Company president is retraining his focus to stay ahead
In leaner times, it’s wise to look at previously unexplored areas that could bear financial fruit. Given the downshift in the mortgage industry – what with higher rates and soaring property values – many are retraining their focus on various pathways for profit.
James Mercado (pictured), president of Proviso Transparent Mortgage Solutions, is among those pivoting to other avenues. “We’ve been focusing more on diversification and working more with minority sectors and helping them achieve homeownership in that space as well as concentrating more on veterans achieving homeownership as well,” he told Mortgage Professional America during a recent interview. “We’ve been looking at those niches more closely.”
Going the extra mile for customers
He places a premium on helping customers qualify for mortgages they otherwise not be able to secure. “We want to make sure our customers have their financial house in order,” he said. “We’ll take a deep dive into their credit report and credit scores. If we can help them boost their scores through financial counseling, this will help them get better rates and that reduces their loan level pricing adjustment which saves them a bunch of money – which in turn gives them more money to buy a new house.”
To that end, he suggested diversity in a company’s rank-and-file plays a key role. Mercado was among the panelists for a presentation at the AIME FUSE Conference titled “Cultivating Inclusivity: The Positive Impact of Diverse Recruitment.” He was joined by Janine Kempfer, vice president of impact for AIME and Matt Tillman, CEO of Tillman Consulting Group.
“I am Hispanic, so I’m very passionate about helping increase Hispanic ownership,” Mercado said. “So, one of the things we have in our company is bilingual loan officers, bilingual operations people, to help reduce that language barrier to help those people achieve homeownership for themselves. That’s a population that really desires to own a home. It’s a big deal in the Latino community, and we help facilitate that by having some documents in Spanish and having people able to speak Spanish and translate things.”
He remains optimistic about the industry’s future
Despite the doom-and-gloom scenarios posed by some about his industry, Mercado is decidedly optimistic about the future. Moreover, he believes the thinning of the herd – by some estimates, half of all loan originators will have left the business by year’s end compared to 2022 – is a positive sign for the industry.
“During the COVID years, it was super easy – like shooting fish in a barrel,” he said. “It gave an opportunity for people to get into the business and make a bunch of money. It wasn’t good for the industry overall,” he said. “So now what happens is you’re going to see the strong survive. You will see true professionals – those who are committed to mastering their craft and understand this is not an easy business. It’s a very complex business. So this shift is actually good for the industry overall even though the statistics say ‘wow, this is a disaster’. It’s actually not a disaster in my opinion.”
In terms of advice he’d give to newcomers in the industry, he pointed to three key areas of focus: “It’s super important that you shore up all your referral relationships, that you make sure that your sphere of influence knows exactly what you do and you’re committed to that,” he said. “The big thing is make sure you’re a member of AIME – the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts. They’re going to help you in all facets of your business, especially if you’re newer to the business. Maybe you’re a new broker-owner. I would tell you to dive in to AIME. Use everything that’s available to you. There are different levels of membership. I would jump in with both feet and that will definitely be a lifeline for you going through tough waters.”
Extolling the virtues of AIME
Mercado extolled AIME for the resources the trade association has provided that have helped him grow his business. It was at a past conference where he discovered the loan origination system his company uses, and he has forged business relationships with investors he met at a prior gathering as well.
“I met [AIME CEO] Katie Sweeney a couple of years ago when she took over and I came to the very first FUSE conference and left so motivated, so excited,” he said. “I took a lot of those tidbits and found their vendors here at the conference that I brought into my business and that have helped me grow my business,” he added. “From our new LOS system called LendingPad to investors we sell our loans to that I met at the conference and established great relationships with. AIME has been a great tool in helping to build my company.”
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