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Blog Post
NewsApril 23, 2024
UMortgage Announces Jimmy Hobson as National Sales Leader and Growth Projections for 2024 and Beyond
PHILADELPHIA, PA., April 19, 2024 — Following up on its record-breaking year of growth that culminated in a 127% year-over-year increase in funded volume in 2023, UMortgage clearly outlined its path forward for the remaining 3 quarters of 2024 and the years to come in its Vision, Goals, and Priorities presentation on April 18th. It also announced new leadership to help those at the platform achieve these goals — including the promotion of Jimmy Hobson, former UMortgage West Branch Manager, as National Sales Leader. “As a company, we’ve come a long way,” stated Anthony Casa, President & CEO. “When I founded UMortgage in 2020, $2bil in volume seemed like the moon to us. Now, we’re coming off a year in 2023 where we funded just shy of $2bil with +128% year-over-year growth, and that’s down to the ways that we’ve developed our culture, processes, and identity to give us this platform that we’ve been able to build upon.” Having averaged 175% year-over-year growth every year since 2021, UMortgage has cemented itself as the fastest-growing mortgage company in the country. Less than 3 and a half years into its business cycle, the Philadelphia-based mortgage platform is placed among the top mortgage companies in the country with 20 Loan Originators featured in the 2024 Scotsman Guide Rankings. The evolution of leadership at UMortgage has been at the center of the platform’s growth since Casa founded the platform in 2020. During the presentation, it was announced that Hobson had been promoted to National Sales Leader. In his role, Hobson will implement set standards for loan submission, sales strategies, and marketing to foster a consistent mortgage experience across the organization. “I’m humbled to be able to continue to drive this incredible company forward as its National Sales Leader,” said Hobson. “What’s needed for UMortgage to take the next step is synergy with everything we do. I’m going to spearhead better collaboration between Sales and Operations, more coaching opportunities to get everyone pulling in the same direction, and stronger lender relationships. We have a lot of talent here and with better alignment and coaching, we can work our way straight to the top. Hobson joined UMortgage in 2021 to lead UMortgage West — the platform’s Utah-based branch — alongside fellow Branch Managers, Kyle Koller and Adam West. In less than 3 years, UMortgage West grew to become UMortgage’s highest-producing branch and served nearly 1,000 families for more than $340mil in volume in 2023. UMortgage is eager for Hobson to share the practices that helped facilitate UMortgage West’s growth across the entire organization. Christina Escobar, former Loan Specialist Team Leader, earned an executive role after being promoted to VP of People. UMortgage also formally welcomed Mike Farah as Director of Sales Operations. Farah previously worked at the New Jersey-based brokerage Garden State Home Loans as its VP of Operations. These new members of UMortgage’s executive leadership team will work together to help the platform reach multiple goals outlined in the Vision, Goals, and Priorities presentation. Under refreshed leadership, UMortgage has targeted benchmarks of 4 monthly fundings per LO, a loan cycle that’s 16 calendar days from TRID to clear to close, and a maximum cost per funded loan of $1,650. These goals are central to UMortgage’s plan to become the best mortgage company in America. For UMortgage, this means a team-centric culture that offers all associated parties a consistent, communicative, and relationship-driven client experience. With a fresh, experienced, and diverse leadership team driving these target goals, UMortgage plans to originate upwards of $6bil in yearly volume by the end of 2025. The platform is constantly growing and wants to do so with the best Loan Originators and Operations support in the country. Follow this link if you’re interested in learning more about UMortgage’s mission to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership. About UMortgage UMortgage is a national mortgage platform on a mission to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership for homebuyers across the country. With Loan Originators licensed from coast to coast, an expansive suite of lenders to shop from, and a quick, clear, & communicative homebuying process, UMortgage is ushering in a modern mortgage experience that can cater to any homebuyer.
