Broker-to-Broker

At age 22, Jonathon Haddad had become the youngest banker promoted to director at Quicken Loans. By 27, after helping build out their online chat service, Jonathon was promoted to Vice President. Now, at age 30, having transitioned from retail-to-wholesale over 2.5 years ago, Jonathon leads a team of 80 employees and is using his marketing and SEO expertise to bring in 250+ organic leads a month. ...

After 22 years in the industry, Mortgage Broker/Owner Jason Glass has finally decided to stop overthinking and take action. Instead of waiting for the perfect situation or over-analyzing every little detail, Jason has decided to take the time to invest in himself and his business with a growth-first mindset, all by being his true authentic self. Not too long ago, Jason would dress up in a suit and...

After a dozen years of being restrained by limited options in the retail channel, Southern California Mortgage Broker Jerry Avila decided to finally make the transition to wholesale. Jerry believes that no deal should die and that there is always a way to fight and figure things out for the borrower.  Jerry started out in a similar rate environment as we find ourselves now (Q2 of 2022), and was fo...

Being an Independent Mortgage Broker is in Andy Treno’s blood. With his dad opening the first broker shop in Minnesota in 1987, loans and title companies were a part of nightly dinner table conversations, and making spreadsheets and stuffing envelopes was Andy’s summer job. After going to school to become a financial advisor, Andy got a job at a bank but quickly realized that mortgages are what he...

Within 6 months of transitioning from retail-to-wholesale, Los Angeles Broker/Owners Dustin Rosenberg and Jonathan Yoo were ranked #14 in Non-QM originations by Scotsman Guide. They have 200 loans in their pipeline at any given time and are signed up with 80 different lenders. With a strong support staff, a solidified tech stack, and an assembly line system, Convoy Home Loans is able to personaliz...

California Mortgage Broker Danny Calderon is the first Spark Grant recipient we’ve had on the podcast. After almost ten years in retail, Danny made the jump to work for himself. With the support of AIME, Spark, and the Brokers Are Better Network and Facebook Group , Danny is more than set up to succeed during this rising interest rate environment.  After attending an AIME Fuse event, Danny realize...

Looking back at his 32 years in the housing industry, Homepoint President and CEO Willie Newman has come to the conclusion that Brokers Are Better. In this special episode of Broker-To-Broker, Marc and Willie talk about the history of the wholesale channel, the importance of both finding and being a mentor, and why retail bankers should transition to being a broker.  When Willie first joined the i...

Virginia Broker/Owners  Eric Tan and Daniel Solis credit the success of their brokerage, VA Wholesale Mortgage , to low overhead, word-of-mouth marketing, and authenticity. Back when their boardroom was a kitchen counter, Daniel fell in love with Eric’s vision to help military veterans. “You can’t hide a genuine passion,” Daniel says. Eric and Daniel have now grown their two-person operation into...

Rami Daood, President and CEO of RightWay Lending , was a top producing agent at Rocket Mortgage, earning the Triple Crown President’s Club award. Having grown tired of a numbers-only game, he opened his brokerage In 2021. “The level of care [in wholesale] all the way around is way different. I don’t work on hours – I work on results.” As his business grows, Rami plans to have five loan offi...

Newman Mortgage Group ‘s President and Founder, Matt Newman, began his career as a meteorologist. Realizing he was not fulfilled, he obtained his real estate license in 2006, survived the 2008 crash, then reevaluated his path in 2012. He joined Silverton Mortgage Specialists, Inc. as a loan officer in 2017 then opened his brokerage the same year. Matt enjoys being a mortgage broker the most....

Eric Eisenberg, President of Expert Home Loans , started his mortgage career at 16. As he delivered food to a local mortgage broker in New York, he was offered a part-time job in high school. As early as day three of the new position, Eric was generating eight leads a day.  After attending college for one year, he started selling subprime mortgages with his older brother’s friends. With a pa...

From mortgage application to closing, Fannie Mae West, the President of OPTIST, Inc . , offers a clear process. With a name meant for the mortgage industry, Fannie entered the market in 2007 after partnering with a real estate agent. After her brokerage closed, she worked in correspondent lending while searching for a new career path.  Fannie Mae opened OPTIST, Inc. in February 2021 after receivin...

