Broker to Broker Archives - AIME

Having been in and out of the industry since the early 90’s, California Mortgage Broker Andrew Kunisawa has only recently transitioned back to the wholesale channel. Instead of just shyly standing in the corner and surviving off the minimal amount of loans he needed, Andrew has taken full advantage of all the tools and resources that weren’t available to him back when he first got into the business. While he does share his thanks for us here at AIME, Andrew’s main source of growth is directly linked to the Brokers Are Better Facebook group. 

Back in what Host JP Hussey refers to as the “Wild West” of lending, mortgage brokers and loan officers had nowhere to go if they had a loan or compliance issue and barely knew what was happening in the world of mortgages outside of their small communities. Now with the help of Brokers Are Better, Andrew has been able to successfully take advantage of what he believes is the most important part of the modern loan process: networking. 

Upon discovering AIME and the Brokers Are Better movement, not just did Andrew find an entire community he could lean on for virtually anything, mortgages or otherwise, Andrew began to understand his full potential. Fully content with his 3-4 loans a month goal, Andrew began connecting with top producering brokers who were processing 35-40 loans a month all by themselves. Just being shown that it was even possible was enough for Andrew to believe in himself and push himself further than he ever had before. Now closing in on over 10 loans just this month, Andrew didn’t even necessarily work harder, he worked smarter. He used all of the tools that he wasn’t aware existed before discovering AIME and Brokers Are Better. 

After attending an AIME Fuse event with entrepreneur and social media mogul Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVee), Andrew took all his newly learned social media tips to heart, sharing and posting all the time and not worrying about likes or comments. While bolstering your online reputation and putting yourself out there is important, it really all comes down to results and referrals. A completely random friend, someone who never commented or liked any of Andrew’s posts, simply reached out one day and said he needed a loan. There’s a million ways to succeed in this industry, you just have to commit to yourself and your beliefs, and success is sure to follow. And if you ever have any doubts, or questions, or concerns, know that there is a family of thousands just waiting to lend out a helping hand. 

Andrew learned to lean into this community of like-minded individuals who all just want to do what is right for the consumer, from brand-new or recently-transitioned loan officers to Scotsman Guide top producers and leadership from the top lenders across the country. In this community, everyone is treated as equals and are willing to help out anyone and everyone with the end-goal of always doing what’s right. 

Join Andrew Kunisawa and JP Hussey in this week’s episode of Broker To Broker to learn how you can also take advantage of this amazing community and help homeowners and borrowers nationwide.

Show Notes: 

The post How To Successfully Utilize AIME & The Brokers Are Better Facebook Group (with Andrew Kunisawa) – Episode 48 appeared first on AIME.

EXPLETIVE WARNING (NSFW)

Producing Broker/Owner Jackie Dunlap does not hold back. She worked hard to get here and she’s just getting started. Once a retail “scrubber,” as her position was called at the time, Jackie is now the shining example of how (and why) to transfer to the wholesale channel. 

Backed into a wall by end of year call reports, Jackie felt overwhelmed and borderline hopeless. With seemingly nowhere else to go, Jackie simply asked for help. This is when everything changed. The Brokers Are Better community came out in full force, immediately giving Jackie a referral, and starting her on a path that would help her secure her financial future. By simply “being in the room” as Jackie puts it, she was able to listen and learn from the best. 

She identified her pain points, revaluated her processes and procedures, and started thinking long-term. By giving up short term gains, Jackie was able to expand her reach and perfect her training process. With a plan in place, she now finds it easier to trust her staff and delegate accordingly. She also invested money in tech, which helped relieve some pressure off her processors and loan officers. 

Jackie Dunlap has carved out her section of the housing industry. Starting from the bottom, she rose through the ranks, and continues to adapt her business to these very different and strange times. Putting her money where her mouth is and betting on herself, Jackie Dunlap has successfully played the long-game.

Show Notes: 

The post How To Save Time & Identify Your Pain Points (with Jackie Dunlap) – Episode 47 appeared first on AIME.

Real Estate Agent turned Mortgage Broker Arlicia Jones holds the ability to build trust above all others. With a brokerage based almost entirely on referrals, Arlicia has built a business around making relationships that matter. She not only argues that cultivating successful relationships is the most important part of the job but it’s the sole factor that will keep the wholesale channel relevant through an automated and tech-heavy future. 

Arlicia calls every prospective client herself, making sure to educate and set expectations. Her job is not just to sell a product to a customer, but to teach a new homeowner how to build generational wealth. Her goal is not to move from person to person racking up loans, but to make connections that she considers family. 

