How having the 'perfect name' launched a career in mortgages
With a first name that’s synonymous with mortgage lending in the United States, Fannie Mae West might always have been destined for a career in the mortgage industry. But while she was plying her trade in real estate investing in the mid-2000s, the idea of getting involved in the mortgage business never clicked until a chance conversation with a broker West was doing business with at the time.
“He said, ‘You have the perfect name for the mortgage business,’ and the lightbulb went off,” she recalled to Mortgage Professional America. “I never thought about it until he said something that just planted the seed – and here I am.”
A mortgage professional named Fannie Mae and the mortgage industry may have seemed a match made in heaven, but the reality was that she entered the space at a challenging time with the market about to go into meltdown as the subprime crisis rapidly escalated.
By her own account, West has been weathering the storm ever since. “The message really shifted to helping people navigate finances and start having a plan, especially when it comes to making sure that this is the right purchase for you,” she said of her approach to turbulent markets.
“I call it the school of hard knocks. Those are the things that I really share with my clients and that’s where my passion came from.”
After signing up to the military out of high school, and knowing full well the difficulty of securing a mortgage for a first home, West said she’s proud that her typical clientele are a “mirror” of her own life: veterans and first-time buyers, the borrowers she has a particular passion for helping through the mortgage process.
“I think it’s really important for first-time buyers to understand what they’re getting because that’s something that I don’t feel I had at a young age,” she said. “Buying property in real estate or my first investment property, I don’t feel like I had that true guidance.
“I also really love helping veterans to make sure that they understand their benefits and they’re not being taken advantage of – and self-employed people too, because there are a couple of additional things that are needed. Planning is very important.”
Shifting focus in a changing market
While the COVID-19 pandemic saw interest rates plunge and homebuying interest surge, the subsequent jump in rates – and an affordability crisis that’s gripped scores of buyers – has cooled the housing and mortgage markets significantly since 2022.
For West, that means it’s more important than ever for every conversation with clients about purchasing a home to begin with a discussion of whether they have everything else in order before they move ahead with the process.
“I never say, ‘This is what you can qualify for,’” she said. “My question is, ‘Have you considered your budget? Have you looked at your numbers? What type of lifestyle do you live?’ I really think people need to look at where their money goes because this is a big purchase, and I believe in building wealth through homeownership, but I really try to set the proper expectations because we’re in a different market now.”
Industry association a pivotal part of road to success
Currently licensed in Ohio and Colorado with Optist Inc., West highlighted the assistance provided by the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) as an especially important aspect of her journey in the mortgage industry.
“When I first got in, I worked with that broker – the one that told me I had the best name for the mortgage industry – and he was just a really good person,” she said. “To get connected with AIME, it was the same feel. It reminded me of why I initially got in in the first place: not just my name but helping people, making sure we do things the right way as opposed to the wrong way.
“And that’s the support I get from AIME. I was on the fence about whether I should open a brokerage or not and then with the support I got within the community, it was a no-brainer.”
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