Fintech Hunting

Are mortgage lenders building for the next market—or waiting for rates to bail them out?

In this episode of The FinTech Hunting Podcast, host Michael Hammond sits down with Kevin Peranio, Chief Lending Officer and Partner at PRMG, for a candid conversation on the market realities, AI disruption, and leadership decisions shaping the future of mortgage.

KP does not talk about AI like a buzzword. He breaks down where the industry is already seeing ROI, why mortgage is still in the early innings of AI adoption, and why lenders who wait too long may find themselves trying to catch competitors who already learned how to use technology to grow.

This conversation goes beyond rates and surface-level market talk. Michael and KP dig into the uncomfortable questions every mortgage leader should be asking right now:

Is waiting for rate relief a strategy—or just denial?

Can AI help loan officers become more productive without losing the human side of lending?

Where should lenders invest first: sales, operations, fulfillment, or borrower experience?

How should companies think about build vs. buy, vendor consolidation, and open architecture?

What happens as trigger leads decline and lenders are forced back to fundamentals like relationships, local expertise, and referral strategy?

And most importantly: who is actually building for the next mortgage market?

If you are a mortgage executive, loan officer, fintech founder, technology vendor, or industry leader trying to understand what comes next, this episode is worth your time.

The market may not save you.

But the right strategy, technology, and leadership decisions might.

Listen now to hear KP’s take on mortgage’s AI race—and why the lenders who move with intention today may be the ones pulling ahead tomorrow.

Guest: Kevin Peranio, Chief Lending Officer and Partner, PRMG

Host: Michael Hammond, The FinTech Hunting Podcast

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Michael Hammond, Founder of NexLevel Advisors, is the leading fractional CMO in mortgage and mortgage technology, specializing in AI-powered growth strategy and audience development.

Mortgage lenders keep talking about the housing inventory problem. But what if they are ignoring one of the most important engines helping create that inventory?

In this episode of The Fintech Hunting Podcast, host Michael Hammond sits down with Dana Georgiou, Chief Revenue Officer of Dunmore, to unpack one of the most overlooked shifts in mortgage and real estate finance: the rise of private lending as a serious force behind housing inventory, real estate investment, construction, and community growth.

Dana makes the case that private lending is no longer a niche corner of the market. It has matured from local fix-and-flip capital into a more sophisticated lending ecosystem supported by institutional capital, securitization, investor demand, and a growing need for faster, more flexible financing solutions.

The big question this episode asks:

Are traditional mortgage lenders underestimating the very lending channel that helps create the homes their borrowers want to buy?

Dana explains why real estate investors, builders, and developers play a critical role in bringing inventory to market, why traditional lenders need to better understand private capital, and how responsible private lending can support both business growth and housing supply.

The conversation also explores how AI is reshaping lending operations, where automation can improve speed and efficiency, and why human judgment still matters when making credit decisions in a complex private lending environment.

What You’ll Learn

What private lending is and why it matters to mortgage professionals

Why housing inventory often starts with investors, builders, and developers

How private lending has evolved from a niche product to an institutional market

Why traditional lenders may be missing a major opportunity

How private lenders balance speed, risk, and responsible credit decisions

Where AI can help private lenders scale smarter

Why AI should support, not replace, human judgment

What Dunmore is building in the private lending space

Why ground-up construction, multifamily, and DSCR lending are gaining attention

Featured Guest

Dana Georgiou

Chief Revenue Officer, Dunmore

Dana Georgiou is a revenue leader, author, AI advocate, financial literacy advocate, and private lending executive helping shape the next chapter of real estate finance.

Host

Michael Hammond

Host, The Fintech Hunting Podcast

Founder & CEO, NexLevel Advisors

Michael Hammond, Founder & CEO of NexLevel Advisors, is the leading fractional CMO in mortgage and mortgage technology, specializing in AI-powered growth strategy and audience development.

