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UMortgage Shares Growth, Investments, and Future Plans in Q4 Investor Meeting
In 2022, the UMortgage platform saw tremendous growth across the board with an exponential increase in the number of team members, loan originators, national footprint, and, most importantly, homeowners served. This year of accelerated development for the mortgage platform was capped by the year’s most successful quarter in Q4. To provide all individuals within the organization full transparency into the investments that allowed for this growth, the physical growth metrics, and the targeted areas for continued growth, President & CEO, Anthony Casa, hosted UMortgage’s Q4 Investor Call alongside CFO, Gil Arbitsman. “We believe this level of transparency creates accountability throughout our organization and helps our team members connect the work we are doing daily with the overall performance of our business,” said Casa. “We are incredibly excited about the exponential growth we have experienced over the last year and what we expect in the future.” An overarching theme of the investor call was UMortgage’s ability to grow during a historically poor quarter for the mortgage industry. UMortgage made several financial investments to restructure the platform and spur its growth, all of which paid dividends through Q4 and into Q1 of 2023. The UMortgage platform was built to solve the pain points that all loan originators experience, whether their background is at a retail mortgage company or a brokerage. These investments allowed UMortgage to emphasize the ways that they resolve these issues. Growth Signaled by High-Profile Recruitment A signal that UMortgage was best suited to address LO's most common pain points was sent to the rest of the mortgage industry when the platform announced in December of 2022 that it had hired mortgage broker advocate and icon, Todd Bitter, to be its Chief Sales Officer. Bitter boasts more than 25 years of experience within the mortgage industry and has spent the last five years prioritizing the education of fellow brokers to replicate the success he’s seen as one of the industry’s top producers. UMortgage’s ability to solve industry pain points also played a key role in its recruiting strategies as it acquired the #1 brokerages in both Ohio and Texas. The acquisitions of Dallas-based NXT Mortgage—the nation’s fastest-growing brokerage—and Breon Price’s Cincinnati-based branch of Motto Mortgage served as the catalysts to positively impact homebuyers in the Texas and Ohio markets and increase its recruiting footprint in those regions; 168 new loan originators from Ohio, Texas, and beyond were welcomed to UMortgage, more than doubling its roster from Q3. An increase in loan originators also led to an increase in homeowners served by the platform. UMortgage LOs managed a 70% year-over-year increase and an 11% quarter-over-quarter increase in homeowners served in Q4. They also more than doubled the number of rate locks in Q4 of 2022 with a 96% year-over-year increase. Investing in Employees at UMortgage Internally, one of the marquee initiatives of Q4 was to change UMortgage’s holding company from Premier Processing LLC to UMortgage LLC. This initiative allowed UMortgage to launch UShares—an employee stock option program that allows all team members to buy equity into the company as it continues to grow. UShares was officially launched midway through Q1 of 2023 thanks to those investments made in Q4. UMortgage also acted proactively by bolstering its Operations teams and proactively training new team members to support the influx of new LOs and the increased volume which would follow. This allowed those new LOs to hit the ground running upon joining the platform while avoiding any bottleneck as loans are processed and closed. Laying the Foundation for Growth in 2023 The investments made in Q3 and Q4 of 2022 helped set the stage for a historic Q1, and likely another groundbreaking year of growth for UMortgage. The platform has already started 2023 with plenty of momentum as it doubled its lock volume from Q4 of 2022 in the first quarter of the new year. During the call, Casa highlighted a goal to fund +2,000 loans monthly in Q4 of 2023. Aside from the continued growth of UMortgage’s roster of LOs, UMortgage will also invest in the development of its current LOs through a LO coaching program which will provide the tools and knowledge needed to increase an individual's average monthly funded loans by 50%. This growth isn’t stopping any time soon. The UMortgage platform plans to continue to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership with the brightest LOs in the country. Every Wednesday at 2pm ET, Casa shares how Loan Originators Powered by UMortgage are set up for success with a community of industry experts and fellow LOs to lean on, a growing selection of lenders and loan products, and best-in-class support staff that helps LOs focus on what they do best—originate loans.
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News
Relationships Not Transactions Summit Shares Strategies to Attract, Engage, and Retain Referral Partners
On February 28th and March 1st, UMortgage brought together more than 150 of its loan originators, Operations staff, corporate leaders, and team members for its Relationships Not Transactions Summit. This two-day event hosted at the Four Seasons in UMortgage’s hometown of Philadelphia sought to emphasize the importance of genuine, authentic relationships to turn referral partners from surface-level business transactions into life-long alliances. The event broke down these relationship-boosting tactics into three key actions: attract, engage, and retain. By hitting these three measures, individuals can connect on a deeper level with their referral partners and foster a working relationship that can stand the test of time. “The Relationships Not Transactions Summit was an incredible couple of days for us to come together as a team to strengthen our relationships, learn, share, and get better individually and collectively,” said UMortgage President & CEO, Anthony Casa. “Our people are what makes us special, our relationships are what makes us most valuable, and when we share that value with members of our local communities, we can really make an impact.” During the event, overarching themes included the importance of establishing a foundation of trust, ensuring your relationships are reciprocal instead of one-sided, and that consistently providing value can make oneself a go-to resource. After all, with rates rising once again, a world-class client experience for both borrowers and agents is even more paramount. To help one another grow as a team and continue to improve that client experience—which has earned UMortgage an industry-best 95 net promoter score—attendees shared their personal experiences and tactics to attract, engage with, and retain those partners and clients, as well as ideas to further build upon that experience. In fact, a highlight of the event’s first day was a panel led by four UMortgage’s LOs: Jay Bunte, Keena Gehringer, David Koch, and Kristen Morgan. They shared specific strategies that they employ in their local communities to lift one another up and connect with others in the real estate industry on a more-genuine level, such as charming charity events, engaging educational seminars, locally sourced baked goods, and friendly neighborhood forums. Success also requires recognition to maintain a positive environment centered around individual and collective growth. Along with a record month for funded loans, Casa presented awards to individuals within the organization who exemplify each of UMortgage’s five core values. Recipients were a mix of loan originators, operations leaders & team members, and corporate team members. The award winners were as follows: Create Strong Communities Award: David Koch (Loan Originator) & Natalie Mothorpe (Closer)  Experience is Everything Award: Sonja Thomas (Loan Processor) & Denisa Hyseni (Operations Team Leader)  Get Better Every Day Award: Melanie Lynch (Director of Talent Acquisition) and Adam West (Loan Originator)  Relationships Not Transactions Award: Bill Kessler (Human Resources Team Leader) & Shaun Hamman (Branch Manager)  Own the Moment Award: Victoria Blackie (Loan Originator) & Roberto Rellini (Operations Team Leader and Escalation Manager)  The UMortgage platform has grown in a shrinking market by identifying the pain points of our current loan originators in their previous companies—whether that be a retail shop or their own brokerage—and addressing those pain points with value-based solutions. After a record month for loans funded this February, it’s clear that UMortgage’s platform allows loan originators to win over referral partners and clients in any market. If you’d like to learn more about the platform’s four-pronged approach to success, sign up for the weekly UMortgage Discovery Meeting, which is hosted by Casa every Thursday at 2pm ET.