Not that she ignores tech either. Having chiseled away at multiple different products, Arlicia has found her favorite Brokers Are Better Network vendors that fit her business model best. She uses Floify, Shape, LendingPad, and leadPops to not just stay top of mind with her borrowers, but to also streamline her entire loan process, allowing her time to focus on growing her brokerage. 

Arlicia also likes her weekends, prioritizing spending time with her children and enjoying the peace that comes with a proper work/life balance. Still setting proper expectations, she sends out a weekly end-of-week email wishing all of her borrowers a good weekend. She will put fires out if need be, but over the years has learned that not all problems are fires and many can wait till the next day. 

A teacher through and through, Arlicia works hard to simplify the complicated loan process for her clients. Join Arlicia and JP as they discuss their similar business practices, their techniques to secure a proper work-life balance, and the importance of becoming a true mortgage advisor. 

Show Notes: 

The post Educating & Building Trust With Consumers (with Arlicia Jones) – Episode 46 appeared first on AIME.

You have to plant the tree now, so next year you’ll have shade. Having built a 100% referral based business, nobody knows that better than Southern California Broker/Owner and COO of Amerifund Home Loans, Jamie Cavanaugh. Starting as a Loan Officer Assistant while still in high school, Jamie has amassed over 20 years of industry experience. After experiencing multiples sides of the business and surviving the ‘08 crash, she has learned that while there are endless ways to be successful in the wholesale channel, at the end of the day, you just have to do the right thing. Sometimes that’s referring a potential client to another brokerage, sometimes that’s advising and educating a borrower with no expectations in return. 

Above all else are the relationships you build, not just with borrowers, but with potential referral partners, lenders, and even your own loan officers, processors, and assistants. Long-term success is dependent on the strength of your relationships. This refi-boom won’t last forever, and when purchase reigns, everyone will be crawling back to the real estate agents they’ve been ignoring. But not Jamie. Jamie utilizes her Salesforce CRM to keep up to date with all of her connections, checking-in weekly with free educational newsletters and templated texts. 

At the office, Jamie has created a system that fosters and awards growth, paying for licenses and training for all her staff. She also keeps up to date with the best industry tech, not to replace the broker experience, but instead leveraging tech in order to offer the ideal personalized experience for her borrowers. 

Once a warm lead comes her way from any of her countless quality relationships, Jamie can get started on what she labels her favorite part of the mortgage process; the nitty gritty. A balancing act of finding what’s best for each individual consumer, Jamie has created her ideal loan process that measures rates, programs, lenders, and overall service; whatever will best suit her client and lead the path of least resistance.

Rounding everything out with a mix of old school and new school marketing techniques, including both radio and social media advertising, Jamie has created a long-term successful business plan where the client comes to her, not the other way around. Listen in for some immediate takeaways as Jamie joins our host JP Hussey for a discussion about relationships, hiring practices, and even some tips on how not to get overwhelmed.

Show Notes: 

The post The Long Game: Using Your CRM to Create a Referral Based Brokerage (with Jamie Cavanaugh) – Episode 45 appeared first on AIME.

Tune into this special AIME Fuse virtual edition of Broker To Broker with not one, not two, but THREE guests as they preview their panels for AIME Fuse 2020 on Friday, September 25th. 

Broker/Owner and blogger Scott Schang gives a sneak peek into how he has created his 100% referral based business. Scott says that getting good leads the right way is not the easiest route, but it’s what’s best for business. Using high-trust consumer-direct marketing, Scott has been able to establish real relationships that will long outlast this current refi-boom. Actively avoiding rate shoppers is key. He preaches becoming a true advisor is someone who will share their experience and knowledge with the consumer and solve problems at all costs. 

VettedVa partner Nathan Knottingham gives us the inside scoop into one of the biggest and fastest growing mortgage groups on Facebook. Putting their foot down, Nathan and Mortgage Broker Chris Griffith have revolutionized the VA loan market, going above and beyond in the fight against veteran exploitation. Nathan has helped grow a Facebook group to a 17,000+ army of consumer-centric professionals who feel obligated to properly serve those that have served. Listen in as Nate goes into detail about the mistreatment of Veteran homebuyers and how you can officially become VettedVa. 

Broker/Owner Jamie Cavanaugh talks about not just cultivating a supportive space for all women mortgage brokers, but for providing a place where new brokers can become the leaders of tomorrow. Sharing the tips and tricks they’ve learned along the way, Jamie and her fellow Women’s Mortgage Network members try to help fellow brokers from making the same mistakes they’ve made through years of trials and tribulations. Through this ever-changing industry, Jamie hopes to help brokers find and leverage their true authentic voice. 