Episode Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Dana Georgiou

00:55 What mortgage leaders are underestimating about private lending

01:49 Why private lending is becoming central to housing finance

03:31 What traditional mortgage professionals misunderstand

05:27 Balancing speed, risk, and responsible lending

06:56 Biggest opportunities in private lending right now

07:56 Why AI is a business shift, not just a tool

11:17 What AI should never replace in private lending

13:15 Where lenders should start with AI

15:35 The Dunmore story and private lending model

17:28 How to connect with Dana and Dunmore

Key Questions Answered

What is private lending in mortgage?

Private lending provides financing for real estate investors, builders, and developers. These loans often support fix-and-flip projects, bridge loans, ground-up construction, multifamily projects, and DSCR rental property financing.

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Michael Hammond, Founder & CEO of NexLevel Advisors, is the leading fractional CMO in mortgage and mortgage technology, specializing in AI-powered growth strategy and audience development.

What happens when borrowers stop Googling you and start asking AI who they should trust?

In this heartfelt episode of The Fintech Hunting Podcast, Michael Hammond welcomes back industry thought leader, recruiting expert, media partner, taco aficionado, and dear friend Dalila Ramos for a real conversation about the future of visibility, trust, AI, and human connection in mortgage and financial services.

Fresh off the Insellerate Experience Summit, Michael and Dalila unpack one of the biggest shifts facing the industry today: buyers, borrowers, lenders, and referral partners are no longer just searching for links. They are asking AI for answers. And if your brand, your expertise, or your company does not show up in those answers, you may become invisible before the conversation ever starts.

But this episode is not just about AI.

It is about the people behind the posts.

The trust behind the transaction.

The laughter, faith, friendships, tacos, car rides, conference moments, and real-life connections that technology can support — but never replace.

Michael and Dalila explore:

How AI search is changing borrower behavior

Why GEO and AEO matter for loan officers, lenders, and mortgage technology companies

Why “AI slop” is damaging trust and making brands sound the same

How to use AI as a tool without losing your voice

Why video, authenticity, and consistency are now trust signals

How real relationships are built in the small, unpolished moments

Why the winners will combine AI-powered visibility with genuine human connection

Dalila shares a powerful reminder that the best content often comes from simply showing up as yourself — candid, consistent, imperfect, and human. Michael reinforces why the future belongs to those who can answer real questions clearly, build authority intentionally, and still care deeply about the people they serve.

This is a conversation for every loan officer, mortgage executive, fintech founder, recruiter, marketer, and industry leader asking:

How do I stay visible in an AI-driven world without losing what makes me human?

Watch now and rethink what it really means to be found, trusted, and remembered.

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Michael Hammond, Founder & CEO of NexLevel Advisors, is the leading fractional CMO in mortgage and mortgage technology, specializing in AI-powered growth strategy and audience development.

Everyone in mortgage is talking about AI. Far fewer are asking the harder question:

Are we using technology to create a better borrower experience—or just automating the same broken processes faster?

In this episode of The Fintech Hunting Podcast, Michael Hammond sits down with Trish Maraski, Vice President of Product and Strategy at Moder, for a candid conversation about what innovation in mortgage should actually look like.

After nearly three decades in the industry, Trish has seen technology cycles come and go. Her perspective is refreshingly direct: AI may make transformation faster and more accessible, but it cannot replace strategy, clean processes, good data, or the human judgment required to serve borrowers well.

This conversation explores:

Why automating a flawed process can create bigger problems, faster

Where mortgage innovation is real—and where it is still just talk

Why the people closest to the work must be included in transformation

How lenders can use AI without losing the human experience

What still makes the mortgage industry deeply meaningful

This is not a conversation about chasing the next technology trend.

It is about whether mortgage leaders are willing to fix what is broken before AI exposes it.

Watch now and decide: is your organization truly innovating—or simply automating?

