Broker highlights value offered by strength of community
Brokers’ share of the US mortgage market is on the rise – but plenty of potential for further growth remains, especially with homeowners and buyers alike facing an increasingly complex borrowing landscape.
While the percentage of mortgages originated through brokers is growing steadily, the US market continues to trail other countries, such as Australia, where brokers wrote a stunning 71.8% of all new residential home loans between October and December 2023.
There may be no secret sauce for the US broker community to hit those heights, but one Texas-based mortgage professional believes it’s on the right path.
Speaking with Mortgage Professional America at last weekend’s Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) Fuse annual conference in New Orleans, Hunter Bolling (pictured top), senior mortgage planner at Grow Mortgage, highlighted what he views as the unmatched value brokers can offer clients in the mortgage market.
Retaining that sense of community should be a key focus for the broker channel as it seeks to grow in the months and years ahead, according to Bolling. “I think the biggest thing is just staying positive and continuing the branding overall, and the community just staying together,” he said.
“I was in retail before becoming a broker, and I never saw a community on the retail side like what the broker can bring to the table. So I think if we stay as one and we support each other [as] a broker community in general, I think it can lead to a lot more success.”
Mike Rankin, President of Clearpath Mortgage Solutions, underscores the importance of maintaining quality client contact in a challenging mortgage market.
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) September 13, 2024
Read more: https://t.co/n5jEiCLnBn
Why mortgage brokers are more important than ever
A surge of homebuying activity during the pandemic, thanks to slashed interest rates and a remote-working revolution, helped place the value of brokers in sharp focus, with those mortgage professionals coming to the fore in helping steer their customers through a frenetic and unpredictable market.
The subsequent spike in rates has also presented its fair share of challenges for homeowners and hopeful buyers – and for Bolling, an education-driven approach has been essential throughout those changing times.
That starts with gaining a comprehensive understanding of what’s best for the client and which solution fits their overarching financial goals. “Even with the rates being as high as they were, we stayed really busy – just because it all goes back to [putting in] time,” he said.
“It’s finding what’s the right opportunity for the client. I call [the first phone call] a discovery call: I spend 15 minutes with them and say, ‘I want you to write your financial goals in a box… and once you write those down, let’s find a way to hit them.’”
How can newer mortgage brokers find their feet in the current market?
Bolling gave a presentation at Fuse detailing strategies for brokers to triple their business through high-level networking, defined branding, and effective use of social media to sharpen the effectiveness of marketing.
For newer brokers or those who cut their teeth in the industry during the pandemic, getting to grips with the turbulent market of recent years may have been especially daunting. Still, it’s essential that those professionals are not discouraged by market ups and downs, Bolling said – and that they remain willing to take a leap of faith.
Treading that path is something of a rite of passage for industry newcomers, according to Bolling. “Invest in yourself. It sounds almost cliched, but I was terrified,” he said. “And honestly, if it wasn’t for my wife pushing me to do this, then I probably would still be either working in retail or maybe searching for a job, because a lot of it shut down.
“But don’t be scared to take the risk, because the opportunity is amazing. I think the reward almost feels better on this side because you can actually build a relationship with agents, title, clients… whatever it is, you have the time to be able to invest in them. And I think that’s more rewarding than sitting behind the phone and being at a call center.”
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