Broker to Broker host JP Hussey also chimes in with his preview of his AIME Fuse Top Originator Panel, giving us a sample of all the different ways brokers can grow their volume and serve consumers best, from wholesale giants, all the way down to a one-person shop.

Mortgages aside, passion unites them all; passion to do what’s right for each and every consumer. Join this special edition of the Broker to Broker Podcast as all of our guests preview their panels at AIME Fuse Virtual on Friday, September 25th.

Show Notes: 

The post Referrals, Veterans, & Women in Mortgage: AIME Fuse Virtual Preview (with Jamie Cavanaugh, Nathan Knottingham, & Scott Schang) – Episode 44 appeared first on AIME.

Through dealing with the west coast forest fires and balancing multiple different hybrids of in-school and at-home learning, Oregon mortgage broker and mother of six, Claire Mahoney has learned a thing or two about controlling chaos. Having had an employee quit with no warning and two others get pregnant at the same time, Claire has managed to not just uphold her high expectations, but has set up her brokerage for long-term growth. 

Now VP of Mortgage First Corp, Claire made sure to earn her position; demanding her boss (and father) that she start from the bottom and work her way to the top. Now in a position to make serious change, Claire has learned that the best way to balance the proven old school techniques that built their local reputation with the new modern technology that will bring them into the future is by trial testing everything herself and applying what works in small, incremental and easily digestible doses.

She started simply, by making a Facebook page and Yelp listing, and signing up for online e-signature software Docusign. Through this, Claire learned to slow down onboarding of new tech, constantly reassess and adjust expectations and to always keep an open line of true communication and dialogue with her loan officers and processors. 

Claire’s real estate agent husband Matt also joins the podcast to share his thoughts on the wholesale channel, how to best stay top of mind with real estate referrals and why he believes brokers truly are better.

Show Notes: 

The post Controlling Chaos & Growing Your Team (with Claire & Matt Mahoney) – Episode 43 appeared first on AIME.

With 15 years in the wholesale channel, Louisiana Broker/Owner Chasity Graff has networked with the entire industry by now. She has learned how to maneuver and manipulate social media and knows how to squeeze the most wealth and knowledge out of any facebook group. Identifying the COVID-19 pandemic as a unique opportunity, Chasity has leaned into all the things she never had time to do before, notably perfecting her processes and procedures. 

Listen along during this week’s episode of Broker To Broker to learn how to delegate your responsibilities to avoid long-term burnout.

Show Notes: 

The post How to Network & Delegate to Avoid Burnout (with Chasity Graff) – Episode 42 appeared first on AIME.

It’s easy to get lost in the chaos of this unprecedented refi-boom, but AIME President, Michigan Mortgage Broker, and high school basketball coach Marc Summers is here to share the processes and procedures he has used to help his brokerage flourish for almost two decades. Marc preaches the importance of keeping it simple. With so many opportunities to overcomplicate an already complicated process, it’s important to focus on what’s most important; always doing what’s right and holding the client experience above all else, especially money. If you work hard for the homeowner, if you become their advisor and educate them, then leads, referrals and success are sure to follow.

Tune into this week’s episode of Broker to Broker to learn how to avoid drowning under volume by delegating to a team you trust.

Show Notes: 

The post How to Avoid Distractions and Do What’s Right (with Marc Summers) – Episode 41 appeared first on AIME.

From working in retail to becoming one of the top-producing brokers in the country, Matt Cole from United Wholesale Lending has used his passion for success and structure to create a high-volume business within the mortgage industry. According to Matt, working with like-minded people who respect your time and support you is the key toward accomplishing your goals as an independent mortgage broker. Tune in to this week’s episode of Broker to Broker to learn more about why you should be constantly engaging with your network on social media and the importance of investing in the growth of your team. 

Show Notes: 

The post The Steps Toward Building a Successful Team (with Matt Cole) – Episode 40 appeared first on AIME.

From working at a gym to becoming a successful self-producing loan officer, Jason Erickson of Barrett Financial Group has built his career on utilizing organic marketing techniques and remaining true to himself. According to Jason, it’s important to not only focus on promoting your business on social media, but share aspects of your personal life to bring a more humanized approach to your online presence. Tune into this week’s episode of Broker to Broker to learn more about the importance of staying educated on industry guidelines and how to effectively develop rapport with your clients. 

Show Notes: 

The post The Importance of Marketing and Building a Brand (with Jason Erickson) – Episode 39 appeared first on AIME.