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Michael Hammond, Founder & CEO of NexLevel Advisors, is the leading fractional CMO in mortgage and mortgage technology, specializing in AI-powered growth strategy and audience development.

Why is LinkedIn showing you posts from two or three weeks ago?

It feels frustrating. It feels outdated. It feels like the feed is broken.

But what if LinkedIn is not broken at all?

In this episode of the Fintech Hunting Podcast, Ashley Gravano turns the tables and interviews Michael Hammond for a timely, honest conversation about the shift happening on LinkedIn—and why mortgage, fintech, and financial services professionals need to pay attention.

Michael explains why LinkedIn has moved from a feed built around recency to one increasingly shaped by relevance. That means the posts that keep getting surfaced are not always the newest. They are the ones LinkedIn believes still matter because people are engaging, saving, reposting, and spending time with them. 

This episode is a wake-up call for anyone using LinkedIn to build visibility, credibility, relationships, or pipeline.

Because the real question is no longer:

“Did I post today?”

It is:

“Did I create something worth resurfacing?”

A big thank you to Ashley Gravano for hosting this episode, flipping the script, and leading such a genuine, curious, and timely conversation.

• Why LinkedIn is resurfacing older posts
• What the shift from recency to relevancy means
• Why surface-level content is losing power
• How deeper, more useful posts can keep gaining reach
• Why saves, reposts, comments, and dwell time matter
• How mortgage and fintech professionals should rethink LinkedIn
• Why your content strategy must build trust before the sales conversation ever starts

If you are a mortgage professional, fintech leader, vendor, loan officer, marketer, or executive trying to stay visible in a noisy market, this conversation will challenge how you think about LinkedIn.

The future of visibility belongs to the people who create content with substance, clarity, and staying power.

For more insights on AI, LinkedIn, mortgage marketing, fintech growth, and audience development, visit nexleveladvisors.com and explore the NexLevel Advisors Resource Center.

Subscribe to the Fintech Hunting Podcast for conversations with the leaders, operators, and innovators shaping the future of mortgage, fintech, and financial services.

In this episode, we cover:

Most lenders say they have access to non-agency products.

But access does not mean your loan officers can confidently sell them.

In this episode of The Fintech Hunting Podcast, Michael Hammond sits down with Eloise Schmitz, CEO and Co-Founder of LoanNEX, to unpack one of the biggest hidden growth problems in mortgage lending today: lenders are missing qualified borrowers because their teams do not have the visibility, workflow, and execution certainty needed to compete in non-agency lending.

This is not just a product problem.

It is a confidence problem.

It is a workflow problem.

It is a revenue problem.

Eloise explains why non-agency lending can no longer be treated like a side-door solution for unusual files. In a market where affordability is tight, rates remain elevated, and borrower profiles are changing, lenders need more than a long product menu. They need a clear way for loan officers to identify options, trust the pricing, explain the solution, and deliver what they promise.

In this conversation, Michael and Eloise discuss:

• Why access alone is not a competitive advantage
• How lenders unintentionally hide viable options from loan officers
• Why “simple” product menus can actually create more friction
• The borrower segments lenders are missing in today’s market
• Why execution certainty matters more than ever
• How LoanNEX helps lenders create confidence in non-agency lending
• Why the future belongs to lenders who can make complex products easier to sell

The big takeaway:

If your loan officers cannot see the right options, they cannot sell the right solutions.

And in this market, that may be costing lenders more than they realize.

Guest: Eloise Schmitz, CEO & Co-Founder, LoanNEX
Host: Michael Hammond, The Fintech Hunting Podcast

Learn more about LoanNEX:
Contact: [email protected]

Subscribe to The Fintech Hunting Podcast for more conversations with the leaders, founders, and innovators shaping the future of mortgage, fintech, lending, and financial services.

Mortgage Lenders Can’t Rely on Trigger Leads Anymore. Here’s What Comes Next

Trigger leads have been one of the mortgage industry’s favorite shortcuts.

That shortcut is changing.

