An Independent Mortgage Broker is better!
It makes a big difference where the originator works or where the loan starts. That is why I’m an independent mortgage broker.
When I started, I spent a couple of years working for some other mortgage companies trying to figure this industry out. I had two that didn’t work out very well. I had one I really liked but decided I wanted to own my own independent mortgage company. You’ll notice in ours and other markets that because of recent changes in rates and loan pricing, loan officers are starting to make moves from one company to the next, in hopes of finding a better way to get a loan for their client.
I am so confident this will never be the case with Black Diamond Mortgage and myself because the independent mortgage broker model allows me to offer infinite resources to my clients and infinite competitive pricing. When things aren’t working out with one of the lenders I do business with, I can just move onto another. In the industry there is a lot of contraction because there are less loans, so companies that have offices all over are having to price loans worse to pay for all of their buildings and things that they have. Not the case with Black Diamond Mortgage – we just have one small office and our lenders are centrally located in various places in the US with all of their staff. They are efficient – I’m efficient – my pricing is good.
I don’t have to make money to keep lights on in every state like some lenders. This is a huge advantage to the borrower. The borrower gets a better deal by going to the independent mortgage broker for this reason. That’s why I don’t have to move my license or panic if my lender starts giving out bad deals – I can move onto another one. I have hundreds to choose from. I tend to do business with about 10 and rotate through them over the years. Whoever is doing the best job for my clients, that’s where the loans are going. My clients are happy doing business there.
I just wanted to make this point because I’ve recently seen a lot of loan officers making these moves, and to consumers and referral partners, I would ask: what was the move for? Was the previous lender not as good as we thought? Why are people making moves? At Black Diamond Mortgage, I’m not actually the money, so I don’t have to go anywhere, and neither do the other loan officers that work here. We just continue to partner with the best. Our customers never have to do all that looking because we are doing the shopping for them on the ability to do the loans and the ability to offer the attractive pricing.
If you want to know more about the independent mortgage broker model of business, get a hold of me. Also there are some other resources, such as AIME, which is an association of mortgage brokers pushing this message. Our goal is to take over more than 20% of the mortgage market with the best way to deliver good pricing and the most products for the consumer by having each broker utilize the resources of the best larger lenders in their area of expertise. If they’re efficient, we’re efficient, and then we don’t need that huge footprint all over the place to create a great loan for the consumer. Ask me more!
