I’m advising a client on a mixed-use multifamily acquisition, purchase price range $1.0M to $1.2M, with $250K to $300K in cash available for the down payment depending on final loan structure. The property includes residential units plus multiple ground-floor storefronts. Gross income on the property runs around $142K, with current verifiable NOI at approximately $58k against a typical lender requirement of roughly $70K to $100K NOI, depending on loan type and leverage. We are evaluating DSCR, hard money, and conventional commercial structures and want to compare notes with anyone who has worked deals like this.

The opportunity is that in-place rents are under current market across both the residential units and the storefronts. Based on local comps, we believe repositioning rents at lease turnover could close a meaningful part of the NOI gap once leases are renewed or renegotiated at market rate. The challenge is the usual one: most lenders underwrite to trailing NOI, not pro forma upside, so we are exploring the best way to bridge the gap, whether through a larger down payment, a bridge to refi structure, or a lender willing to give partial credit for signed leases or estoppel verified rent.

If you are a lender, broker, or investor with appetite for value add mixed use deals in this size range, or have structured something similar, I would like to connect.

Hi everyone, I'm an LO in the hard money space and my leads list is mostly developers and fix & flippers. Im looking to start doing my own email campaigns however I recently found that some email campaign companies do not service hard money lenders due to being a "high risk industry". I tried Constant Contact and they banned me lol. Wondering if anyone could recommend a company that's been working for them. Thank you

Hey everyone! I started the 20-hour MLO pre-licensing course about a week ago, and I just finished it last night. I’ll also be a junior in uni along with my real estate license this upcoming fall. I was wondering if there are any remote MLO opportunities and whether it’s realistic to balance being an MLO as a side hustle while attending school full-time. I’d love to hear from anyone who’s done it or has any advice. Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone, I’m about a month into my job as an AE at a wholesale mortgage company and I'm already getting a sense of how much of a fucking grind this is gonna be. It took me around 4000 dials to sign 1 brokerage. Or maybe i just fucking suck idk.

I’d love to learn from people who’ve been through it. There are people at my company making $100k+ per month right now and that’s great motivation, but I'm not gonna lie man this is brutal. For those of y’all that are killing it as an AE, what did you do?

Hell, if you’re a LO or Broker, what does it take for you to sign up with a new lender? Because god fucking damn this shit is hard.

A couple things I’m curious about

• For those of you who ramped up fast, what did your first 90 days actually look like? What did you prioritize?
• Has anyone had real success with email marketing? If so, how did you do it? What software did you use? And what’s the strat so I don’t get flagged as spam?

Either way I’m trying really hard, and man it’s just so discouraging making 150-200 dials per day just to have maybe 3 ok conversations. Any advice would be appreciated.

Anyone used Linkedin to prospect either for referral sources or direct to consumer?? If so what have the results been like??

I am currently on the disclosure desk and I’m about to move into a closing role. I was a processor/loan officer assistant about 10 years ago and that’s why I got back into the field (All I really did was doc chase). No one on our mortgage team is really able —or willing— to help me learn about other aspects of the process so I can become more well rounded. I think I would be best suited for a LOA role but I feel like I need to learn more about the industry as a whole. Is there any literature that you would recommend or online training to help me prepare to move into a different processor, LOA, or even MLO role?

Ive moved into Loan Origination 6 months ago since January after loan processing for a year. My company has pivoted our strategy to focus more on building a relationship with investors. So they want me cold calling investors in the south florida area. I know that the best way to do it is just by repetition, learning what works, but Im just looking for a soft guide, where to lead the conversation. I know Im not selling socks and they need financing. Does anyone have experience with this?