In this episode of The Fintech Hunting Podcast, host Michael Hammond sits down with Katharine Loveland, SVP General Manager at Volly, to break down what the new trigger lead environment means for mortgage lenders, servicers, loan officers, and marketing leaders.

For years, many lenders leaned on reactive marketing: trigger leads, batch emails, speed-to-phone tactics, and last-minute refinance outreach. But as trigger lead legislation reshapes the competitive landscape, lenders can no longer depend on buying access to borrowers at the moment they apply somewhere else.

The lenders that win the next market cycle will be the ones that already own the relationship.

Katharine explains why mortgage retention is no longer a nice-to-have — it is becoming one of the most important revenue strategies in lending. As refinance opportunities return, lenders need to know which borrowers are ready, who is at risk, what messages matter, and how to engage customers before competitors do.

This conversation covers:

Why trigger lead changes are forcing lenders to rethink growth

Why retention is now a strategic priority, not just a marketing task

How lenders should prepare for the next refinance wave

Why borrower relationships need to be built before rates drop

How AI can help prioritize outreach and personalize engagement

Why portfolio intelligence matters more than generic campaigns

What lenders can do now to protect past customers from competitors

How marketing automation can support smarter borrower recapture

The big takeaway: if your retention strategy starts when the borrower is already shopping, you are too late.

Mortgage companies need to stop relying on shortcuts and start building a system that keeps them connected to borrowers throughout the entire homeownership journey.

This episode is a must-watch for mortgage executives, loan officers, servicers, marketing leaders, fintech vendors, and anyone trying to build a smarter borrower engagement strategy in a changing market.

Guest: Katharine Loveland, SVP General Manager, Volly

Host: Michael Hammond, Founder & CEO of NexLevel Advisors and host of The Fintech Hunting Podcast

Learn more about Volly: myvolly.com

Subscribe to The Fintech Hunting Podcast for more conversations on mortgage technology, fintech innovation, AI, borrower retention, lending strategy, and the future of financial services.

#MortgageMarketing #TriggerLeads #MortgageRetention #BorrowerRetention #MortgageTechnology #MortgageAI #AIinMortgage #MortgageLending #RefinanceStrategy #LoanOfficers #Fintech #FintechHunting #Volly

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Michael Hammond, Founder & CEO of NexLevel Advisors, is the leading fractional CMO in mortgage and mortgage technology, specializing in AI-powered growth strategy and audience development.

AI is no longer a future topic in mortgage lending. It is the force separating the companies that adapt from the ones that get outpaced.

In this episode of the FinTech Hunting Podcast, Michael Hammond sits down with Jim Deitch, Co-Founder and CEO of Tera Verde, to talk about the hard truth facing mortgage leaders right now:

AI is either coming to you or coming for you.

This is not a surface-level conversation about shiny tools or hype.

Jim breaks down what AI disruption really means for the mortgage industry, why speed matters more than ever, how weak workflows get exposed faster, and why leaders who fail to rethink process, profitability, and customer experience will lose ground to competitors who do. The episode centers on AI as a present-day competitive force in lending, not a distant trend. 

You’ll hear a sharp conversation on:

• why AI is changing how mortgage companies compete
• why faster technology does not fix broken operations
• how AI can improve decision-making, customer experience, and efficiency
• what lenders need to rethink before the market shifts again
• why leadership mindset may be the real differentiator in the next era of mortgage lending

Jim is also the author of Disruptive AI, a book that challenges leaders to decide whether AI will become their advantage or their threat. Even better, proceeds from the book support MBA Open Doors, which helps families with critically ill children make mortgage or rent payments while caring for their child. 