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Blog Post
News
UMortgage Unveils Q1 Goals, Priorities, & Deliverables
Following a massive year of growth capped by big-name additions in the month of December, UMortgage signaled its intent to continue to grow and develop its innovative platform after announcing its new Q1 Goals, Priorities, and Deliverables to kick off 2023. Each of these goals aims to fuel the continued growth of the UMortgage platform and aligns with its vision to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership. UMortgage's 2023 Q1 Goals #GetBetterEveryDay Since UMortgage was founded in 2020, it has been committed to the evergreen resolution to Get Better Every Day. While every goal listed in this blog falls under the umbrella of individual and collective development, a high level of Report Up engagement will provide direct avenues for the company to continue to grow through transparent feedback and thoughtful solutions. #CreateStrongCommunities UMortgage is always looking to invest in the best and brightest stars of the mortgage lending industry. The goal to reach 500 total Loan Originators by the end of Q1 stays consistent with UMortgage’s commitment to continue to grow while also forecasting month-over-month business. Concurrently, a growing roster of LOs will theoretically increase the number of communities that UMortgage is able to impact. Together with that goal is a goal of 1,000 total homeowners served, which directly feeds into UMortgage’s vision to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership. #RelationshipsNotTransactions UMortgage and its team of LOs have built their businesses by prioritizing Relationships, Not Transactions in their local communities. Onboarding new LOs can help reach those communities but retaining its team of loan originators through strong relationships and support ensures that the platform continues to maintain those communities across the nation. To properly measure the impact our LOs make in their communities, UMortgage has also set benchmarks for total credit pulls and total loans locked in the quarter. Credit pulls are a leading indicator that allows UMortgage to predict the potential volume of locks across the following 30 days and total loans locked helps monitor progress on the evergreen goal of increased loan origination volume. #ExperienceIsEverything For UMortgage, Experience is Everything. This includes the client experience, realtor experience, and even the loan originator experience. The smoothest possible loan process is one of the aspects that makes UMortgage stand out against its competitors, making the goals under the #ExperienceIsEverything umbrella paramount to the success of the organization. Faster cycle times are one of the most noticeable ways to foster a greater client experience. As UMortgage improves its operational processes, it has set the goal to maintain a 12-day cycle time from App Complete to CTC by the end of Q1. The measure of a better client experience can be seen directly with a high Net Promoter Score (NPS). UMortgage has maintained a best-in-class NPS above 90 since Q2 of 2022 and will aim to maintain a score above 93 in Q1 of 2023. To ensure that the LO experience remains the best in the industry, UMortgage has created a LO-specific NPS survey and will aim to achieve a score above 90 for the quarter. #OwnTheMoment To continue to promote accountability and improve every day, UMortgage prioritizes the ability to Own the Moment. Credit pull-to-funded pull-through and lock-to-funded pull-through metrics measure UMortgage’s operational efficiency and will help improve these processes throughout the quarter. Additionally, a lower active loan escalation rate will allow the organization to identify the types and frequencies of escalations received week-over-week. These evaluations will help identify real-time coaching opportunities which may shed more light on Report Up & peer-to-peer themes. Finally, to keep the company accountable in achieving these goals that have been set, UMortgage will aim to accomplish 90% of the deliverable commitments completed during the prior quarter. This is a metric that reflects how well UMortgage was able to forecast projects that impacted the business, allocate the right resources towards these goals, and stay committed and focused on the delivery of these goals. At the Executive Leadership level, it’s crucial that the company continues to spend the right time, money, and resources on projects that will continue to help UMortgage grow and develop into the best mortgage platform for loan originators, real estate agents, and borrowers. If you’d like to learn more about the UMortgage platform and its big plans for 2023, sign up for the weekly UMortgage Discovery Call which occurs every Thursday at 2pm EDT.
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Blog Post
Mortgage
UMortgage's 2023 Housing Market Predictions
Calling the 2022 housing market a roller coaster may be overstated, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not true. The year was a tale of two halves, with historically low rates seeming to be a thing of the past as inflation-busting tactics by the Federal Reserve caused rates to increase throughout the year. While last year was unique, each year brings its ebbs and flows to the housing market. It’s nearly impossible to predict exactly what will happen within this year’s market, but we’ve compiled some insight to help you prepare for 2023. Will Home Prices Drop? Prospective buyers’ eyes typically gravitate towards a few features when shopping for their next home: location, square footage, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and perhaps most importantly, price tag. While the dollar amount on a home doesn’t exactly equate to its affordability, any potential price drops next year could encourage individuals to begin their homebuying journey. Which begs the question: will home prices drop in 2023? 2022 was a case of two halves. Using data from July, the Case Shiller index reported a drop in home values for the first time in 2012. However, with that drop in value, the market also saw fewer listings. That lack of supply brought a slight uptick in value to end the year as 2022 finished with an increase of 8-10% in home value year-over-year in many according to insight from John Toohig, Managing Director & Director of Whole Loan Trading at Raymond James. All this to say, a continued downtick in supply will likely see prices trend in the opposite direction. What Will Happen With Mortgage Rates? Throughout the year the Federal Reserve has steadily increased the Federal Funds Rate to fight inflation, which has also brought a steady increase—amidst some general volatility—in mortgage rates throughout the year. The biggest key factor to bring a decrease in rates in 2023 will be unemployment rates. “Unemployment remains the last opponent to Fed Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell’s, rate hike,” said Toohig. “If we see weakness in wage growth and in the unemployment rate, we’ll start to see rates come down even faster.” The 2023 housing market may bring its own challenges, increasing the importance of the places individuals look for their home loan. UMortgage loan originators can create life-changing opportunities through homeownership for many homebuyers through the platform’s better pricing, lender optionality, more-intuitive tech stack, and dedicated support staff. If you’d like to learn more about how UMortgage can help you increase your business in 2023, sign up for the weekly Discovery Meeting hosted by Anthony Casa and a rotating cast of UMortgage’s top talent.
