Inside look at Trident Home Loans president's approach amid economic uncertainty
In the high-stakes game of mortgages and real estate, Martin Medve (pictured), president of Trident Home Loans, plays to win.
His strategy? A blend of military precision, sportsmanship, and an unyielding commitment to customer service. MPA caught up with Medve to uncover how his unique experiences have shaped his approach to conquering today’s tumultuous mortgage market.
Medve’s journey began at the Naval Academy, where he learned the value of teamwork and ethical conduct—lessons he’s carried into his business.
“It all starts with a team effort,” Medve said. “I built an A-team just like in the Naval Academy where I played football, track, and tennis. I learned that you win as a team, and you lose as a team and everybody I can trust - every single one of my employees - implicitly do the right thing.”
When it comes to the current mortgage climate, Medve doesn’t shy away from the hard truths.
“Interest rates aren’t going to change anytime soon,” he admitted. But he was quick to add that this isn’t a setback but an opportunity to be seized. His advice is to be proactive in providing better rates, rather than waiting for the market to shift.
“You’ve got to be aggressive now, offer better rates, and work closely with realtors,” Medve said.
He also touched on a trend that’s been affecting the housing market: homeowners’ reluctance to sell because of their current low-interest rates.
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“That’s probably the biggest factor people haven’t thought about,” Medve mused. “So it’ll be a double improvement when the rates go down, it’ll help people buy but also allow more people to sell because they’re able to move.
Medve’s message to potential homebuyers was clear and optimistic.
“So, do people really wanna get excited about buying a house right now? The answer is ‘yes’ you should,” Medve said. “You can’t refinance the price but can refinance the interest rate. Even now with high interest rates and home prices, when they go down, you’re looking at something like ten million people will buy when the rates hit 5%. People that have to move are finding that sellers are starting to take concessions, and actually, they’re getting a lot of contracts.”
Medve’s approach to navigating these challenging times is to lower his margins significantly, a move not all companies can afford, to help buyers commit to purchasing homes.
“But many companies can’t afford to do that because they’re already broke,” he said. “So you have to really mind your store. You have to do everything you can do to cut costs and you have to do everything you can do to reduce salaries and tell people, ‘Hey, this is a six-month to nine-month episode, and then in a year we can get get it all back. But right now, the whole company has to bear down and help provide lower rates to the borrowers to help them purchase houses.’
“And we aggressively did that. I brought in loan officers who will accept a lower commission but do a higher volume. That’s how we were able to build trust with the borrowers and obtain profitability in a very, very challenging marketplace.”
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