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Blog Post
NewsApril 18, 2024
Celebrating 6 Months of Patton Gade at UMortgage
Just six months into his role, Patton Gade’s positive influence on UMortgage’s success has been clear. With 33% of all loans originated by UMortgage representing VA loans, 133% growth within the UMortgage Veterans Alliance—a branch solely focused on serving homebuyers from the military community—and a drastic shift in the perception of VA loans throughout the organization, it’s hard to believe he joined the team as National Director of Military Lending just 6 months ago. As we celebrate half of a year of Patton and the positive impact he’s had across UMortgage’s entire organization, let’s reflect on some of the big milestones that he’s helped us reach. Patton Gade Joins UMortgage – October 2023 After spending more than 2 years as a Branch Manager at a large retail platform, Patton joined UMortgage to usher in a new standard for VA homebuying services for veteran and active-duty military members across the country. As the leader of UMortgage’s Military Lending Division, Patton set out on a vision to, “educate and serve veterans through their homeownership journey with the same selfless passion in which they serve our country.” Patton Shares His Mission as National Director of Military Lending on Cheddar News – November 2023 Shortly after he joined UMortgage, Patton made the short trek from UMortgage’s Philadelphia headquarters to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to help educate individuals across the nation on VA loan benefits with a segment on Cheddar News. His segment, which appropriately was broadcast just days before Veterans Day, centered around the ways that VA loans work, why they’re so beneficial to active-duty and veteran homebuyers, and what the process looks like to get a VA loan from a bird’s eye view. Just two weeks into his time at UMortgage, Patton’s commitment to VA homebuyers was on display for the world to see as he busted some of the most common myths for a national audience. UMortgage Finishes 2023 with 1,031 VA Borrowers Served – December 2023 Prior to Patton’s arrival, UMortgage already had a strong team of Loan Originators who specialized in VA loans and the veteran homebuying process. Jimmy Hobson—Branch Manager & Scotsman Guide-ranked VA Originator for each of the 3 years he’s spent at UMortgage—and Jay Bunte—Branch Manager and 2024 Scotsman-ranked VA originator—both laid a solid foundation for UMortgage’s VA expertise that Patton was easily able to build upon. With Patton leading UMortgage’s Military Lending Division, the innovative mortgage company demonstrated what’s to come long-term with 1,030 of its company-record 6,085 yearly funded units in 2023 accounting for VA loans. Additionally, as of April 16, 33% of UMortgage’s total loan volume in 2024 has come from VA loans. Patton Coordinates a VA Training Hosted by Jay Bunte – January 2024 Building a mortgage platform that’s well-suited to navigate the nuances of VA loans starts with education. In January, Jay Bunte, UVA Branch Manager and 2024 Scotsman Guide-ranked VA Originator, hosted a Daily Sales Huddle on the most common mistakes that he sees LOs make when originating VA loans. By providing hands-on educational opportunities from subject-matter experts, UMortgage is elevating every LO within the organization with the knowledge needed to offer a best-in-class homebuying experience for VA homebuyers. Through Patton’s leadership and Jay’s educational offerings, UMortgage engrains a set standard across the platform for consistent and excellent service. Patton Hosts Company-Wide Training on Smoothly Scaling Production – February 2023 Building a team of great VA LOs starts with a team of great LOs; to be a great LO, one needs a solid routine of repeatable and scalable daily sales activities. Before he earned his status as the nation’s top VA LO, Patton had to first master those skills mentioned previously. In late February, Patton led a Sales Huddle for UMortgage LOs on mastering the basics to efficiently scale production. During his presentation, he shared personal anecdotes on his journey from call center LO to a consistent $100 million yearly producer with the daily structure and sales strategies he followed