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Blog Post
News
UMortgage Caps Their 1500% Growth Year with 4 Major Additions
UMortgage, a national mortgage platform, is closing out 2022 the same way they spent much of the year—with exponential growth. Just this month, the platform brought on mortgage broker icon, Todd Bitter, as Chief Sales Officer to its Executive Leadership team, acquired Dallas-based NXT Mortgage, onboarded top-producing brokers Breon Price— the number one ranked broker in Ohio—and Chad Curtin, sending shockwaves throughout the mortgage industry. The innovative mortgage platform made a concerted effort throughout the year to enhance its Executive Leadership team with highly experienced individuals from different pockets of the finance and mortgage industry. Just in 2022, UMortgage added 4 industry veterans and promoted another 2 to its executive leadership team. UMortgage hired individuals with high-level experience from other big players in the industry, including Guaranteed Rate, American Financial Resources, Homepoint, and United Wholesale Mortgage. “In order to maintain our people-focused vision while we scaled, we had to build an experienced leadership team,” claimed Casa. “That leadership was paramount in driving the growth of UMortgage and attracting the most talented loan originators within the industry.” Last week, UMortgage broke news that it had acquired NXT Mortgage. After being founded by Marine Corps veteran, Tyler Hodgson, NXT quickly shook ground within the mortgage industry. In 2020 and 2021, the brokerage was named one of America’s fastest-growing private companies by INC 5000. Directly following the acquisition, UMortgage announced that it attracted a Motto Mortgage branch led by Price and an NRL Mortgage branch led by Curtin–bringing more than 65 new employees to UMortgage in a three-week span. These major additions signal an investment into the lending platform built by President & CEO, Anthony Casa, in 2020. The platform enters the calendar year with nearly 300 loan originators on its roster—more than a 1,500% increase since the beginning of 2022. If you’d like to learn more about the UMortgage platform and how it’s creating a better path for brokers to originate, for buyers to borrow, and for real estate agents to offer better client experiences, sign up for the weekly UMortgage Discovery Meeting, Thursdays at 2pm ET.
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News
Mortgage Broker Icon Joins UMortgage to Usher in a Better Future for Loan Officers
PHILADELPHIA, PA; December 13, 2022 — Todd Bitter has announced that he is joining the UMortgage platform, citing it as the future of the mortgage brokerage industry. He will take the role of Chief Sales Officer where he will support the platform’s ever-growing roster of loan originators.  Bitter has earned a reputation as an icon within the mortgage industry for championing the broker channel and building his own business from the ground-up to become one of the nation’s top-producing purchase-focused brokers. Recently, he has pivoted his focus away from his own loan production to support his fellow brokers and share with them the practices that he utilized in order to replicate his success and retain a healthier work-life balance. His success within this industry and continued dedication to lift those around him has been reciprocated throughout the housing industry. In 2022, he was named an inaugural Hall of AIME inductee. He’s shown continued expertise in client acquisition and retention as the #1 purchase originator within the broker channel in Arizona and a top-10 broker nationally in purchase originations from 2015 to 2021. Bitter was selected as a member of the Founders Club for BACPAC, where he continues to advocate for his fellow brokers within the halls of Washington.  Bitter plans to continue this advocacy with his efforts at UMortgage, which was founded as a platform for loan originators aiming to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership for their clients. In joining UMortgage, Bitter plans to continue his initiative in building up the broker channel by becoming an accessible resource for UMortgage’s team of loan originators. “Giving back to the broker community has been hugely rewarding to me and this opportunity with UMortgage is a continuation of that,” expressed Bitter. “My previous work in helping develop my fellow brokers has led me to realize the importance of this support. Here, I’ll be able to channel all of my focus into building the most cost-effective, in terms of both profitability and time-management, platform to help loan originators find success in this industry.” Bitter has developed successful tactics in building strong relationships with his real estate agent partners. By combining this ‘relationships, not transactions’ approach with UMortgage’s in-house Operations staff, Bitter believes that he will be able to assist in developing the best platform for independent loan originators to produce at high volumes and help actualize the dreams of homeownership for countless homebuyers. If you're interested in learning more about how Bitter's new role at UMortgage will help loan originators win more deals in any market, sign up for the weekly Discovery Meeting, which happens every Thursday at 2pm ET. About UMortgage UMortgage is an innovative mortgage platform which helps Loan Originators grow their business and create life-changing opportunities through homeownership. Each LO is able to scale with a large portfolio of lenders available at their fingertips, top-of-the-line technology which allows them to work from anywhere, and dedicated Operations support with clear communication through each step of the loan. With LOs licensed nationwide, UMortgage is providing opportunities to create strong communities through financial literacy, support, and advocacy.
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Blog Post
News
UMortgage Investor Call Highlights Exponential Growth in Q3
Here at UMortgage, we’re committed to promoting radical transparency across our entire organization. As part of that commitment, we hosted our first quarterly Investor Call to give all UMortgage team members and Loan Originators an inside look at UMortgage’s year-to-date financial performance and future investments planned by the platform through Q3 and into the final quarter of 2022. During the 40-minute presentation, Anthony Casa—UMortgage President & CEO—and Gil Arbitsman—UMortgage CFO—shared some of the many ways that UMortgage has grown in 2022, including year-over-year funded volume growth, quarter-over-quarter lock volume growth, annual purchase volume growth and quarter-over-quarter LO headcount. Despite a 60% downturn in funded loans across the entire mortgage industry in 2022, UMortgage saw 379% growth from the end of Q3 in 2021 and Q3 in 2022. Forward momentum across the organization saw exponential quarterly growth in terms of funded loans as well, with a 32% increase between Q2 and Q3 this year. Locked loans also saw exponential growth across Q2 and Q3 this year, with a 34% increase quarter-over-quarter. This increase “tells us where we’re going and indicates future buyers,” according to Casa during the call. Now, what’s driving this growth? While UMortgage loan originators are able to maximize their business using this innovative platform, an exponential increase in its roster of LOs drove company-wide growth in Q3. Between the second and third quarter this year, UMortgage onboarded 103 new LOs for a 112% increase. But according to Casa, these numbers mean much more than UMortgage having a strong year. “For UMortgage, it’s not just winning the quarter; it’s understanding that we’re focused on the long-term,” said Casa. “We’re focused on building a platform which is the best platform for Loan Originators to build and scale their business, but also serve their consumers and serve their community. We’re focused on creating this platform which loan originators don’t want to leave because it’s predictable and easy to use.” During the call, the pair also took a look forward to the ways in which the organization will continue to get better every day by covering some of the major investments made into technology, recruiting, and operations. Highlighting these investments included the hiring of Sabrina Lopez as Vice President of Operations. Lopez joined UMortgage with more than a decade of experience in the mortgage industry, most recently as Managing Director of TPO Production at Homepoint. One of Lopez’s first initiatives after joining UMortgage’s executive team was the company’s first Operations Open House which kicked off a plan to onboard an influx of loan processors, loan coordinators, operations support, and closers across the next three quarters to match the growth of its roster of Loan Originators.  Additionally, experience at publicly-traded companies within the housing industry has been an important factor when investing in UMortgage’s executive leadership team. The company’s eight executive leaders bring professional experience from Homepoint, United Wholesale Mortgage, Freedom Mortgage, Guaranteed Rate, LoanDepot, AIME, and American Financial Resources. “Our leadership team has made a conscious effort to forego short-term profits in order to build for the future,” said Arbitsman. “We think there's a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on what’s going on in the market currently. We’re confident that by 2024—when rates drop—we’ll be in a position to maximize this business’ potential and continue to scale at a fast rate.” Finally, Arbitsman also touched on a corporate restructuring which will soon be taking place at UMortgage. By creating a new holding company—UM Group Holding Company, LLC—and changing the name from Premier Processing, LLC to UMortgage LLC, dba, UMortgage will be able to distribute shares to new shareholders and create opportunities for non-originating team members to own shares of the company. The call closed with some updates to UMortgage’s Capital Raise. As of the end of Q3, UMortgage was given a valuation of $18m—a $6m rise from the start of Q2 of 2022. “The interest in investing in UMortgage was through the roof,” said Arbitsman before sharing that the company has a group of 28 shareholders who are actively invested in the continued growth of the company. Growing in a shrinking market isn’t for everyone, and that’s evident with reports about local competitors recently laying off 1,000 employees surfacing this week. Behind innovative technology with Loan Originator business growth top of mind, robust operations support helping create industry-leading turn times, and a growing portfolio of lenders and loan products to help LOs compete in any market, it’s evident that UMortgage is set to change the future of the mortgage industry.  If you’re interested in learning more about the ways that UMortgage is disrupting the status quo for other mortgage lending platforms to benefit Loan Originators and their clients, sign up for the weekly UMortgage Discovery Meeting, happening every Thursday at 2pm ET.