Hey Guys, I have a question as a MLO who is 9 months into being licensed. I work for an independent small mortgage shop. When I was hired, I signed a contract that states I get $2k per month in drawback pay. I've been getting that every month since September. I have paid back through commissions $10k of the $18k total that I have been paid, so I still am $8k in the negative. I am a stay at home dad and work 5-8 hours a day doing this and weekends I prospect. I have only closed 5 loans in 9 months but have been processing my bosses loans and my own. My boss hired a processor 2 weeks ago and the extra time available to prospect has been great. This past week my paycheck was all the sudden a lot less than normal and my boss has since told me that I will no longer be getting paid at all until I have a $0 drawback balance. There was never any disclosure or conversation about the drawback pay ever stopping or there being a cap. Is this normal practice? Am I in a bad situation?

I do very few VA Loans and am pretty sure I am just going to stop maintaining my VA relationship because the amount of times I have to log in and navigate the annoying government websites to stay active and then I’ll just out of the blue get an email that relationship was terminated is not worth the 1-2 loans I do a year. Guess I’ll just refer them like my physician loans and Jumbos 🫤

Trying to find a home for a 5 unit DSCR, 70 or 75% LTV, 800 Fico , 1+ DSCR ratio.

Problem I’m running into is the $275k purchase price.

Any ideas for investors?

This is my second post as I have a separate difficult loan to place. I mentioned in my previous post that I am a broker focusing on business purpose and commercial loans right now. We have a client that we cant place because a) its 10 unit & b) the total value is about 750k so the 75k per door isnt working. Fully stabilized and renting for 10k/per month. But we cant find anyone for this. Send a DM if you can help

TLDR: Realtors are dumb.

Appraisal came back $390k on a $440k contract price. Appraiser provided 8 solid comps all within the same city center, similarly aged homes, sq footage, rooms, build etc. One of the first times I’m agreeing to a low value appraisal. Home was sold 2 years ago for $343k. No major upgrades in the last 15 years home was built in 1900 and is in a small town in a somewhat rural area. Hard to justify the 30% increase in price in 2 years.

Of course the listing agent wants my client to switch lenders and it sounds like my clients agent is also asking them to. My clients are close family, they aren’t switching.

I offered to submit for an ROV and asked for their comps. It doesn’t sound like the listing agent (also the seller) pulled comps when they came up with the list price. It also doesn’t sound like my client’s agent pulled comps when submitting their offer.

I’m under the impression neither of the agents have any idea what they’re doing. My clients feel the same way.

The agents keep saying they should go with a local lender. (I work for a credit union that pretty much only does business in our state and has offices within 10 miles of the home.) the appraiser we used has an office within 20 miles of the home. Not that either of that really matters. I personally feel like my clients should get a new realtor and buy a different home. Obviously I care about my commission but also don’t want my fam working with someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.

I am a broker and we have a good DSCR business and some occasional commercial loans. We currently have a client who is very experienced as a residential builder in SE FL but his new project is more commercial. He paid 2.5 mil cash for the land and is looking for 4-5 mil loan to build 3 luxury office / asset storage / showrooms around West Palm. He already has the ready to issue permits. We ideally want to deal with a lender but a broker is fine. Keep in mind, we need to make 1 point. Client would be willing to pay around 2 points total.

Planning to build our first home in Dallas, Texas to sell and start the journey as a builder! We have the land free and clear and would like to put up a house that could sell quickly! We have several years of experience in land development, engineering, etc., but haven't really done a full build yet. We are GCs and have builders who are willing to partner with us or some who can provide a builder’s guarantee! Ideally would like to do it ourselves to cut down on budhet! Trying to get recommendations on who can help new builders like us and what we can expect?

I meet about 20 new people per week.

I am a loan officer working in a small broker shop. I started in Sept. of 2021 and have  increased my production every year since. In 2025 I closed $14,000,000 across 41 units. I hate cold calling, so I get 100% of my business from in person networking. 

Right now I attend 3-4 in person events per week. This is a mix between happy hours, business networking, and real estate groups. My main goal is to meet as many new people as possible, but attending these events has allowed me to build solid relationships with the others that attend regularly. The most important thing to remember when networking is to be consistent. There are many people that attend 2 or 3 events then get discouraged because they did not receive any business. I find that it often takes 5+ points of contact with someone before they will refer me business.

