Best of Both Worlds
“We never stop learning Life’s lessons.” –Daryl Wizelman
I have been in the mortgage banking business for 30 years. I have owned my own $3B+ mortgage banking firm and I have worked for several companies both large and small. My number one take away from my experience is “Know thy self”. What I mean by this is now after all of my experience I know what type of company I want to work with. Many LO’s are unhappy working at the firm they are working with and/or for the manager they work for. There are a lot of choices buy very few good choices when it comes to choosing what firm to work with. If you are unhappy or contemplating a move here is a guide I created to help you assess your next move.
To me the best of both worlds equates to a mid-sized mortgage banking firm with a hands-off parent company with very deep pockets and a long history of success. At Draper and Kramer Mortgage we have a mid-sized mortgage banking firm with a very strong parent company in Draper and Kramer (parent) that has been in business for 126 years. This scenario enables us to offer our LO’s every viable correspondent and broker source. In addition we offer cutting edge marketing & technology. Finally we have a very flat management structure. This allows the LO to go directly to our decision makers to get things done quickly and efficiently.
The areas I weigh in choosing a company include;
1. Big company vs. small company: I am not a big company guy. I prefer to work with a mid-sized mortgage banker who knows Southern California.
a. I want to work in an environment where I know everyone and they know me.
b. I want to know that if a member of my team has an issue I know who to go to and I have confidence that they will work through the issue with me.
c. I am not an employee number. I don’t want to be in an abyss with hundreds or thousands of other employees.
d. When I have an issue or problem I don’t want to be shuffled from this person to that person. I want someone to take accountability and help me. And help me now.
e. I want a parent company with very deep pockets to support the mid-sized mortgage company.
f. I want a company with a very long history of growth & success in mortgage banking. Draper & Kramer has been in business for 126 years.
2. Culture: To me corporate culture is a HUGE part of my happiness and success. We are spending 2000+ hours each year at work and I want to work with a firm and a group of people who are happy and committed to one another. I don’t want people to say it isn’t my job, or not return emails and calls. I want to know who is accountable and be able to call on that person for help and/or guidance.
3. LO first: In some of the larger firms they don’t put the Loan originator first. Some companies believe that LO success is a result of the companies system and not the LO’s hard work. This is completely backwards. The company is successful BECAUSE of the hard work of the LO’s. The firm I work with MUST recognize the LO is the customer and value every single loan we originate. Every loan is important!
4. Access: In some firms LO’s don’t have access to the key decision makers. I believe the best firms are firms where everyone’s door is open and the LO’s are free to utilize the services of anyone within the firm. The less layers of management the better! If I know that Tippy is the head of the closing department, I go to Tippy and she makes the decision. There isn’t the need for middle managers to check with other middle managers etc. This wastes time and makes the firm and the LO look bad.
5. Must Haves: To me there are certain things I can’t live without in a mortgage banking firm. Some of those things include;
a. Must have a culture focused on the LO’s success.
b. Must be able to close purchase loans and refi’s in 25 days or less.
c. Must have a competitive LO commission schedule.
d. Must be agency approved (Freddie, Fannie & Ginnie).
e. Must be fully delegated to $2M+.
f. Must have all available mortgage banking and broker products.
g. Must have competitive rates and fees.
h. Must have great marketing at no cost to the LO.
i. Must have easy to use but current technology.
j. Must have a loan officer assistant for every LO.
k. Must have a scenario desk that responds accurately and quickly.
l. Must have local appraisers where the company pays them 100% of their quoted fee and pays them quickly.
m. Must not be too big where my presence doesn’t matter to the firm.
6. Knowing what you are getting into: Some companies are great at recruiting but can’t back-up what they sell. Sadly my team and I have had this experience. It is important to talk to a wide variety of people who work at the firm and those who worked at the firm and don’t currently work there. This way you can discover all of the positives and negatives BEFORE you commit.
After years of searching and hitting my head against the wall I have discovered that Draper and Kramer Mortgage is the firm that meets all my needs and the needs of my team. We do everything a big company can do but we do it much more efficiently.
“We must ask ourselves who we are and what we want.” –Daryl Wizelman