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Blog Post
Mortgage
Easing Worried Homebuyers with Lender Optionality
It comes as no surprise to anyone in touch with the current state of the housing market to say that rates are concerning to the average home buyer. These rates have a significant trickle-down effect on every other facet of real estate; housing market demand has seen a sharp decline with prospective home buyers worried about market volatility and a speculated housing market crash. Although the majority of prospective home buyers remain hesitant to engage with the housing market in its current state, UMortgage Loan Originators have been able to ease worried home buyers with access to a broad portfolio of different lenders and the loan products at their fingertips. Options like the 2-1 temporary rate buydown, non-QM loans, and Down Payment Assistance programs are helping UMortgage Loan Originators combat off-putting and erratic mortgage rates to help create the life-changing opportunities that come with homeownership. With the help of UMortgage’s Capital Markets team that is constantly sourcing for competitive products and partners offering their loan originators creative solutions, UMortgage recorded back-to-back record weeks for loans locked in the final two weeks of September. “The optionality that I get at UMortgage helps my business tremendously,” claims Daniel De La Torre Roffe, Branch Manager of Ultimate Mortgage Team Powered by UMortgage. “We have many different ways that we can structure a transaction. If pricing is better on a particular lender, then we can send our loan to them versus another lender. Additionally, the loan programs available to us give us more control over the transaction as a whole and provide our referral partners and borrowers with an experience which I couldn’t provide before joining this platform.” Products like the 2-1 buydown are creating a more manageable path towards homeownership for qualified borrowers by buying down the prospective home buyer’s rate by two points for the first year of the mortgage and one point for the second year. “The 2-1 Buydown Loan was a great tool to help my clients get into a home, afford the payment, and not stretch so much in the first couple of years,” said Todd Davidson, a UMortgage Loan Originator based in Oregon. “As the payment increases each of the following two years, so should the buyer’s increased payment. If rates go down, as expected, they can refinance to make that payment more affordable for them.” With the wide scope of products available and the nuances of the mortgage process, home buyer education has become a cornerstone of success for many Loan Originators. Brian Barkowski, Branch Manager of Ironbank Mortgage Powered by UMortgage, has leveraged his platform on social media to share his knowledge of the housing market and the benefits of homeownership with prospective home buyers. But having access to a library of loan products is only half the battle, UMortgage Loan Originators lead with expert advice winning over more clients by educating them on the importance of homeownership, regardless of market conditions. “We’re not just closing loans and getting people mortgages, we are actually helping them realize what that home does for them in the long run,” said Barkowski. “Owning a home is so much more than just providing a roof over your head. The equity that you’re building is one of the greatest avenues to achieve generational wealth. By providing these facts and putting client education at the forefront of everything we do really helps us stand out from the crowd.” Through holistic client education on the mortgage process, Barkowski aims to keep homebuyers optimistic in regards to the housing market. By emphasizing the benefits of building equity and opportunities to refinance, Loan Originators can make an effort to change the narrative that it’s a bad time to buy a home. The statistics don’t lie, though. In September, Fannie Mae’s latest Home Purchase Sentiment Index indicated that 75% of consumers believe that it’s a bad time to buy. This downtick in home buying demand has led many mortgage companies to cut costs and lay-off large portions of their staff. UMortgage is doing the opposite, having hired 112 Loan Originators in Q3 of 2022. By utilizing creative solutions to combat the volatile market, the Philadelphia-based mortgage platform had +40% Lock Volume Growth Quarter-Over-Quarter from Q2 to Q3 (99% Purchase). With proper education and a full suite of competitive loan products, buying a home can become a much less daunting process for many prospective home buyers.
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In The News

Blog Post
HousingWire
UMortgage to Acquire Brokerage Firm, NXT Mortgage
UMortgage will be acquiring Dallas-based brokerage, NXT Mortgage, the companies confirmed to HousingWire. UMortgage is bringing NXT’s assets, technology, and people in-house, including its founder and president, Tyler Hodgson. After the transaction is complete, which is expected to happen within the next two weeks, NXT will be part of UMortgage, adopting its business model and compensation structure. Founded in 2017 by Hodgson, NXT originated $255 million in mortgages over the last 12 months, 74% of which were purchase loans, according to the mortgage tech platform Modex. NXT has 35 active loan officers, the data shows. “Tyler is a certified public accountant, and he did build some proprietary technology that helps with the onboarding process and makes it efficient and scalable. That was a big part of the value added to the company,” said Anthony Casa, who founded UMortgage in 2020. According to Hodgson, NXT and UMortgage have a common vision of building a one-of-a-kind platform for loan originators. “Our partnership will allow us to grow more rapidly towards our shared goal,” Hodgson said. UMortgage and NXT declined to provide financial terms of the deal. A source familiar with the transaction told HousingWire that UMortgage is paying over $10 million in cash and equity, and the payout is tied to the retention of the loan officers. Hodgson, a Marine Corps veteran, will own UMortgage’s shares. He will also be a national sales leader, reporting to Todd Bitter, who was hired in December to replace Casa as chief sales officer at UMortgage. UMortgage, wholly owned by UM Group Holding Company LLC, has completed a series of capital-raising rounds over the last two quarters. The company sold equity to 27 senior leaders, loan originators, branch leaders, and team members, with an average contribution of $200,000 per shareholder. However, Casa, the CEO with board of directors oversight, said he retains voting rights. Casa posted on social media in early December that he expects to own less than 1% of UMortgage by January 1, 2025. The remaining 99% of shareholders will be LOs, branch leaders, and team members. “Our corporate documents mandate that the CEO’s contract can never be longer than one year, which means each year shareholders will vote on whether or not they want the CEO to return. No one works harder than someone on a ‘prove’ it contract,” Casa said. UMortgage is a broker shop and a non-delegated correspondent lender that works with over 22 lenders and banks. According to Modex, it reached $617 million in production over the last 12 months, with 302 loan officers and 22 branches. UMortgage claims it gains 65 basis points from each loan and takes 14 calendar days on average to close a loan.
