Are you ready to make the life-changing switch to a career as an independent mortgage broker or loan officer? Our team at BeAMortgageBroker.com is here to help you every step of the way.

HOLD MY HAND AND LET’S GO

The mortgage loan process can be overwhelming, even for a borrower who has been through it before.  Now, imagine a borrower who doesn’t speak English going through that same process, attempting to make sense of financial documents that are often only available in English, and doing so without any support from an expert who can translate. Who better to guide them through some of the biggest financial decisions of their life than someone who has been in the same shoes?

NEW COUNTRY, NEW OPPORTUNITY

Jade was born in Brazil where she pursued a career in banking. When she came to the U.S., she worked for a bank and then a credit union before a friend convinced her to try her hand at mortgages. Jade got a job working as an assistant for a loan officer at a retail lender.

“When I saw what she did, I said, ‘I want to do that.’ She inspired me,” said Jade.

However, Jade soon decided that she wanted to do something different and that something turned out to be in the wholesale mortgage industry. Jade studied and earned her Nationwide Multi-State Licensing System and Registry (NMLS) license, then went to work as an assistant for an independent mortgage broker. It was a great opportunity, but Jade knew that if she stayed there, she’d always be viewed as an assistant. So, she went to another mortgage company and started originating home loans on her own. Five months in, she felt that she was hitting another wall, but she knew she had to keep going.

“No business at all,” she said. “People kept telling me to keep meeting Realtors®, keep trying to establish relationships and that’s what I kept doing.”

SPEAKING THEIR LANGUAGE

At a certain point in her journey, Jade remembered one of her biggest personal challenges from her own homebuying experience and realized she was uniquely qualified to help alleviate that for other borrowers.

“When I bought my first house here, I didn’t speak that much English. I had my husband, but I was basically signing papers and didn’t know what I was signing,” said Jade.

With this realization, she saw an opportunity to help others who found themselves in a similar position.

“I figured out there weren’t a lot of Brazilian or Portuguese-speaking loan officers out there,” she said,  “So I’m going to start trying to establish some relationships with agents who speak Portuguese as well.”

Jade had found her niche. She started helping Spanish and Portuguese-speaking clients, many of whom were so grateful to find someone who personally understood their experience. Before long, it was time for Jade’s next move – opening her own independent mortgage brokerage.

BECOMING A BUSINESS OWNER

Jade’s vision for her own broker shop was to build a tri-lingual team of people who spoke English, Spanish and Portuguese. The strategy has paid off, with Jade filling the void that she experienced when she first went through the homebuying process.

“I usually tell my clients, ‘segure minha mão, hold my hand and let’s go’,” she said. “I know it takes time for them to trust but once they trust you, they know you’re going to be there for them and then you just keep going.”

Jade herself has kept going, even further than she ever thought when she first came to the U.S. and decided to pursue a career in the mortgage business.

“I never thought of myself as a business owner,” said Jade. “I always thought ‘I’m going to work for other people all my life.’ Now that I work for myself, I couldn’t be prouder, and I knew that it had to happen here, where I am right now.”