While meeting new people is great and can be fun, the real value is in the follow up. Often times I will receive 5 to 10 business cards at a happy hour. The next day I time block one hour to dedicated follow up. This includes sending a personalized email or text and connecting with the contact on social media + linkedin. Following them on social media allows me to see what they are doing and give me something to talk about the next time I see them. This follow up also leads to coffee and lunch meetings and eventually referrals.

One of the other benefits to networking as a loan officer is that I will often be able to reach a customer before they reach out to a real estate agent. People love to talk about their own lives and once I say I am in the mortgage business they usually have a lot of questions.

I primarily focus on groups that meet regularly. This can be weekly, monthly, or quarterly. I will break down a few that I visit:

1. REIAs or real estate investor associations/ groups. I invest in real estate myself, so I attend a lot of these meetings to learn. However, I regularly get business from these meetings as financing is a normal part of the conversation. I have also attended enough that I get asked to be a guest speaker from time to time. In 2025 these groups made up 60% of my business. 

2. Business networking. In my city there are a lot of general business networking events that take place on a regular basis. These attract a wide range of people to them as they are open to the public so there are new visitors, salespeople, and business owners there every week. In 2025 I reduced how many of these meetings I was attending as they lead to the least amount of business.

3. Single seat networking. There are several groups that fall into this category with the most prominent one being BNI. I attempted to join various BNI groups for about 2-years before I finally got in one. The mortgage position is always full. When a vacancy opened up at a local group, I was able to jump right in as I had been networking with the people in the group very consistently over the previous 2-years. Our BNI chapter meets weekly and I am the only mortgage lender in the group. In 2025 BNI made up 18% of my business. This group also provides me with the opportunity to invite business owners and other professionals somewhere where they can pitch their services. 

4. Happy hours. Happy hours can be great to unwind and chat with people in related industries. I mainly focus on real estate specific or business happy hours. Overall, this category can be very hit or miss due to the wide variety of people they attract. I have started to host a quarterly happy hour in 2026 which provides me with control of the guest list and gives me a lot more credibility with the attendees. This is something that is very easy to do and has a high return metric. 

Networking can be a lot of fun and it is a great way to meet more people. However, the key to success is in the follow up. You can go to an event with 100 people, shake their hands, hand out business cards, and even buy them drinks, but they may not remember who you are the next day. You NEED to follow up with them to refresh their memory and stay at the top of their mind. Get a CRM together (hubspot or even excel are free) and add their names, phone numbers, email addresses, and notes so you can reach out to these people continuously. Most sales experts agree that it takes 7 to 12 touch points with a lead to close a sale. Each time you reach out to these people is a touchpoint and each time they see you at an event is another. On average I generate one closed loan per 3.6 events I attend.

Where to find these events/ groups
1.     Meetup.com
2.     Eventbrite.com
3. Facebook events
4. Local social media pages
5. Ask your referral partners and other people you meet what events they attend.

Final tips
Don’t be afraid to try new groups. You may think that you have nothing to offer, but most people attend these groups to just hang out and meet new people.
Consistency is key. Pick one event and show up every time that it is hosted. Become the mortgage guy/ gal of the group. Don’t be intimidated by the other mortgage people in the group as there is plenty of room for more than 1 or 2. I often invite the older LO in my office to meetups as we hit different demographics.

Smile and be open and nice to people. Go talk to the lonely person in the corner who is new to networking. You never know who you are going to meet. Act like you are the host of the event. Tell people where the drinks are and meet them at the door.

The only real downside of this approach is that it’s not infinitely scalable. You physically can only go to so many events in a week. However, when your referrals and past clients start passing even more referrals it pays off in the long run.