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Blog Post
Yahoo Finance
UMortgage Caps its 1500% Growth Year with 4 Major Additions
UMortgage, a national mortgage platform, is closing out 2022 the same way it spent much of the year—with exponential growth. Just this month, the platform brought on mortgage broker icon, Todd Bitter, as Chief Sales Officer to its Executive Leadership team, acquired Dallas-based NXT Mortgage, onboarded top-producing brokers Breon Price— the number one ranked broker in Ohio—and Chad Curtin, sending shockwaves throughout the mortgage industry. The innovative mortgage platform made a concerted effort throughout the year to enhance its Executive Leadership team with highly experienced individuals from different pockets of the finance and mortgage industry. Just in 2022, UMortgage added 4 industry veterans and promoted another 2 to its executive leadership team. UMortgage hired individuals with high-level experience from other big players in the industry, including Guaranteed Rate, American Financial Resources, Homepoint, and United Wholesale Mortgage. "In order to maintain our people-focused vision while we scaled, we had to build an experienced leadership team," claimed Casa. "That leadership was paramount in driving the growth of UMortgage and attracting the most talented loan originators within the industry." Last week, UMortgage broke news that it had acquired NXT Mortgage. After being founded by Marine Corps veteran, Tyler Hodgson, NXT quickly shook ground within the mortgage industry. In 2020 and 2021, the brokerage was named one of America's fastest-growing private companies by INC 5000. Directly following the acquisition, UMortgage announced that it attracted a Motto Mortgage branch led by Price and an NRL Mortgage branch led by Curtin–bringing more than 65 new employees to UMortgage in a three-week span. These major additions signal an investment into the lending platform built by President & CEO, Anthony Casa, in 2020. The platform enters the calendar year with nearly 300 loan originators on its roster—more than a 1,500% increase since the beginning of 2022. If you'd like to learn more about the UMortgage platform and how it's creating a better path for brokers to originate, for buyers to borrow, and for real estate agents to offer better client experiences, sign up for the weekly UMortgage Discovery Meeting, Thursdays at 2pm ET.
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Blog Post
UMortgage
Mortgage Broker Icon Joins UMortgage to Usher in a Better Future for Loan Officers
PHILADELPHIA, PA; December 13, 2022 — Todd Bitter has announced that he is joining the UMortgage platform, citing it as the future of the mortgage brokerage industry. He will take the role of Chief Sales Officer where he will support the platform’s ever-growing roster of loan originators. Bitter has earned a reputation as an icon within the mortgage industry for championing the broker channel and building his own business from the ground-up to become one of the nation’s top-producing purchase-focused brokers. Recently, he has pivoted his focus away from his own loan production to support his fellow brokers and share with them the practices that he utilized in order to replicate his success and retain a healthier work-life balance. His success within this industry and continued dedication to lift those around him has been reciprocated throughout the housing industry. In 2022, he was named an inaugural Hall of AIME inductee. He’s shown continued expertise in client acquisition and retention as the #1 purchase originator within the broker channel in Arizona and a top-10 broker nationally in purchase originations from 2015 to 2021. Bitter was selected as a member of the Founders Club for BACPAC, where he continues to advocate for his fellow brokers within the halls of Washington. Bitter plans to continue this advocacy with his efforts at UMortgage, which was founded as a platform for loan originators aiming to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership for their clients. In joining UMortgage, Bitter plans to continue his initiative in building up the broker channel by becoming an accessible resource for UMortgage’s team of loan originators. “Giving back to the broker community has been hugely rewarding to me and this opportunity with UMortgage is a continuation of that,” expressed Bitter. “My previous work in helping develop my fellow brokers has led me to realize the importance of this support. Here, I’ll be able to channel all of my focus into building the most cost-effective, in terms of both profitability and time-management, platform to help loan originators find success in this industry.” Bitter has developed successful tactics in building strong relationships with his real estate agent partners. By combining this ‘relationships, not transactions’ approach with UMortgage’s in-house Operations staff, Bitter believes that he will be able to assist in developing the best platform for independent loan originators to produce at high volumes and help actualize the dreams of homeownership for countless homebuyers. If you're interested in learning more about how Bitter's new role at UMortgage will help loan originators win more deals in any market, sign up for the weekly Discovery Meeting, which happens every Thursday at 2pm ET. About UMortgage UMortgage is an innovative mortgage platform which helps Loan Originators grow their business and create life-changing opportunities through homeownership. Each LO is able to scale with a large portfolio of lenders available at their fingertips, top-of-the-line technology which allows them to work from anywhere, and dedicated Operations support with clear communication through each step of the loan. With LOs licensed nationwide, UMortgage is providing opportunities to create strong communities through financial literacy, support, and advocacy.
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Blog Post
MPA Magazine
Loan Originator Earns Her "Mortgage Mentor" Moniker
Those in the mortgage industry who survived the Great Recession and now find themselves navigating choppy waters fanned by inflation are worthy of some sort of honorific, it might be said. Perhaps even a moniker suggesting superhero status. Enter Rebecca Richardson, the self-described Mortgage Mentor dispensing helpful advice in her series of social media videos and via her blog. The Charlotte, NC-based mortgage loan originator with UMortgage describes her superpower on her website: “Most people only think about home financing a few times during their lives,” she writes. “I think about it every single day. It’s your home and your future. It’s my profession and passion.” There you have it. Seeking to learn more, Mortgage Professional America reached out to Richardson – and it didn’t require a signal in the sky to arrange a meeting. Through the power of the video conferencing platform dubbed Zoom, MPA was able to learn more about the mortgage maven’s trajectory. “I actually started originating right after college,” she told MPA. “I had worked for a financial planner and got bitten by that bug.” The financial planning world made for an easy segue into the mortgage field after prompting from a real estate broker connection. Entering into the unknown, she had a powerful ally: “Though I didn’t really know what I was getting into, my dad was a real estate attorney, so I definitely grilled him with questions,” she said. Some two decades later, the nationally ranked loan officer is as enthusiastic as ever: “I just like it,” she said. “It’s fast-paced, and it’s interesting. I’ve been doing it for 20 years, and I love it.” She survived the Great Recession through “perseverance and grit,” she said. The same attributes helped fuel her entry into the wholesale market in June after having spent years in retail – joining a growing trend in the process. According to the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME), of which Richardson is a member, 6,353 loan officers who left retail joined the independent mortgage community last year. In the first nine months of this year, per AIME, more than 7,000 loan officers converted from retail to wholesale lending. Another eye-opening stat: The wholesale channel has gained some 18,000 loan officers to date as of September – “a rate of growth in the wholesale channel we’ve never seen before,” one AIME executive told MPA. The shift has prompted a pivot, as loan officers act more like trusted advisors to their clients – particularly in light of the current economic climate. “It’s very compelling, particularly in market shifts like this,” Richardson said. “And also how technology, how marketing, has changed. It lends itself to being able to build more of an autonomous platform versus relying on the company brand,” she said. “And then you’re looking for that platform that offers the programs you need to be able to meet your clients where they are.” Instead of cowering amid a challenging market, she chooses to take a different tack: “Not to have toxic positivity,” she prefaced. “We have to be realistic of what the environment is. But there’s an incredible opportunity to take market share. It’s a natural inclination to shrink back or be scared or all of those kinds of things. This is when you really get to show your strength as a financial professional for your clients.” Like all who availed of the abundant low-hanging fruit of refinancing of the last couple of years, Richardson looks back on the halcyon days of 2020 and 2021 with fondness. But now it’s time to get back at it when the customer needs help the most. “Fantastic,” she said of ’20 and ’21. “Loved the volume. It was all great. But you did not have to work that hard at being that sharp at your skill,” she said. That was then, and this is now: “This is ‘how are you serving that client, what are those tools you’re bringing to help that client win in what can be already an emotional and stressful process’ but even more so because they’re questioning if they’re making the right decision and what’s going to happen next.” How brokers react is likely to separate the wheat from the chaff, she suggested. “Being able to give them some of those tools and that education and some of that flexibility,” she said. “We may not like where rates are, but ‘here’s a 2-1 buydown or here’s another strategy you might want to consider’ – and bring on both sides of that conversation,” she said, role-playing possible scenarios to offer harried customers intent on buying a home in a changed market. “We know homeownership is still a good move to make, even in light of current rates,” she said. “But then also understand where their heart’s at and giving them actionable steps and be able to speak to that,” she said of the posture brokers should adopt with their customers in a shifting landscape. Spoken like a true mentor – indeed, a Mortgage Mentor.
