‘Legend of Lending’ Leads The CE Shop’s Mortgage Program to Success

The CE Shop made waves in mortgage education since launching their courses last year. Why? Superior education content and instruction led by Michelle White. The CE Shop is proud to congratulate Michelle on her Legends of Lending designation!

White has had an admirable career as a mortgage professional since 1993 and has successfully navigated the ups and downs of the mortgage market over the years. Although Michelle is a legend in her own right, her rise to legendary status involves a diverse background in the mortgage industry and rather humble beginnings.

White began her career as an MLO Assistant and quickly transitioned to a Mortgage Loan Originator. Her zest for learning and variety also led her to explore careers that would allow her to experience all aspects of the mortgage process from underwriting to mortgage collections and insurance. Even when markets became volatile, she viewed what others would perceive as reasons to change their career instead as opportunities to strengthen her skills and knowledge within the industry.

Almost two years ago, White decided to take her passion for knowledge and join The CE Shop as a National Mortgage Expert and help launch NMLSapproved pre-licensing and CE courses for mortgage professionals. She came in with a razor-sharp focus on providing a quality curriculum that would set new MLOs up for success in the mortgage industry. She also brought a special interest in mortgage ethics.

White recounted the time that she experienced, what she calls, her “breaking point,” which only deepened her interest in mortgage ethics. She was expected to underwrite a loan where she had uncovered an attempt at fraud. After bringing the discrepancy to her supervisor, she found no support, and was still encouraged to go forward. She decided to take a stand against the decision of her supervisor, and although it cost her the position, she gained a new sense of purpose and dedication to ensuring that mortgage professionals are equipped and intent on providing principled assistance to their clients.

In her work with instructional teams at The CE Shop, she infused some of these pivotal moments into the curriculum so that students get a real-world feel for what they may face at some point in their own careers. “Some of my own personal experiences were incorporated into the lessons,” White noted as she spoke of her process for designing The CE Shop mortgage courses.

The CE Shop’s mortgage education program had a formidable start with White at the helm. Her philosophy of variance in content delivery, making complex mortgage laws more digestible, and practical application of the duties of an MLO coupled with a well-designed curriculum and interface quickly moved the program forward. White is proud that students of different learning styles have been successfully navigating through the course and demonstrating content mastery.

“It’s encouraging to see how many people are able to get through the program successfully,” she said.

Fortunately for the mortgage industry, retirement is not in White’s plans. She plans to stay at The CE Shop as long as she can and feed her hunger for teaching and learning. Always the visionary, she has already begun formulating plans for new offerings that will further develop the program, including ongoing professional development courses.

Personally, she hopes to continue living out her belief that learning is a journey and not a destination by sharing her knowledge with other mortgage professionals as a motivational speaker.

As an industry veteran, now officially a “legend”, White has some valuable advice for aspiring and up-and-coming MLOs: “You can do a lot of good in the mortgage industry. You’re helping people realize the dream of homeownership; one of the great American dreams. If you can help someone achieve housing stability through purchasing their own home, you’re just making your community a better place to be.”

That may be the best commission any mortgage professional could ever earn.

Investor interest may have leveled off in 2022, but when it returns they will want to start looking for those young investors.

Katie Jensen, staff writer for Mortgage Banker, says this younger generation sees themselves not as a first-time homebuyer, but more as an investor. Social media seems to be fueling the property investment craze among Gen Zers and Millennials.