to get to that point. This huddle was one of the many ways that Patton’s leadership and expertise stretched beyond just VA loans to lift all of UMortgage’s LOs in his six months as a leader within the platform. Patton Joins the Good. Better. Broker Podcast – March 2023 Having approached two full quarters at UMortgage, Patton’s vision as National Director of Military Lending had become crystal clear. With the foundation for UMortgage’s Military Lending Division laid, Patton joined UWM’s Good. Better. Broker. podcast to share an inside look at the team of VA loan experts that he’s building at UMortgage. Although his goal is to make UMortgage the nation’s best brokerage for VA homebuyers, Patton also endeavors to enhance VA homebuying experiences throughout the industry by dismantling barriers and ensuring veteran homeownership becomes more attainable nationwide. After discussing the ways that UMortgage is opening more doors for homeownership, he also shared commonplace practices that all loan officers should hold to serve military homebuyers with the kind of service befitting of their service to the country. Patton Ranked #2 On 2024 Scotsman Guide Top VA Volume Rankings – April 2023 Patton has long since established himself as one of the best VA Loan Originators in the nation. In early April, he was featured at #2 on the 2024 Scotsman Guide Top VA Volume rankings with $115,577.350 in VA loan volume with 213 veterans and active-duty military members served. Alongside Patton on the 2024 Scotsman Guide Top VA Originator Rankings were Jay Bunte (#22) and Jimmy Hobson (#85). Three LOs ranked in the top 100 is a company record for UMortgage; this accomplishment, coupled with the 133% growth seen by the UMortgage Veteran’s Alliance since Patton’s arrival, is a strong sign of great things to come for veteran homebuyers. If you want to contribute to this mission as a member of the UMortgage Veteran’s Alliance, register here for an opportunity to speak directly with Patton and other UMortgage leaders about the opportunities available at the platform.
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Blog Post
NewsApril 6, 2024
20 UMortgage Loan Originators Featured Throughout the 2024 Scotsman Guide Rankings
Earlier this week, the Scotsman Guide released its 2024 Top Originators Rankings. UMortgage is proud to have 20 different Loan Originators ranked in 4 different categories. The Philadelphia-based mortgage platform has had multiple Loan Originators feature on the Scotsman Guide’s yearly rankings for the last 3 years. Coming off its best year for funded volume and units, UMortgage also had its highest number of Loan Originators featured in this year’s Scotsman Guide rankings. Newly introduced coaching programs, accomplished additions to UMortgage’s leadership team, and some of the platform’s unique value propositions all played a part in the 21 different Loan Originators earning spots across the Scotsman Guide’s Top Originators rankings. In the spirit of UMortgage’s core value to Get Better Every Day, the innovative mortgage platform launched its Level Up Sales Coaching program for Loan Originators in the summer of 2023. Through their involvement in Level Up, 10 UMortgage LOs mastered their sales strategies and grew their businesses to earn spots on the Scotsman Guide 2024 Top Mortgage Brokers rankings. Level Up arms its students with the necessary knowledge and resources needed to grow their network and exceed their yearly production goals. This first-of-its-kind coaching program connects Loan Originators with industry leaders and top producers and offers innovative business-tracking technology to help students find effective repeatable sales strategies. Tyler Hodgson, EVP of Growth and 2024 Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Broker, led the charge to launch Level Up and serves as one of 9 Level Up Sales Coaches for the program’s Spring 2024 semester. Patrick Stoy, a fellow feature on the Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Broker rankings, also currently serves as a coach. Jay Bunte, Jimmy Hobson, Ian Twaddle, Lisa Shaull, and Ben Bell have all been active in the program as either coaches or students since the inaugural semester in the summer of 2023, and all feature in the 2024 Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Broker rankings. With a desire to continually craft skills and Get Better Every Day, 10 UMortgage LOs earned their place on this year’s Top Mortgage Broker rankings. Along with the sales-tracking technology available in the Level Up Sales Coaching Program, UMortgage’s complete tech stack contributed to the production growth that landed 19 Loan Originators to the 2024 Scotsman Guide Top Dollar rankings. All UMortgage LOs originate their loans through ARIVE – a fully digital origination platform consolidating a product pricing engine, point-of-sale, lender marketplace, and CRM into an intuitive interface. With ARIVE, LOs can serve a higher volume of clients with the ability to originate from anywhere in the country. ARIVE also allows UMortgage Loan Originators to invite their agent partners to ARIVE’s exclusive Agent Portal. The Agent Portal allows real estate agents to track their clients’ loans as they pass through the loan pipeline, generate pre-approvals, and create a co-branded loan application with their and their UMortgage partner’s contact information. UMortgage’s vision is to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership, and 16 UMortgage Loan Originators lived out that vision in a big way by serving a high volume of homebuyers to earn spots on the 2024 Scotsman Guide Rankings for Most Loans Closed. With an ever-growing suite of custom marketing materials at their disposal, UMortgage LOs can organically connect with a higher volume of prospective buyers and instantly earn their trust by leading with education and prioritizing relationships, not transactions. UMortgage’s Marketing team offers its LOs curated daily content every month to educate their social media audience on the nuances of the homebuying process, offer financial literacy advice, and share their latest and greatest loan products. Many of the marketing materials available can be co-branded to create a unified approach that strengthens their relationships with real estate agent partners and opens the door to more affordable homebuying opportunities for the homebuyers they serve. When it welcomed Patton Gade – the 2023 Scotsman Guide Top VA Originator – as its National Director of Military Lending in late 2023, UMortgage signaled its commitment to improve homebuying experiences for veteran and active-duty borrowers. After transitioning into his role as National Director of Military Lending, Gade serves as a leader for the UMortgage Veterans Alliance – a branch/Sales Division dedicated to serving veteran and active-duty homebuyers with service that’s fitting to their dedication to serving the country. Under his leadership and the leadership of fellow Scotsman Guide-ranked VA Originator, Jay Bunte, the UMortgage Veterans Alliance has grown to a team of 12 experienced Loan Originators who all specialize in VA loans. Gade and UVA Branch Manager, Jay Bunte, are both Army veterans and graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, while Jimmy Hobson, Branch Manager at UMortgage West, is a staunch advocate for VA homebuying — exemplified by his place on the Scotsman Guide’s Top VA Volume Rankings for the third consecutive year. In 2023, more than 31% of the loans originated by UMortgage LOs were VA loans. Under the leadership of Scotsman Guide Top VA Originators, Gade, Bunte, and Hobson, UMortgage is on a clear mission to increase access to homebuying opportunities for members of the military community and change the narrative and negative stigmas associated with VA loans within the mortgage industry. After more than doubling its yearly funded volume and units from 2022 to 2023, UMortgage is on pace for another record-breaking year of growth. In Q1 of 2024, the platform funded 1,544 units and $510mil in overall volume – a 24% year-over-year increase in funded volume and a 35% increase from Q4 of 2023. UMortgage is constantly growing with innovative origination software, industry-leading coaching opportunities, eye-catching marketing, and a team of LOs committed to supporting each other. To learn more about how you can grow your business with the power of the UMortgage platform, check out our Experience the Difference packet for a comprehensive overview of the ways that UMortgage is empowering brokers nationwide.