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Yahoo Finance
UMortgage is Leading a Migration of Retail Loan Originators to a New Lending Platform
UMortgage is helping drive an influx of Loan Originators from retail channels to the broker space with more than 70 former retail LOs and 112 total LOs joining its platform in Q3 of 2022. While other companies continue with mass layoffs, UMortgage continues to support its claim to grow in a shrinking market. With rates continuing to increase month-over-month, total mortgage industry employment declined from 404,400 to 401,200 between July and August of 2022, according to a report from National Mortgage News. Recently, mortgage application activity has declined in tandem with a decrease in housing market demand. These factors have driven many companies within the mortgage industry to lay off staff members while retail Loan Originators sought out new opportunities to access more competitive rates and products. Despite this overall decrease in industry employment, reports found an increase of 800 individuals employed in the mortgage and non-mortgage brokerage industry between July and August, with UMortgage's weekly Discovery Meeting leading 10% of those individuals to the platform across those months. Bloated cost structures, an inability to compete with rates offered elsewhere, and outdated technologies have cut into profits for retail lenders and led to unsustainable lending practices within the channel. UMortgage has spearheaded a migration away from retail lending by offering its Loan Originators: Robust optionality with a growing portfolio of 20+ lenders and their entire suite of loan products Specialized Operations pods with Loan Processors, Coordinators, and Closers assisting throughout the loan process, led by a dedicated pod leader A fully web-based tech stack that is accessible from mobile devices and eliminates manual data entry Custom marketing materials to help grow individual businesses With these tools in hand, UMortgage is helping retail LOs towards a platform that is built to help loan originators thrive in any market. In Q3 of 2022, UMortgage welcomed more than 112 total Loan Originators to its innovative platform, upping its total number of LOs to 194. UMortgage plans for continued growth for the remainder of the year, with Q4 goals outlining a vision to onboard another 150 LOs by the end of 2022. If you're a Loan Originator looking to increase your business and help improve the standard within the mortgage industry, register for our weekly Discovery Meeting which happens every Thursday at 2pm ET.
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HousingWire
Top Tips for Mortgage Professionals Using TikTok
The social media app, TikTok, is expected to reach 1.8 billion users by the end of 2022; will you be one of them? Many mortgage professionals are turning to the platform as a way to connect with prospective borrowers and educate them on mortgages, as well as market themselves. We spoke to UMortgage Branch Manager Arielle Best, known as the VA Loan Lady on TikTok, about the platform and how best to utilize it as a mortgage loan originator. Best joined TikTok in2020 and today has 61.3k followers and 524.8k likes on the platform. She’s part of UMortgage’s “Lender Avengers” team, along with Rebecca Richardson (The Mortgage Mentor) and Nate Fain (The Mortgage Creator). “We’re on [TikTok] mostly to educate and provide information, it’s not necessarily a sales platform,”Best said. “We’re on there to provide accurate information, and if people want to use us, that’s awesome.” Using TikTok Best’s top three tips for loan officers using TikTok are to be your genuine self, keep it short and sweet, and “just do the video.” “Even if the first one sucks, you can only get better,” she said. “You can look at it and say, ‘How can I make this video better?’” She said one mistake she sees a lot of loan officers new to TikTok make is talking to the camera rather than through the camera to their audience. “Be your true self,” she said. “Act like you’re talking to friends when you’re explaining something, as if your best friend came to your house to ask you mortgage advice – talk to your phone like that.” According to Best, her biggest learning curves upon joining TikTok were learning how to use the app’s features and understanding what the algorithm was looking for when putting out content. “Putting out information – useful information –wasn’t gaining traction unless you made it less than 10 seconds, put catchy music behind it and put the words on the screen,” she said. “The biggest thing with TikTok is understanding how viewers want to consume the information, even if that information is something that’s important, getting it to where they’re going to see it.” She said the app’s algorithm is looking for “small bites of information that are useful, digestible and understandable, and in as short a time as you can provide it.” She also recommended learning how to organizeyour TikTok by using the playlists feature. Best has playlists for her Q&A Wednesday series, satire videos and true stories, among other types of videos. Playlists make it easier for your followers to binge your content and absorb all the information. When it comes to deciding what to make videos about, Best says she looks toward her commenters. “I always will go to my comment section, because those are the people that are looking for answers, are the ones asking questions,” she said. “I let them decide what I’m going to talk about.” “That’s another great thing about TikTok that I love– one person can ask me a question that is useful to so many people, and I’ll reply to that with the answer,” she said. “Then so many more people have that knowledge and information now that didn’t and wouldn’t have known where to find it, because the average borrower is not going to go dig through the chapter of a handbook to find information for their loan circumstance.” Best also recommends making videos on important news updates borrowers need to know about. Building a Brand In terms of building a brand, Best says it’s crucial to know your market and to combine your passion with what you’re already doing. As the VA Loan Lady, she specializes in VA loans because she’s passionate about helping veterans. “Build your brand around the things that you love to do, and then your brand comes to you a little more naturally,” she said. The best way to grow your audience is to post routinely, and be sure to cover controversial and often misrepresented topics by providing accurate information, she said. Return on investment Best said she spends less than 10 hours a week on her TikTok. “I’ll spend probably an hour today just replying to videos, and then editing and posting and kind of batch-dumping videos,” she said. What kind of ROI does she see for her time on the app? In April she had 400 people fill out inquiries and applications from TikTok. She posted a video in July that had more than 1 million views, and said that about 530 people reached out afterward. “It wasn’t all applications, but we had inquiries up above 500 for one video,” she said. “If I were to average, it’s no less than at least 150 to 200 either inquiries or applications a month.” Ultimately, Best said, the key to TikTok is to remember that your audience consists of real people you’re connecting with, rather than people you’re trying to pitch or sell yourself to. “You are there to educate and inform them oftheir options for financing,” she said. “Don’t sell yourself, be yourself.” Interested in seeing how other professionals use TikTok? Check out these mortgage and real estate accounts you should be following!
