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BECAUSE SOMEONE TOLD ME TO WRITE MY OWN POST: Why I Won’t Stop Leaving Long Comments – Part 3

By
Mortgage and Lending with Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA

I recently left a really long comment on a post by fellow AR mortgage professional Paul McFadden titled Correspondent lending. Will it go the way of the mortgage broker?  It was a good post about his view on the future of correspondent lending.  I often enjoy reading mortgage related posts from fellow AR mortgage professionals because of the common interests and goals that we often share for the future of our industry. 

Based on my "unrepentantly verbose" comment, Paul suggested I reblog.  While I won't reblog the whole thing, I would like to share my thoughts on my personal experiences of working for different lenders during my mortgage career. 

The topic about the future of the mortgage industry as I know it as well as my place in this industry is something that I have given considerable thought to lately.

Although I have only been in the mortgage business for nearly eight years, it's been the most incredibly exciting and educational time of my life.  I've learned more about me, people, life, sales, marketing and business than I ever learned in my 17 years of formal institutional education. 

I love what I do and I want to do it for as long as I can, which is not something I could say for my previous career that I spent more than 10 years doing or the career before that where I spent another five years working at.  I absolutely adore many of my clients and so many have not only become friends over the years but they have become my biggest advocates.

 

During my mortgage career, I have worked for four different employers.  My very first position in the industry was with a large, national, direct lender, which I absolutely hated so much that I knew if I didn't leave I wouldn't make it in this business; I spent about a year and a half there. 

 

 

Next, I went to work for a large, CA mortgage banker, which I also didn't enjoy very much; way too much office politics.  As a relative newbie still working on developing my skills and client database, I didn't like the way my clients and I were treated, like we were second class employees/clients.  I spent about a year and a half working there too. 

 

 

After that, I landed at a small, local correspondent lender where I spent more than four years at.  I loved working there and working there was where I truly honed my mortgage skills and business. However, earlier this year, I began seeing some changes in the way that things were being done there and they didn't look good. 

This market has taken a tremendous toll on many small and local lenders and so many have not survived and many more will fall.  After much thought and consideration, I decided it was important for me to move onto a company that I felt was going to be able to survive the challenges of this market. 

 

In April, I made the move to Cobalt Financial Corp. and have been very happy here but am concerned that Cobalt is a mortgage broker and the market is not treating mortgage brokers very well.

I have recently spoken with my broker about some of my concerns about the future of my business by being with a mortgage broker and about whether or not he has thought about becoming a correspondent lender/mortgage banker again (he used to be). 

He indicated that he has given it some thought but that he simply prefers the broker role as opposed to the lender/banker role.  However, he does understand how the market is changing in regards to the role of the mortgage broker and it does concern him too.  He's been in this business far too long to give up and call it a day now.  He will adapt as he always has. 

I strongly suspect that Cobalt will be going through some changes in the near future especially if the big, national, retail banks have their way.  They want to see all mortgage brokers, bankers and correspondent lenders (except their divisions, of course) forced out of the business so that they are the only option that buyers have for a home loan. 

I hope that day never comes because so many of my clients have never been and never will be these big, national, retail banks preferred customers.  The needs of my clients as well as my business are best served by either a mortgage broker or a correspondent lender and not by some big, national, retail bank. 

As usual, I've already exceeded the 500 word limit for some of you ADD bloggers but I want to end my "unrepentantly verbose" post with the same message I ended my other two posts with.  Blog on rainers!  For my fellow "unrepentantly verbose" rainers:  don't worry about how long your posts or comments are.  If you've got something to say, just say it the best way you know how. 

 

 

MY "UNREPENTANTLY VERBOSE" COMMENTS ACTUALLY BRING ME BUSINESS: Why I Won't Stop Making Long Comments - Part 1 

BECAUSE SOMETIMES INTELLIGENT AND INFORMATIVE THOUGHTS AND RESPONSES CAN'T BE MADE IN A 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS: Why I Won't Stop Leaving Long Comments - Part 2

Posted by

 

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 Donne Knudsen

Realtor® - CalState Realty Services

DRE#: 01364050 / NMLS#: 249822 

 

805.2069123

 

E-mail   My Blog  

Serving low-medium income individuals and families as well as first time buyers with both their real estate as well as their mortgage needs including down payment assistance

Los Angeles County  --  Ventura County

© 2010 - All Rights Reserved

Comments (12)

David Zablatsky
Avant Realty Group - Needham, MA
Real Estate - Needham, MA

Donne,

 

Thank you for your posting!

 

-David

Sep 23, 2009 03:09 PM
Robert Vegas Bob Swetz
Las Vegas, NV

Donne - Very interesting and it must be very difficult for loan officers to work with some of the Banks and Lending Companies!

VB :o)

Sep 23, 2009 03:15 PM
Patricia Regan
The Regan Team Home Loan Group - Petaluma, CA

I wouldn't worry too much about the broker business going away. Bank of America just started accepting deals from brokers again. Maybe you guys are making a come back!

Sep 23, 2009 03:24 PM
michelangelo vasco
mvp realty inc. - Manhattan, NY

working for different types of companies within the same industry is a great way to learn the business by seeing how companies in different niches work. In my real estate career of almost 20 years I learned from every company I worked for

Sep 23, 2009 03:26 PM
Donne Knudsen
Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA - Simi Valley, CA
CalState Realty Services

David - Thx for stopping by; I appreciate it.

Robert - It is really hard working with some lenders right now.  Personally, I'm sending all of my clients loans to smaller, local, correspondent lenders.  I haven't sent a loan to a big, national, direct lender in almost six months.

Patricia - I don't think good brokers are going anywhere either.

Michelangelo - I like to think that I have some really good experience having worked at a lot of different types of lenders.

