Major Singleton doesn't just do loans but dispenses advice on many fronts
A past stint in the US Navy has served Major Singleton well, as he now does a brisk business in VA loans as a mortgage broker at Edge Home Finance.
The main beneficiaries of that brisk business? The veterans themselves. “I came in from the retail side to the broker side,” he began. “I think it’s just understanding things that are built into rates,” he said when asked by Mortgage Professional America to describe the solutions he’s able to bring to the segment.
“Things that are built into the margins for the pricing for veterans and… to highlight that for veterans and share with them why brokers’ rates are better – especially for veterans with the VA loans, government loans. So it’s highlighting that education about the broker community – how they can do better working with a broker.”
Singleton doesn’t limit doling out guidance and advice piecemeal, client to client. His Major Money Matters educational platform has long educated consumers on a variety of financial topics.
“It basically seeks to educate people about the mortgage business,” he said of his brainchild created some eight years ago when he was in the financial planning and coaching field. “We talk about mortgages, money and more. So we talk about some mortgage stuff, we talk about some general money stuff and then we talk about more – family, relationships, stuff like that.
“But it starts around mortgage education – just knowing what’s going on in the market, giving education to people. Just helping sift through the complex things that are happening in our economy right now and putting in a bite-size, simple way for people to understand. And not just understand, but: What do I do next – as a buyer, as a seller, as a realtor? What should my mindset be? What should I be thinking about this situation? And sharing from that perspective.”
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A quick glance at the Major Money Matters modules displays the breadth of discussion taking place on the platform. The first module addresses the first-time homebuyer ,with accompanying videos titled The Quickest Way to Choose Your First Realtor and The Biggest Mistake First-Time Homebuyers are Making in 2022 among the resources.
Topics that are uncomfortable to discuss are presented in a no-nonsense manner. Take the “Divorce Attorney” video as an example, with its descriptor: “The Quickest Way to Take Your Spouse off the Mortgage After a Divorce.” Singleton intones: “I’m always shocked that so many people forget to take their spouse’s name off of the mortgage after a divorce – especially when it’s really simple to do. The quickest way to do it – actually, sometimes the only way to do it – is to contact the lender and refinance the loan so that you’re listed as the sole borrower. Simple as that.”
Tough subjects to be sure, but necessary information to avoid the pitfalls of sentimentality at a time when lucidity of thought is most needed.
Singleton spoke to MPA during a break at the recent Fuse conference staged in Las Vegas by the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts. More than 3,000 attendees descended to the Paris Las Vegas Hotel for three days of education, panel discussions and keynote addresses that took on the form of cheerleading sessions with continual chants promoting the idea that “brokers are better.”
AIME CEO Katie Sweeney and United Wholesale Mortgage boss Mat Ishbia both provided stirring speeches at the event, and celebrity speakers – world boxing champion and television host Laila Ali and motivational speaker and best-selling author Dr. Billy Alsbrooks among them – abounded.
Read next: Mat Ishbia predicts new refi boom ahead
Singleton’s thoughtful, measured manner of speaking, mirrors his chill attitude toward rising rates. Asked how he is navigating the waters now amid rising rates and inflation, he said: “It’s really been business as usual. I’m not really frantic about rates. Overall, I think transactions are going to be less. But we should have a lot of them done on the broker side.”
He praised AIME’s ability to galvanize brokers: “I think what AIME does, number one, is bring different people from different brokerages together for a common goal and a common mission. We’re collaborating, talking about ideas. We’re openly sharing ideas, and I think that’s what AIME does. AIME helps to bring us together with a common goal and common mission to advance the broker channel.”
