Are you ready to make the life-changing switch to wholesale and take advantage of what ‘going independent’ offers you as a mortgage broker or loan officer? Our team at BeAMortgageBroker.com is here to help you every step of the way.

MIND MAPPING HIS TRANSITION BACK TO THE BROKER CHANNEL

Sometimes for professionals, their network can be broken up into two groups – those who were in the industry before 2008 and those who weren’t. Amir got into the business before the financial crisis as an independent mortgage broker, then post-crisis, moved to the retail lending side. It didn’t take long for him to know it was a matter of when, not if, he would go back to where he started.

LEADS DON’T LEAD TO HAPPINESS

In retail, Amir was working in call center where leads were handed out by someone else. While he learned a lot about converting those leads, he also saw through what he called the smoke and mirrors of the retail lending model.

“The smoke and mirrors part isn't necessarily just the fact that pricing sucks and the company is making more money. The smoke and mirrors is how management will portray and echo a message of why that's ok: “Look at all of these resources we're providing you, that's why these rates are justified.”

 On top of that, Amir was losing business – mortgage brokers – due to the lower rates they could offer.

 “Anytime a broker got in the mix, I knew that I was going to lose that deal.

GETTING BACK TO WHERE THE CUSTOMER WINS

Another determining factor in Amir’s transition back to wholesale lending was client experience.

“Why would we charge customers so much for the same exact product? I knew that the technology and resources were out there to deliver just about the same caliber of experience or even better. It was almost imperative and inevitable that I was going to get out of that space and go back where the customer would win.”

EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY AND FUTURE GROWTH

One of the positive things that Amir took from his time in retail lending was the familiarity he developed in working with a customer relationship management tool. As someone who was already technologically savvy, this helped Amir hit the ground running once he opened his broker shop.

 “This was one of the main foundational pillars of that transition, having a strong technological footprint,” said Amir. “That would always be at the forefront of what we were going to do and what we were going to work on.”

 Amir has big plans for future growth including creating a space that is strongly focused on providing transparency and autonomy to his loan originators. Something he lacked in retail lending.

 Today, Amir’s advice to anyone on the fence about making the switch from retail to wholesale is simple:

 “If you want to come to the broker side of the business or you're curious about it or you're tired of that infrastructure on the private lending side, stop complaining about it at the watercooler and start mind mapping your transition over.”