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MPA Magazine
UMortgage to Hire 250 Operations Professionals Amid Mass Layoffs
While other companies have enacted mass layoffs and hiring freezes, UMortgage has revealed plans to hire more than 250 operations professionals over the next six months. The Philadelphia-based lender said it intends to grow its operations support staff and onboard new talent during its virtual open house event on Sep. 15, 2022. The announcement comes just a few months after hiring 52 loan originators last quarter, bringing its total number to 262 team members. “We’re trying to solve a big industry pain point with this event,” said Anthony Casa, president and CEO of UMortgage. “There are a lot of people unemployed in this industry. UMortgage is creating jobs, being efficient in the hiring process, and setting clear expectations on the standard we have for our client experience.” Casa will lead the open house, along with Sabrina Lopez, who recently joined the company as vice president of operations. During the event, they will discuss UMortgage’s business model, training opportunities for new operations team members, expectations for current available roles, loan process, value proposition, core values, and the team member support system. “What we’re looking for at our operations open house are individuals who are focused on the client experience,” Lopez said. “They are detail-oriented, have excellent communication skills, are advocates for the borrower, and understand the importance of making a difference each day in regards to how they interact with their teammates, loan officers, external partners, and the customer. Our operations team has to have a sense of urgency and must be committed to improving day over day.” The virtual event will be open to all loan coordinators, processors, underwriters, closers, or other seasoned mortgage professionals who are based in the US. The company said its need for greater operations is a “direct result of the influx of loan originators the company hired in Q2.” By the end of the third quarter, UMortgage plans to onboard a further 100+ employees.
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MPA Magazine
UMortgage Lifts the Lid on its Influencer Marketing Strategy
Influencer marketing is working wonders for many businesses in today’s modern world. A research report from Lee Odden’s TopRank Marketing revealed that 86% of B2B brands have succeeded in boosting brand awareness and increasing sales through influencer marketing. UMortgage is keeping up with the trends by harnessing the power of social media to educate both consumers and loan officers on mortgage and homeownership. In June, the Philadelphia-based home lender welcomed three prominent TikTok influencers – Nate Fain, Arielle Best, and Rebecca Richardson – as part of its expansion strategy and for a greater marketing push to bolster its portfolio of LOs. In line with the new hires, UMortgage also launched Homeowner HQ, a virtual branch dedicated to educating prospective and existing homeowners across the country. “We approached Arielle, Nate, and Rebecca, not for their social following, but for their passion for educating prospective homebuyers about all of the nuances of the mortgage process,” UMortgage told Mortgage Professional America in an exclusive interview. “Our vision as a company is to educate consumers and people across the country on all the aspects of homeownership. “That focus on empowering others through education resonates with a very specific group of people in the industry, and Rebecca, Nate, and Arielle fit into that group. They use social media to increase accessibility to their educational efforts, which aligns with our vision of creating life-changing opportunities through homeownership.” The trio joined UMortgage after developing a large following on social media. Fain, also known as @themortgagecreator on TikTok, leveraged his 10 years of experience as an LO and unique personality to grow his following to nearly 250,000 followers and more than two million likes on the platform. “For the last year or so, Arielle, Rebecca, and I have sort of joked that we should form a team,” he said. “We all have different personalities, but we share the same vision. I think that’s the mark of a really great team. Our main goal is to educate and empower the public so they can make informed decisions when getting a mortgage. “UMortgage really bought into this crazy idea and vision that Rebecca, Arielle, and I have for our team. UMortgage’s technology and focus on client experience also fit our business model perfectly, which is really exciting.” Like Fain, Richardson also shared her extensive industry knowledge on TikTok with the goal of increasing accessibility to the housing market. Richardson’s TikTok profile @the.mortgage.mentor has more than 127,000 followers, and her Instagram account has another 10,000 followers. “We are able to contribute to the team and our individual clients in the ways in which we are uniquely gifted,” Richardson shared. “If there are areas that we struggle with, we are able to lean on other team members for support.” Meanwhile, Best (@thatonedamnginger) is focused on debunking myths and providing factual information regarding VA loans. Her specialized content has brought in over 58,000 followers and around 488,000 likes. “I started my TikTok channel because I wanted to start giving my knowledge directly to the people it affects, the Veteran and Active Duty Community,” Best said. “I never planned on using that platform as a way to earn business from Veterans and the Miltok community, but it happened. I knew I needed to find a new place to call home for my business because the reach and help I was providing was staggering, but there’s only one of me.” In addition to helping the company boost its presence online, Best, Fain, and Richardson will co-manage Homeowner HQ. “The great thing about Homeowner HQ was the unique experience they brought with them to UMortgage, but they have already been driving consumer education before joining forces with us,” the company said. “What we offer is a place to help grow and scale their business so they can focus on educating more consumers and people across the internet. Because of our focus on getting better every day, this transition has challenged us to continuously evolve our processes to greater support loan originators of every type.” When asked how it plans to use the platform to further expand its lending business, UMortgage clarified that its focus is actually on helping originators grow their businesses. “Rebecca, Nate, and Arielle all have a great client base that comes from social media. Our focus is less on telling them how to get the most out of TikTok,” UMortgage told MPA. “Rather, we want to provide them with the tools and resources they need to best serve their clients and those clients’ loans. “Are they not licensed in a certain state where a client is interested? We have a network of loan originators licensed across the country to help support that. Do they need more people on their team to help serve all of these inquiries? We’ll help them scale that. Do they need additional operations to process all of these loans? We have that, too. We offer all of our LOs an open door to our executive leadership team so that we’re always aware of the ways that improve our processes and best support our LOs and their clients.” Last month, UMortgage rolled out its ‘Partnership Playbook,’ which the lender described as a “continuously-evolving tool with strategies that some of our most-experienced LOs use to grow referral networks and give their clients and real estate agents the best experience possible throughout the home buying process.” “It’s provided an excellent environment that fosters growth and creativity while knowing we have the leadership and operational support to ensure our clients are well taken care of,” Richardson commented. “The overall strategy and purpose for our business is simple: creating life-changing opportunities through homeownership,” UMortgage said. “Just like all of our other LOs, Arielle, Nate, and Rebecca align with that purpose. Our target audience as a collective company is loan originators we can support. Our goal is to empower them to help all individuals who are interested in the personal and financial freedoms associated with homeownership.”