Thx for stopping by everyone; I really appreciate it.  :)

Sep 23, 2009 04:26 PM
Karen Cooper
Karen Cooper | Sr Mortgage Loan Originator ! NMLS # 223305 | First Federal Bank of Florida, Ocala, FL - The Villages, FL
Helping Homeowners w/Home Loans in 27 US States

Hi Donne - Oh, I so understand the deliberation process you are going through. Went through it myself last year, finally making a move from being a broker to being a broker/banker. My "average buyer/borrower" also cannot be forced in to the narrow slot of many of "the majors". And having the experience I have, I cannot accept the lack of service/attention offered by the majors. When I know there is a better way, I tend to speak up - makes for a rough road when working for a "tow the company line" type of organization. Admittedly, I am sometimes exhausted by the end of the day these days, having to fight so many battles on so many different fronts to get buyers/borrowers' needs/wants met. I understand the extraordinary value of earning the loyalty that leads to repeat/referral business, as do you. It's too bad that the regulatory environment we are operating within these days doesn't get that concept. They are "protecting" the real estate/finance markets right out of business. There's my two cents...did i get to 500 words yet? ;-)

Sep 24, 2009 09:33 AM
Donne Knudsen
Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA - Simi Valley, CA
CalState Realty Services

Karen - For me, making the change was really tough.  I had become so accustomed to the way things were at my previous employer, before I knew, I realized I was putting up with a lot more than I should.  I also liked the people I worked with very much.

I was a little uncertain about moving to a broker after so many years of having worked for a correspondent lender and working for a broker has presented challenges that I had not been used to but then again, this market has created scenarios and situations that many of us are not used to.  We've all had to change.

I am still very happy here at Cobalt and have no plans to make anymore broker changes any time soon.  My business and production this year is better than last year and for this, I am grateful.  Being a part of Cobalt has been a huge part of that.

I try not to worry too much about how this market continues to beat down and drive out the broker market; I simply don't have the time or energy for that.  I just try and do the best I can under the conditions I must work under and just roll with the changes the best I can.

If there ever comes a day that it becomes too unbearable to work under a mortgage broker, I will move to a correspondent lender before I ever go back to working for a big, national, direct lender.  Heck, I won't ever go back to doing that.  I would rather get out of the business and do something completely different than do that.

Sep 25, 2009 04:56 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

I love your story and I understand much of it and read a lot between the lines.  I found my niche finally in life in 1992.  And it was actually almost taken away from me... my former broker and the former owner of the company I bought actually offered it to another associate broker before he offered it to me.  Thankfully he didn't meet my broker's price... he did buy a company and it ended two years later in bankruptcy.  It's funny how we move through life and career choices. 

By the way... you can type an entire post in the comment of any of my blogs you like.  I adore you and your comments.

Sep 25, 2009 05:04 AM
Donne Knudsen
Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA - Simi Valley, CA
CalState Realty Services

Tammy - Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words; I really appreciate it.  Making a change can be really tough, especially in this market.  I too found my niche pretty early in my mortgage career that being low-medium income buyers.

Because my average sales and production are predominately based on the lower end of the market (around here that is any conforming loan amount), I have never been considered a "top producer".  As a result, the first two employers I worked for considered me and my clients less than worthy and we were treated as such and that was just unacceptable to me and my clients.

I don't care if a broker/lender is funding a 200k loan for a first timer or a 800k for some wealthy executive, they are both clients and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.  The same goes for the LO's for those clients.

Sep 25, 2009 05:31 AM
Shirley Parks
Sands Realty 210-414-0966 - San Antonio, TX
Broker, 210-414-0966, San Antonio TX Real Estate

Hi Donne, I always enjoy your posts and your comments that I come across, unrepentantly verbose or not. 

 

Sep 25, 2009 03:55 PM
Gene Mundt, IL/WI Mortgage Originator - FHA/VA/Conv/Jumbo/Portfolio/Refi
NMLS #216987, IL Lic. 031.0006220, WI Licensed. APMC NMLS #175656 - New Lenox, IL
708.921.6331 - 40+ yrs experience

Donne:  I followed the same path that Karen did recently myself.  I went from a broker situation in which I was an owner/officer within the company ... to joining a company that is a broker/BANKER.  Giving up the ownership of the business was a monumental decision, but I decided that making this move would be good for me and my family personally, and also for my clients.  I feel I can now provide a much broader and improved service to them, plus not live in fear that my opportunities to actually write business will disappear or brokerages will be legislated out of business.  I have also greatly increased the number of customers I can service, as my new company writes in almost every state in the union and has office locations in many other states, as well.  That was not the case with my smaller, personally owned prior situation.

Which brings me to this ... I know that you wrote you are not presently considering making a move to another lender ... but if this would ever change, please keep me in mind.  Chicago Bancorp has an office in California and I'd love for you to keep us in consideration should your thoughts change in the future.  If you have questions or just want some info ... contact me and take a look at our website.

Shameless, aren't I?  But I feel that sharing this information might possibly keep a good loan officer in the business ... and improve our company all at the same time.  I hope you don't mind me offering up the info ...

Gene

Sep 26, 2009 04:08 AM
Donne Knudsen
Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA - Simi Valley, CA
CalState Realty Services

Shirley - Thank you very much for your kind words; I appreciate it very much.  It's nice to hear that some people don't mind reading my posts/comments regardless of how long they are.

Gene - Thank you for your kind and gracious comments; I appreciate it.  It's nice to know that should I ever consider making another move, that I would have another option available to me.  Options are good.  It will definitely be interesting to see how the market progresses in the coming months.  I assure you, I'll still be blogging about it.

Sep 26, 2009 06:05 AM