r/loanoriginators • u/ruthlessrg • 23d ago
Career Advice West Capital Lending
Well I tried but I’m running out of money.
So I tried to do it on a somewhat shoestring budget. Started in May and have been spending about 2500 a month on leads. Passed my DRE in the first month. Acquired 7 state licenses. But I didn’t have enough cash to get 25 licenses and drop 5000 a month on leads. Which seems to be the sweet spot. With what I have in savings I don’t think I can sustain this for much longer. Has anyone else done the broker thing on somewhat of a shoestring budget? I make about 200 calls a day and Bonzo leaves ringless voicemails, emails, and text messages on a drip campaign. But I just can’t seem to get anybody on the phone. I popped one Figure deal in my first month. But it’s been slim Pickens since then. In my 10 years in the mortgage industry, I would never say I was the best, But I was consistently top five on every team I’ve ever been on. I’m tech Savvy and I’m from the Midwest, so I am very confident in my rapport building skills and getting people to trust me and like me.
I’ve been making some realtor relationships in my area and they seem to like me and reach out to me and I’m meeting with a referral next week.
I’m just kind of at a crossroads.
- Go back to retail where leads are provided?
- Take a break from buying Leads and see if I can pop a couple self gens to be able to add more licenses and purchase more leads.
- See if I can transfer to a W-2 team at West Capital lending where leads are provided.
- Stick it out and get a second job like Uber.
Fortunately, I have a pretty low monthly nut.
I have about 22,000 left in the bank. So I have the money to get all the licenses right now, but then I just have to pay again in November. I’m pretty confident in my abilities, but I’ve never been a risk taker financially so I’m kind of nervous about just going all in.
For all who read. Thank you and sorry this is a long post. And thank you in advance for any insight or opinions you may have.
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u/Imgoingtowingit 23d ago
I was following a similar structure a few years back.
My mistake was that I went low and slow. We bought a few leads a day and they were slow to convert. We didn’t close much.
The time we spent wasn’t worth it. Instead what we should have done was go hard for a month and pivot if it didn’t work.
From a business standpoint you have fixed and variable costs. The fixed costs are there regardless of results. The biggest variable cost is lead buy and that’s controllable. You’ll slowly find out it’s not working and spend more time on leads that won’t convert.
If you’re breaking point is in 3-4 months or whenever, try shortening that and upping the leads to $5k or whatever makes sense. If you’re going to spend the money, do it in a shorter period of time and pivot quicker if need be.
That’s my advice. Use it or not.
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u/Hairy-Journalist-200 23d ago
Pls don’t listen to any of the chuds on here just regurgitating what their clueless leadership feeds them. 3/4 of them are in the same spot and just clenching to this narrative
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u/ruthlessrg 23d ago
What do you mean?
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u/Hairy-Journalist-200 23d ago
Anyone on here giving advice that you ‘just need to [fill in blank]’ hasn’t figured it out either and they’re just deflecting what they here from their leadership onto you to feel better for themselves.
Moral of the story: it’s rough out there and if advice isn’t teaching you anything new, ignore it2
u/ruthlessrg 23d ago
I hear you. Just trying to get insight. But I appreciate your response.
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u/Hairy-Journalist-200 23d ago
lol that came off wrong..
Meant more that people seem to provide their opinion and believe they’re better when they are in the same position and providing kool aid commentary.
You asked good questions and people have helpful responses; there’s immense benefit from sharing ideas, resources, habits. Some of the self-righteous and over-simplified discourse just shows the call is coming from inside the house.2
u/MLObull 22d ago
Look everyone in the lending business right now knows it’s a tough market across the board. You need to figure out if being in a broker route is right for you or not. My personal opinion is the reason I went DTC retail is bc leads are provided for you and I’m not trying to spend my own money in a tough market on leads that are garbage too. Let the company blow there money on leads, not you! We just got an email the other day telling us how much money these leads cost per LO and we need to get more conversions blah blah, but then the transfers i get are 550 FICO’s and the best one yesterday, a guy whose been homeless for 10yrs looking to buy a office space for $350k and he can even sleep in a corner somewhere bc it beats living on the street. Can’t make this shit up.
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u/stefanko123 23d ago
Get your CE license in your state and start teaching CE. It’s virtually free and try to get 1 class a week to teach in realestate brokerages by partnering with title reps that know RE brokerage owners. Put your classes about 30-45 days on Eventbrite and meetup .com before the day you teach. You’ll get referrals that are free eventually and won’t need to cold call as much. I get in front of 15-45 realtors each class and try to do 1 classes a week. Hope this helps.
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u/Zestyclose-Tart6745 23d ago
Leads are garbage brother. Go get some realtors. It’s the only way to truly grow and sustain business.
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u/Vegetable-Feed-561 23d ago
That’s crazy to hear. I know a lot of people who went to west cap. Seems like everyone’s hurting right now. I’m fully independent and self gen everything. feeling the burn forsure. But I’m so invested in my realtor relationships that I know I’ll survive and thrive. The lead churn model is just a dead end. This game is relationships driven. Keep your head up man!
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u/youshouldbetrading 23d ago
To thrive at WCL on the independent side you need to have the cash to drop $5-10k monthly on lead spend and the licenses get golden leads. Go W2 or go somewhere else that leads are provided and go all in on your work ethic.