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Blog Post
NewsMarch 21, 2024
The NAR Settlement and its Impact on Homebuyers, Real Estate Agents, and Loan Officers
On Friday, March 15th, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed on a settlement for the ongoing real estate commission lawsuits with $418 million paid in damages and several rule changes that impact the overall homebuying process. These rule changes include the abolishment of the “Participation Rule” which previously required selling agents to display the buyer agent compensation for each listing on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Below, we outlined how the NAR settlement will directly impact real estate agents, homebuyers, and loan officers as they conduct business throughout 2024 and beyond. This piece will be updated as new information is received regarding the settlement. Last update: March 25, 2024. How the NAR Settlement Impacts Real Estate Agents The NAR settlement and subsequent rulings will have the greatest impact on real estate agents, and more specifically agents who are representing prospective homebuyers. Following the settlement, the MLS—a service used by buy-side agents to find new listings for their clients and connect with listing agents to negotiate a deal—will no longer display the exact buyer agent compensation. The settlement also ruled that buyer agents must have a signed agreement with the homebuyer they represent with this rule expected to take effect in July 2024. As of right now, there is no mandatory verbiage needed in these agreements beyond written confirmation that the homebuyer is choosing to work with the agent. While these are major changes in a commission-based industry, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the homebuying process as it is known will be uprooted. Although buyer agent compensation won’t be listed in the MLS, it can still be negotiated between the buyer and the seller and facilitated by the buy-side and listing agents. Moreover, buyer agent compensation can be legally shared by the listing agent to the buyer’s agent or advertised alongside a listing in marketing materials as long as it’s not on the MLS. So, in most cases, a buyer agent can still see what they could earn and negotiate compensation before an offer is submitted. At the end of the day, real estate agents provide a bounty of value to the homebuyers they serve. For those shopping for their home, the market expertise, neighborhood know-how, and experienced perspectives offered by licensed real estate agents are invaluable throughout the homebuying process and should be demonstrated in the now-mandated buyer-broker agreements. How the NAR Settlement Impacts Homebuyers The major change brought forth by the NAR settlement that prospective homebuyers will notice is the required agreement that they will sign before they start working with their real estate agent. This rule will go into effect in July 2024. These agreements will likely provide a comprehensive overview of the services provided by their real estate agent and, upon signing, will confirm the buyer’s commitment to work solely with their buy-side agent to buy their home and that the agent will be compensated for brokering the purchase of the home. Through this process of negotiating the buyer-agent agreement, there is greater room for negotiation on the terms in which an agent is paid. These options include payment via a fixed-fee commission paid directly by the buyer, seller concessions, or a percentage of the listing agents’ commission—the latter of which is how buyer agents have historically been compensated. There is speculation that this ruling combined with a lack of seller-paid agent compensation could see the cost to buy a home fall, but that isn’t necessarily true. In most cases, buyer and listing agent compensation is paid by the seller and built into the listing price of the home. Suppose a seller chooses not to pay the buy-side agent’s compensation or the listing agent opts against sharing their commission as part of the negotiations. In that case, buyers will instead have to pay out of pocket for their real estate agent representation. This is expected to be an exception as selling agents need to provide incentives to generate interest in their listings, and that incentive has traditionally been through buyer agent compensation. For many homebuyers, and especially those buying for the first time, coming up with the extra cash to pay their agent’s commission on top of what’s needed for their down payment or closing costs can be challenging. Following these rule changes, it’s still possible for the buy-side agent to be compensated through a seller-paid commission that’s been baked into the price of the home and paid as part of the mortgage. Whether you’re buying your first home or purchasing your next home, working with a licensed real estate professional is hugely beneficial. On top of their market and neighborhood expertise, real estate agents can often spot issues with homes before the inspection to save you from wasted time putting an offer on a home that will end up being a money pit within your first few months or years of living there. If you need to connect with an experienced real estate agent to help you with your home purchase, feel free to reach out to your UMortgage Loan Originator; they will be able to put you in touch with a trusted partner in your area. How the NAR Settlement Impacts Loan Officers Loan officers are the party that’s least impacted by the recent NAR rulings as lender compensation is already included in closing costs. There is still plenty of value that real estate agents offer both homebuyers and loan officers throughout the homebuying process. Because of that, this ruling likely won’t change the working relationship between LOs and real estate agents. If costs for homebuyers increase, independent mortgage brokers should highlight the lower closing costs available to buyers when they work with a broker rather than historically expensive banks and retail shops. Homeownership is a privilege, and UMortgage is on a mission to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership by making it more accessible for buyers across the nation. If you’re interested in learning more about your buying power or want to find a UMortgage Loan Originator in your area, follow this link to get started.
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