Suwan”vichit is a former leader at Apple, Sprout,and T-Mobile. He now applies his passion for innovation to A.I. Sun West Mortgage. Nick’s extensive network includes 30k+ followers on social media, with notable figures such as Steve Aoki, the Prince of Thailand, and Microsoft C-Suites.

Twitter Followers: N/A

Facebook Business Page Likes: N/A

LinkedIn Connections: 15,990

Instagram Followers: 15,500

Greg Sher

Greg Sher is an industry force in recruiting and marketing, having launched multiple verticals, helping propel NFM to a Top 25 lender. In 2017, he created NFM TV, which has received multiple Telly Awards. In 2020, he launched the Influencer Division, which boasts 10 of the top mortgage influencers.

Twitter Followers: N/A

Facebook Business Page Likes: 2,800

LinkedIn Connections: 500+

Instagram Followers: N/A

David Hosterman

David has been featured in national publications as Forbes, CBS Money Watch, The Street, US News & World Report, Lending Tree, Realator. com, Credit Karma, Trulia, Nerd Wallet, and MSN Money. In addition, David is the host on two Denver based radio shows on AM 1690 KDMT Denver’s Money Talk Radio.

Twitter Followers: 242

Facebook Business Page Likes: 959

LinkedIn Connections: 2,300

Instagram Followers: 423

Christopher Hussain

Christopher was the #1 Originator in the U.S. from 2010-11, personally originating/funding loans in all 50 states. Christopher also cofounded Sindeo (now Freedom Financial). As a recognized business and thought leader in the industry, he has scaled numerous lenders/ brokerages. RealKey is enabling faster, more efficient mortgage loan processing through automation.

Twitter Followers: 49

Facebook Business Page Likes: 71

LinkedIn Connections: 19,000+

Instagram Followers: 11

Global Integrity Finance LLC

DSCR Rental NO DOC Loans

LoanStream Mortgage Home Loans

Luxury Mortgage Corp.

Non-QM, Wholesale, Delegated Correspondent, Non Delegated Correspondent

Newfi Wholesale

DSCR, Bank Statement, 1099, Asset Depletion, Buydowns, Full Doc Non-QM

UT, VA, WA, WI civicfs.com

AL, AR, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI

AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, WA, WI,

AL, AK, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WY

AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WV, WI, WY

globalintegrityfinance.com

loanstreamwholesale.com

luxurymortgagewholesale.com

Starting

newfiwholesale.com

Lap Nachos & Other Bad Decisions Plague My Life

Nick Roberson is a long-time mortgage industry veteran and a board member of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals. He’s a forthcoming and giving guy, who shares his … unique … perspective on work and life on his Facebook account. Here are some of Nick’s FB thoughts this month:

Add nachos to the list of items I should not attempt to eat while driving my car back from lunch. I will be in my car eating my “lap nachos” if anyone needs me. Oh, and does anyone know a good local detailer? Lola (my car) may not forgive me for this one.

• • •

How Many Realtors does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Just one Realtor is all it takes to screw a handsome, bespoke lightbulb into the crystal and antique brushed brass chandelier in the grand entryway with soaring ceilings and custom crown molding in this classic Georgian-style home located in a gated neighborhood with private lake and golf course. Won’t last! Must see!

• • •

I have been trying to have a better diet lately. I missed the farmers market this weekend, so I was forced to visit the local grocery store for some fruit and vegetables. I usually like to try grapes first before I buy them, but I took a chance on some and brought them home. I struggled a bit with the packaging at first, but once I got that stubborn cork out of the bottle, I could pour a glass of those grapes. They were far better than I anticipated. I feel healthier already.

• • •

Why does this pop-up keep showing up over my head when I meet someone new?

I am especially confused about the “In-Game Purchases” options.

My daughter Savannah asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year and I sent her this picture of a shark desk. She simply responded, “No, you are not getting a shark desk. You need to grow up! Oh, and don’t ask for a Taco cart again, either.” Geesh, didn’t she see the teeth light up? How can you say no to that? Plus, it would go nicely with my Captain America chair.

• • •

I don’t care how nice the hand soap smells … you should never walk out of the restroom sniffing your fingers!

• • •

• • •

A poodle and a collie are walking together when the poodle suddenly unloads on his friend. “My life is a mess,” he says. “My owner is mean, my girlfriend ran away with a schnauzer, and I’m as jittery as a cat.”

“Why don’t you go see a psychiatrist?” suggests the collie.

“I can’t,” says the poodle. “I’m not allowed on the couch.”

• • •

Thanks to our extensive rainy season and the subsequent massive pollen count, I wake up each morning looking like a drunk raccoon after a 3-day bender who had an unfortunate collision with a garbage truck. I’m not sure where the glitter came from, though.

• • •

Stress is when you wake up screaming, and you realize you haven’t fallen asleep yet. n

To see more by Nick, just go to www.facebook.com/nickroberson

Nick Roberson

Discover Where Your Competitors Stand In The Mortgage Market

Adapting to today’s dynamic mortgage market has changed the way we analyze trends and track competitors. Luckily, we have the tools you need to determine your competitors’ market share and see how individual loan originators are performing in their market.

Mortgage MarketShare Module

Our Mortgage MarketShare Module provides real-time market insights on all lenders, helping you easily benchmark your company’s market share, identify new and emerging markets, and measure your sales performance against your competition.

Loan Originator Module

Our Loan Originator Module provides you with access to the largest and most comprehensive loan originator database in the country. Take advantage of this access to identify top-producing loan officers, verify production, and monitor competitors.

GET A FREE MORTGAGE COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

To show you just how powerful our modules are, we’re offering a free customized mortgage competitor analysis. Simply visit www.thewarrengroup.com/competitor-analysis and provide us with a few details. You’ll receive an updated 2021 vs. 2022 Quarterly Mortgage MarketShare Report at the company level paired with a Loan Originator Report highlighting top LOs and individual performance.

Visit www.thewarrengroup.com to learn more today!

Questions? Call 617.896.5331 or email datasolutions@thewarrengroup.com.

BENEFITS

• Monitor Residential and Commercial Lending

• Measure Sales Performance and Market Activity

• Identify High-Performing Competitors

• Uncover Emerging Markets and New Opportunities

• Pinpoint Top Loan Officers for Recruitment

• Identify and Verify Loan Originator Performance

• Measure Loan Activity Against Competition

• Highlight Success for Market Positioning

NEED MORE DATA?

Inquire about our NMLS Data Licensing and LO Contact Database options.