Broker owner breaks norms with concierge real estate services
The echo of Wall Street’s roaring trade floors contrasts sharply with the quieter, more intimate exchanges over coffee tables as Californian families discuss their housing dreams. Yet, for Jim Black (pictured), the transition from a market maker trader to a loan officer has been as organic as it has been transformative.
By 2002, the hustle and bustle of trading stocks gave way to a different kind of hustle.
“In my early days on Wall Street, I realized that while I was amplifying the wealth of the affluent, I was not leaving an impact on people’s lives with important things,” the California-based mortgage expert said. “I made a shift from being a market maker trader in 2002 to becoming a loan officer. That shift allowed me to focus on what mattered: helping them with the largest financial decisions they normally make in their lives.”
In 2021, Black co-founded Revest Homes, a real estate agency that offers pre-sale renovations and staging services, as well as mortgage brokerage services through Revest Loans.
To date, over 8,500 families have turned their homeownership dreams into reality under Black’s guidance. From young couples stepping on to the property ladder for the first time, to disabled veterans looking for a sanctuary, every transaction is a new chapter.
Black’s vast network, which includes realtors, financial service professionals, insurance experts, and other trusted advisors, underscores his emphasis on personalized service. Every client is a unique puzzle, requiring a solution crafted just for them.
“People need custom lending solutions that allow them to feel like they’ve made a good choice and that they’ve been empowered with different tools to help them make the right choice,” Black observed. “So the first thing I always do is really dive deep with someone to get to their needs and understand what their goals are before I start talking about rates, or programs, or housing.
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“Once we understand their need, we can truly dive in with a custom creative approach to making them feel comfortable and surrounding themselves with the right professionals.”
Black breaks down two of Revest’s popular programs, which he said exemplify this customer-centric approach and mirror today’s housing shortage challenges.
“The housing shortage has made people have to approach housing in a different format,” he said. “One element is being able to renovate your property to stay or sell. In doing that, you create a value proposition for that homeowner to realize their goals or objectives. Is it worth doing a $200,000 renovation to stay in the property for the long run, or is it smart to do that to get a higher top dollar when they sell? That is our first product: a renovation program.”
The “trade-in mortgage,” his second groundbreaking offering, is another testament to his forward-thinking approach. This initiative addresses the prevalent anxieties in today’s housing market by allowing homeowners to purchase their next home before selling their existing one.
“We call it the trade-in mortgage,” Black said. “What that refers to is someone is not willing to sell their current property until they’ve identified the home that they want to buy because of all the unknowns. Are you going to live in an Airbnb or hotel for several months? Do you have special needs? All these unknowns make the program very popular - we’re taking the equity from one property to help purchase another property before they sell their current home.
“These innovative products exist with a lot of lenders, but only certain lenders have custom and creative approaches to each situation.”
The magic in Black’s approach lies in the transactions and the stories interwoven with them. With a mission to offer a “Nordstrom brand experience,” he envisions providing a holistic, concierge-like service far beyond the norm.
“Our goal isn’t to make a sale tomorrow; it’s to be there for our client’s entire journey, fostering lifelong relationships,” Black mused. “I don’t look at my job as being paid a commission.
“I look at my job as being there for a journey through someone’s life, to be part of those big decisions and feel like I’m a family office to them for a lot of those things that they need help with - the goal might not be just buying a house, it might be saving for college, or retiring. We don’t know those goals unless we get in front of them early enough to help develop them.”
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