Elite brokers share their tips at industry gathering
There’s no better way to succeed in the brokerage industry than to learn from the industry’s most successful practitioners. That was the premise of a recent panel discussion at a gathering of one of the nation’s most prominent mortgage industry trade associations.
Titled “Purchase Pros: Top Producing All-Stars,” the panel discussion was part of the Hall of AIME event that took place in Naples, Fla., last month. Moderated by Brendan McKay (pictured immediately below), president of advocacy at AIME, the discussion lured a standing-room only crowd of other AIME members eager to learn the secrets of top originators billed as having “cracked the code on purchase volume.”
McKay is no slouch in the originations realm in his own right, ranked second in his home base of Maryland and 48th overall nationally. His 2020 volume comprised 81% in refinancing and 85% purchases – closely mirroring industry trends in a mercurial market.
Panelists included Allison Thenhaus (pictured top left), senior broker/branch manager at C2 Financial Corp.; Ben Bell (pictured top right), producing branch manager at UMortgage; Hanh Dao (pictured below left), mortgage loan originator at Lock It Lending; and Major Singleton (pictured below right), mortgage broker at Major Money Matters. Brief bios of each panelist were provided as backdrop to the dais to illustrate their rock-star status:
- Thenhaus was named the No. 1 originator in her home base of Colorado in 2020, 2021 and 2022. She was among the top 1% of brokers connected to United Wholesale Mortgage, according to the bio. In her first year at C2 Financial, she posted $44 million in volume, she told Mortgage Professional America in a previous interview earlier this month.
- Bell was ranked in the top 1% of brokers in 2019, 2020 and 2021 – a particularly impressive showing given his recent entry into the broker channel from retail.
- Dao was ranked 17th top originator last year, and was the top-ranked female in the industry. She previously was the top producer at Wells Fargo.
- Formerly working on the retail side, Singleton posted $40 million in volume across 100 units last year – the lion’s share of that achieved in the first quarter alone. Befitting his name, Singleton does brisk business helping military veterans achieve homeownership. To that end, he has distinguished himself by providing educational offerings to members of the segment in enabling them to achieve their homeownership goals.
What are examples of CRM?
McKay started by asking each panelist the CRM they use. The answers:
- Dao: Bonzo and Follow Up Boss.
- Bell: Google Sheets and Homebot.
- Thenhaus: Homebot.
- Singleton: Bonzo.
Explore other mortgage CRM software options to see which one will work best for you and your company here. Read this article for more CRM Software Reviews.
What is the best mortgage software?
McKay then asked each panelist to identify their preferred LOS – loan origination system aka loan origination software. Bell, Dao and Thenhaus each said Arrive, while Singleton said LendingPad.
Read More: LendingPad Review
What is the answer to the ‘early bird catches the worm’?
The answer to the aphorism from Benjamin Franklin is productivity. To that end, McKay asked what time each of the panelists gets up from bed to start their day. The two men on the panel each said 5am, Dao said 7am and Thenhaus said 6am. All early, all eminently worm worthy.
What is the source of business?
McKay asked each panelist to identify their main source of business. The answers:
- Dao: Real estate agents, social media.
- Bell: Real estate agents, past clients.
- Thenhaus: Real estate agents, referrals.
- Singleton: Real estate agents.
“I like opening with that because it’s the questions people ask all the time,” McKay explained to those gathered. “The point of it is twofold: There’s so many different ways to do this business and be insanely successful as all these guys are. You do whatever makes the most sense for you, right?”
He offered a proviso of sorts: “Also to that point, any individual one of you guys out there is not going to relate entirely with everybody on this stage – and that’s OK. I want you to think about and find the person that you do relate the most to because what they’re doing will probably make sense for your business.”
Yet for all the diversity in terms of methods, there was a commonality from the panelists: To a person, each identified real estate agents as their top source for business. “As you are well aware, we are in a purchase market and these people who have long focused on the purchase business have always knocked it out of the park, McKay observed. “So, this is incredibly valuable information right now.”