Buy Jim Deitch’s book, Disruptive AI:
https://www.amazon.com/Disruptive-AI-Its-Coming-You/dp/B0GQJSPFNZ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Z0NTK4W0GGCN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6-fbC0ndpzRiQP0l4Kt9ulq4MvyEHSoVbnzuGUbFXUU.xY1TZsZORFYsBrOFM_KBsYWkxagOfWQ93qUeLhKHYuE&dib_tag=se&keywords=james+deitch+books+AI+Disruptor&qid=1776691616&sprefix=james+deitch+books+ai+disrupto%2Caps%2C106&sr=8-1

If you work in mortgage lending, fintech, financial services, digital mortgage, or AI strategy, this episode will challenge how you think about growth, competition, and the future of lending.

Subscribe for more conversations on mortgage AI, fintech innovation, lending strategy, digital transformation, and the leaders shaping the future of financial services.

#MortgageAI #JimDeitch #FinTechHuntingPodcast #MortgageLending #Fintech #ArtificialIntelligence #DigitalMortgage #LendingInnovation #FinancialServices

AI is everywhere in mortgage right now. Results are not.

In this episode of the FinTech Hunting Podcast, Michael Hammond sits down with Michael Vandi, CEO of Addy AI, for a direct conversation about the growing gap between AI hype and real execution in mortgage and fintech.

Why are lenders hearing endless AI pitches but still struggling to create meaningful operational change? Why are so many tools impressive in a demo but disappointing in the real world? And what actually has to happen for AI to improve workflows, reduce friction, and create real business value?

This episode breaks down:

• Why AI fatigue is growing in mortgage and fintech
• Why most AI solutions fail inside real lending environments
• What lenders actually need from automation today
• Where AI can create leverage in loan setup and underwriting
• Why workflow-specific execution matters more than flashy software
• What separates true innovation from vendor hype

If you work in mortgage, lending, banking, fintech, or AI, this is a conversation about what is really changing, what is not, and where the biggest opportunity is being missed.

Subscribe to FinTech Hunting for conversations with the leaders building the future of financial services, mortgage technology, AI, and digital transformation.

#FinTechHunting #MortgageAI #FintechPodcast #Lending #MortgageTechnology #ArtificialIntelligence #Underwriting #Automation #FinancialServices #AddyAI

What does the future of mortgage lending look like when AI acts less like software and more like a true team member?

In this episode of the FinTech Hunting Podcast, Michael Hammond sits down with Athan Zhang, Co-Founder of Copperlane, to talk about how agentic AI is changing the mortgage industry. From proactive borrower engagement and document review to condition clearing, compliance guardrails, and 24/7 support, Athan shares how Copperlane is helping lenders rethink productivity, efficiency, and the role of the loan officer. 

This conversation covers:

• What agentic AI actually means in mortgage
• How an AI loan officer can support borrowers and lenders
• Why AI should enhance the human side of lending, not replace it
• The real reasons many lenders are still slow to adopt AI
• How to think about compliance, safety, and trust in AI systems
• Why lowering the cost to originate is now mission-critical
• How lenders can use AI to create a more scalable, flexible growth model 

Athan also explains why the lenders waiting on the sidelines may fall behind, and why the winners in this next chapter of mortgage will be the ones who learn how to combine human connection with AI-driven execution. 

If you are a:

• mortgage lender
• lending executive
• loan officer
• fintech leader
• mortgage operations leader
• AI-curious industry professional

this episode is for you.

Connect with Copperlane:
Website: copperlane.ai
Request a demo directly on their site
Email: [email protected]

About FinTech Hunting Podcast
FinTech Hunting features conversations with leading voices in mortgage, fintech, sales, growth, and innovation—focused on the ideas and technologies shaping the future of the industry.

#MortgageAI #FintechHunting #MortgageLending #AthanZhang #Copperlane #LoanOfficer #MortgageTechnology #AgenticAI #ArtificialIntelligence #LendingInnovation #MortgageIndustry #FintechPodcast

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Michael Hammond, Founder & CEO of NexLevel Advisors, is the leading fractional CMO in mortgage and mortgage technology, specializing in AI-powered growth strategy and audience development.