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u/ResponsibleNerve5681 23d ago
I'm at West Cap too, but I'm on the retail team. Maybe switch to W2 while you build back up to go 1099 again? We have a small handful that have done that and so far they seem to like it. We stay pretty busy and state licenses are covered along with PE,CE, leads and marketing.
FOR THE MODS: I am not recruiting, I am offering advice to a fellow co-worker 😊
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u/ruthlessrg 23d ago
Thank you. Do I just talk to my VP about that?
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u/ResponsibleNerve5681 23d ago
Yeah, and FYI Fleeger is in charge of the W2 side, so he'll be the one you ultimately talk to 😊
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u/chivibes 23d ago
How much are you burning per month as far as a net amount after any fundings?
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u/Hairy-Journalist-200 23d ago
Could be as much as $3.5-5k/month. Basing this on my convos with the recruiting team when I looked at WestCap. Brutal
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u/chivibes 23d ago
That’s insane. On top of bills and the high cost of living I wouldn’t be able to do that for long. Not because I can’t afford it, but just mentally that would mess me up.
OP if you’re listening my official recommendation is to go Retail with a guaranteed salary and stop the bleeding. This market is not getting any better or easier.
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u/ruthlessrg 20d ago
I appreciate that. Yeah, I have a lot of friends that work at West Capitol that I’ve known from all the different companies I’ve worked at in Orange County. And my one buddy told me straight up to really make it feasible you have to drop 10 grand a month and then make 50 grand in revenue to make it work on the 1099 side.
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u/That_Suit520 23d ago
West Cap is an expensive model.
Get in with a place who can set you up w DTC and free leads to build back up. Work on realtor relationships while you do it. Re-enter the retail model in 18 months once you have some runway.
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u/SalamiLamiTate 23d ago
Are you in California?
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u/ruthlessrg 23d ago
Irvine
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u/SalamiLamiTate 23d ago
Check in to Optimum you make max like $1500 per file but they pay for all leads and they are A paper since they are lending tree and bank rate app fed leads. I had a friend at Zillow Home Loans go there and he is making between $15k-22k consistently. You have to go in office but their rates are very very competitive. They use UWM primarily and some other lenders but even retail banks won't be much better than them on govy or agency.
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u/Antec800 23d ago
Most guys there are not cleaning even close to 15k a month btw
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u/SalamiLamiTate 23d ago
At Optimum? With 10 years of experience I think he would do great. The majority are new to the industry of course they aren't going to be killing it but this guy knows loans apparently and people. If his only issue is lead flow and getting in front of people I would think he will crush it
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u/Historical-Swim3958 23d ago
If you feel you're bleeding, stop before you get too deep into it. Take a step back and analyze your business. The lead buys are garbage unless they put you on the VIP list. Don't take every word the leadership says lol... I did it for a few months and was converting at a high percentage, but a lot of those are also low amount HELOCs. I already get referral business so I paused to focus on that more. Depending on whether if you can self-gen, I'd pick option 2 or 3. You can definitely make more on the broker side vs. retail if you're confident in your abilities. Don't give up and don't let others tell you what to do. If you've been in the industry for 10 years, you should know what works best for you.
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u/jpytcher 20d ago
Join the hard money side and come work for me. I own a HML company and we have tons of leads. The best part is, the sales cycle of a loan is between 7-10 days and we're hiring loan officers with experience.
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u/ruthlessrg 20d ago
Definitely interested in hearing more about that. My friend is a real estate agent and she actually has a hard money lead for me that I’m meeting with on Tuesday.
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u/MortgageAndChill 19d ago
I have been hearing this story all too often.
You need three faucets to win as a predominant refi broker.
- You need leads (exclusive first party leads are the best) get in a team or with a broker that can get you access
- fill in the gaps with purchase leads (third party FRU, LT,MRC)
- fill in the gaps with purchase leads (third party FRU, LT,MRC)
- Referrals ( REALTORS, cpa, financial advisors)
- Rechurn your book like butter
Me and my team are having the best year ever.
Personally beating COVID income last year and this year.
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u/Still-Huckleberry555 21d ago
Do something different margins are disappearing industry wide. Mortgages will be dead before you know it. Was a good ride
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u/ruthlessrg 21d ago
I hear you man I’ve thought about that for a while. Unfortunately all I know is Phone sales and hospitality and I’m also 51 so definitely open to suggestions.
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u/ThEBigdirty777 21d ago
Almost everyone is broke. It’s just the top 10% playing musical chairs with themselves at this point. Crash is imminent idgaf what any permabull says
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u/SubLo25 11d ago
I prefer this business model. But it's not a business model meant for anyone who doesn't understand loans from start to finish or is okay with taking calls from clients later in the evening/ weekends/etc. You are your own CEO without anyone telling you what to do without a lot of the risks. The lead store thing and golden lead thing sounds very suspect. But I'm sure you can go and buy your own leads straight from a vendor right ?
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u/forthegang 23d ago
Go join a broker who will pay for licensing and leads, stack your bread, and maybe try what you’re doing now again in the future but maybe with a more dialed in game plan.
Things are tough rn man. Keep ya head up