Broker/Owner of Destiny Mortgage Lending , Melanie Walburg, turns to unique sources for mortgage lead generation. “Grow and thrive, think outside the box,” she advises. During the past two years, she has originated over $60 million in mortgage loans in the state of Georgia by connecting with CPAs, divorce attorneys, and clients who have purchased or refinanced a home. “It’s all about the units. Ev...

The President of Prime Mortgage, LLC , Janine Kempfer, has more than 25 years of experience in the mortgage and real estate industries. Despite purchasing her own home in her 20s, she faced challenges and eventually had to rent an apartment with her son a few years later. Having learned the burdens of saving money for a house, she developed a passion for real estate and became a real estate broker...

Shawn Williams , a former Division III basketball point guard, developed a winning mindset early. As the Founder and President of Fortis Mortgage and Ailen Capital, he has helped thousands of families in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, become homeowners or refinance their homes. As a Founder of Black Men Ventures , a non-profit that provides access to capital and networking to black male...

Sal Ali, Director at InstaMortgage , has been working in the mortgage industry since he was 23 years old. Upon being offered a job at his brother’s brokerage, he entered the wholesale world.  Today, Sal is a top-three originator for VA loans and VA IRRRL products in the country. Formally known as Arcus Lending, InstaMortgage recently ranked as one of Inc. 500’s Brokers of the Year and Fastes...

Paul Olbrantz, Broker/Owner of Clear2Close Brokers , started his career at a subprime call center before moving to a large retail bank. He quickly found that adding value and obtaining better conversations with clients led to more leads and better results.  In April 2019, Paul Olbrantz and his wife, Danielle Olbrantz, opened Clear2Close Brokers. As the team realized that chasing rates was not a go...

Jason Cecco, the President of Lending Heights, LLC , didn’t go to school for finance. After graduating with a degree in Engineering from Penn State University, Jason’s cousin Joe Cecco introduced him to the world of brokerage. Jason began working at ELends Call Center in the early 2010s, where he focused on FHA streamlines and made $500 per loan. In 2015, after moving around to small c...

Marc Summers and JP Hussey , host of Broker To Broker Season 1 and co-host of Season 3, celebrate the 100th episode of Broker to Broker. In this special podcast, Marc and JP review favorite perspectives and success systems from independent mortgage professionals.  JP Hussey credits each guest for the advice and knowledge shared that helped grow the Hussey Team from just himself and his brother to...

Hammer J. Helmer, former mortgage originator and founder of OriginatorSuccess , began his sales career selling vacuum cleaners. Hammer pursued a mortgage career after finding that an originator led him on while buying his first condo. In 2008, he fell victim to the housing crisis but eventually found a position as a Business Development Manager at a large corporation in California. After discoveri...

Todd Bitter, Branch Vice President of JKS Mortgage and a prominent player in the wholesale channel, has come a long way since the 2008 recession and his first stated-value loan at 1.25%. Known for his slogan, “Answer the Damn Phone!”, Todd has had a busy past two years. In 2020, Todd closed over 345 loans and originated $11,000,000 in volume, all self-processed and self-sourced. Thinking outside t...

Fresh out of high school, Oklahoma Broker/Owner Nick Utesch was only closing about two loans a month. Now, with almost three decades of experience under his belt, he closed nearly 500 deals last year and is the Scotsman Guide’s Ranked #1 Originator of VA loans in Oklahoma, three years in a row. Nick plowed right through the Great Recession, stayed above 75% purchase through 2020’s Refi-boom,...

California Mortgage Broker Joe Green is The Little Engine That Could. After first going independent just before the ’08 market crash, Joe is back but had to start from scratch. He went from buying leads with an end goal of four loans a month to becoming a 100% referral-based business averaging twelve loans a month. He doesn’t credit his success to anything crazy. Just be there for your clien...

Aaron Hinson is the epitome of what it means to be an independent mortgage broker. He runs a small team in a quaint town and is an involved community member. Aaron allows his clients the time and space to share their stories to personalize their loan process effectively. Hiring a small staff enables him to reinvest in his local community. In this episode of Broker To Broker , Aaron explains the st...

Arizona Broker/Owner Shawn Malkou is a professional YouTuber with tens of millions of views. Making six figures from YouTube before even graduating college, Shawn has years of experience to share. Shawn discusses how video marketing can enhance the background of your existing clients and help you develop a special bond with potential referrals before ever shaking hands or picking up the phone. Sta...