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Voyage Utah
Check Out Kristi Gibb's Story
Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristi Gibb. Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started? In 2015, my husband, who is a US Army Veteran, and I were in the market to buy a home. We went to our bank to get pre-approved and then met up with our Realtor. He recommended that we get a second opinion from a local mortgage broker. We were sure our bank would offer us the best rate because it’s a Veteran-friendly bank. Instead, we learned that the mortgage broker could offer us a much lower rate and fees than the bank was charging. He explained that banks and retail lenders often charge higher rates and fees and then keep the credit attached to those rates as profit for themselves, rather than passing it on to the consumer. We wound up taking a job and buying a home in Utah. When we moved into our neighborhood, we became friends with someone who owned his own mortgage brokerage. Since our kids were getting older, I began thinking of what I could do for a career. My husband suggested I talk to our mortgage broker friend. One thing led to another, and I found my passion in helping people build wealth through homeownership with low broker rates and fees as a mortgage broker. We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road? It has not been a smooth road. Though our friend is awesome, he was not set up to train a brand new loan officer or guide me on the path to success. I worked hard, took several online trainings, and hired a coach to help me learn what to do to gain referral partners and guide clients through a positive experience while getting their home loan. I was often tempted to quit as I went months without a paycheck, but I continued to do the work knowing that it had to pay off. My coach recommended that I switch brokerages to one that offered mentorship and support. I finally listened and found my second place of employment just as the pandemic unleashed on the US. My second boss offered training, support, coaching, and leads. I was able to refine my skills and process as I helped many families refinance or purchase their homes while I grew my business. My passion is helping our Veterans utilize their VA home loan benefit and educating Realtors and our community on what a great loan the VA loan is. I was surprised when I became a loan officer to learn that there are biases against it. People think VA borrowers are weak borrowers because they take advantage of the 0% down benefit, or that the loans take too long to close, and the appraisals always come in low. This is not the case. My first two bosses weren’t very enthusiastic about me pursuing mostly Veteran clients, so I decided to join forces with Jimmy Hobson at UMortgage out of Bountiful, UT. I’d been following him since I signed up with the Military Mortgage Bootcamp in 2019. He did the work and became one of the premier VA loan officers in the nation. I have finally found my home at UMortgage, where we offer low rates and fees, and share the same drive and vision that provides fast closings and excellent customer experiences. I’m privileged to be on the VA Extension team at UMortgage, where we will soon grow to become the biggest VA lender in the US. Our goal is to help as many Veterans as possible obtain homeownership without getting fleeced by big name lenders who charge high rates and fees and provide call-center level service. Now I teach classes to realtors and homebuyers about the VA home loan, and why it is such a great loan. My goal is to dispel the myths in our community that surrounds the VA loan and help VA buyers win more offers. I love the VA loan because my husband and I were able to use it to buy our first home. It was a huge help! I’ve done a lot of training on the VA home loan benefit and have become a Certified Veteran Lending Specialist through NAMB and a Veteran Mortgage Advisor through the Veteran Lending Council. I study the guidelines daily and seek to be a resource for our Veteran homebuyers and the realtors who help them. I love serving our Veterans. They inspire me to do my best. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others? I do all loan types, but my favorite by far is the VA loan. I’m a Veteran Mortgage Advisor, certified by the Veteran Lending Council, and a Certified Veteran Lending Specialist, certified by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. I love demystifying the VA loan for borrowers and Realtors. It’s always exciting to me when I can help a Veteran access their VA home loan benefits especially after another loan officer has told them that they had lost it. It really matters who you work with. You want to work with someone who is very familiar with your loan program and can guide you through its nuances. The VA loan has the most flexible guidelines of all the loan programs. “Underwriters are encouraged to consider every possible appropriate factor in seeking a proper basis for approving loan applications for every qualified Veteran” (VA Handbook). I’m grateful to be on a team of VA loan officer powerhouses who can back me up if I’m not sure of the answer, or mastermind with me about different scenarios. I love teaching VA Myth Busting classes to the Realtors in our community and hope to change the stigma in Utah surrounding VA loans. What do you like best about our city? What do you like least? I love the different seasons in Utah. My family and I enjoy snowboarding, camping, rafting, and visiting the beautiful parks Utah has to offer. We also like watching movies and hanging out together. We’re pretty low-key most of the time. Pricing: Brokers saved borrowers $9407 in 2021 over retail lenders When you’re financing a home, check with a mortgage broker. Contact Info: Website: https://www.gibbhomeloans.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristigibbmortgage Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristigibbmortgage/ Twitter: https://www.tiktok.com/@kristigibb Other: https://www.umortgage.com
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MAP Magazine
UMortgage Unveils Financial Literacy Program
Initiative aims to boost financial literacy among consumers throughout the country UMortgage has announced an initiative to provide training and educational materials to help consumers become financially well. The national mortgage company said that it will be hosting its inaugural Financial Literacy Week program from March 28 to April 03. The week-long program was designed to include, and extend beyond, home buying and mortgage-related topics to provide an immersive and well-rounded education. With four sessions per day, the program will cover topics such as investing, designing a career with money in mind, student loans, and several others. Commenting on the initiative, UMortgage CEO Anthony Casa said the goal is to “help fill in those gaps and power a greater sense of financial literacy among consumers throughout the country, especially people in underserved markets.” “Most educational systems in America, from elementary school through college, are putting people at a disadvantage by not making any sort of dedicated financial education courses a requisite part of their curriculum,” he said. “Whether it’s learning about homeownership or retirement, most people don’t have access to this curriculum until the time has either come or it’s passed - for us, that’s a big deal.” UMortgage’s learning and development team and other industry experts will lead the training in each topic area. Courses will be online and accessible to people of all ages and in every state.
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Yahoo! Finance
UMortgage Hosting Week-Long Financial Literacy Program to Boost Consumer Education
Inaugural program a key pillar of company's mission to power financial literacy nationwide PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- UMortgage, a fast-growing national mortgage company, will be hosting its inaugural Financial Literacy Week program from Monday, March 28 – Sunday, April 3. The week-long program is a major initiative of the nationwide mortgage lender, which has prioritized financial literacy as a key pillar of the service it provides borrowers nationwide. The program kicks off Financial Literacy Month, a nationally recognized campaign that takes place each April to bring awareness to the need for more financial education in schools and for adults. "Most educational systems in America from elementary school through college are putting people at a disadvantage by not making any sort of dedicated financial education courses a requisite part of their curriculum," said Anthony Casa, Chief Executive Officer of UMortgage. "Whether it's learning about homeownership or retirement, most people don't have access to this curriculum until the time has either come or it's passed - for us, that's a big deal. Our goal at UMortgage is to help fill in those gaps and power a greater sense of financial literacy amongst consumers throughout the country, especially people in underserved markets." As part of its Financial Literacy Week program, UMortgage will host four sessions per day, covering a broad range of topics that include investing, designing a career with money in mind, student loans, and several others. The program was built to include, and extend beyond, homebuying and mortgage-related topics to provide an immersive and well-rounded education. Training in each topic area will be provided by members of the UMortgage Learning & Development team, as well as subject matter experts from relevant industries, including GradFin, a student loan provider. Courses will be online and accessible to people of all ages and in every state. UMortgage's consistent dedication to powering financial literacy for the borrowers it serves is evident in its mortgage industry-leading Net Promoter Score (NPS) - a measure of customer satisfaction calculated based on the likelihood of respondents to refer friends and family to a company, product or service. The company currently holds a 93 NPS rating on a spectrum from -100 to 100. For more information on the courses that will be offered, and to register online, visit umortgage.com/financial-literacy-week.
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