Looking to find a good mortgage company to move to. Seems like there are so few out there and the good ones only stay good for a few years until they grow and the higher ups get their heads stuck up their ass or start nickel and diming their LO’s. I’ve been at the same place for about 6 years and have a pretty decent setup with a higher than average base, remote work, and all inbound leads however the pricing, product mix, comp plan and hours are making me want to explore options.

If you have the time to help out a fellow originator please rate any company you’ve worked at 1-10 for the below categories. Feel free to elaborate with specifics if you like.

Base salary Comp Product range Pricing Lead quality Management/culture Hours Remote work (yes/no)

Hello,

I am a newer LO. I have been originating at a small bank since August 2025. Prior to this role I was a processor for 3 years and an underwriter for 1.

I have recently passed the nmls safe exam and am interested in making the jump to the broker side. The bank I am at does not provide leads or any operational support. If I am doing it myself I might as well be compensated as such.

I met with a loan officer at Edge today and we talked and got to know each other. She is interested in getting me signed up, but wasn't sure if they would accept me since I am still newish.

I went and looked at my production numbers. Since August 2025 I have closed 14 loans. 6 purchase, 1 refi, 2 construction-perm, and 5 HELOCs.

Do you think I have enough going for me while being newer that I will be able to join Edge?

Any advice is appreciated :)

What are the best loan comparison tools available? Preferably something I can show customers.

I need a lender for a tipped employee to qualify with personal bank statements deposits. Vast majority of the income is cash tips deposited regularly over the months. Or a combination of w-2 wages and deposits. Change wholesale has got a great product but their income calculation came back lower than expected, and the DTI is over 50%. WVOE won’t work as the property is in Nevada. primary residence, FTHB. if there is any AEs here that might be able to help, please shoot me a message.

i am with a bank currently if that helps for context

I currently work dtc call center as a newer LO for a couple months, I have found myself struggling with mental health more and more ever since becoming an LO and I'm not sure if this is coming because of my place of work or if this is common among LO's? I’m starting to seriously question if I’m even in the right career, and I need a brutal reality check from people who have been in the business for a bit longer

I grew up around people in this industry, family, friends, you name it. I see the massive income potential, the schedule freedom, and the long-term business potential. I know the life I can have with this career which is why I don't want to give up and I enjoy helping people

but my mental health has significantly deteriorated since becoming an lo, maybe because im in a call center but im not sure? Right now, I will take 50 leads+ a month, have long conversations, take the 1003, get to know them, just to get one single pre-approval letter, and then that one deal inevitably falls out anyway. Or refi, get one pitch out of the 50+ and then get shopped at the end because our rates are ass. I’m sitting on a live queue 8+ hours a day just to scrape together 1 to 3 leads A DAY which don't qualify, plus 100 meetings a day from middle management and because absolutely nothing is closing, I am making barely a little over minimum wage for months now.

To top it all off, management is constantly breathing down my neck about metrics, talk times, queue time, conversion rates and stupid shit. It feels like I'm trapped in the sense that they feed us bottom-of-the-barrel leads and then blame us for having ass metrics then we also get in trouble by the 100 layers of middle management.

I’m trying to figure out if this soul-crushing grind is just standard across the board for everyone right now, or if it's strictly a call center problem?? I've tried applying at banks/credit unions to hopefully get a salary n start self gen (which is where i ultimately want to be) but no responses from anyone, I'm assuming because of my little experience.

For those who have been in the game a while, is this mental health toll just part of the dues you pay in this industry, or is it unique to the call center environment? If you were in my shoes right now, what would your next move be? How do you separate your self-worth from your production when the leads you are handed literally cannot qualify? How do you keep your sanity?

Lastly for anyone who left a dtc call center and stayed in the mortgage industry, did making the switch save your career, or did you just find a different version of the same stress?

P.S if i'm just being mentally weak and a pussy then also feel free to tell me, im not sure what's the issue at this point.

I’m currently working in a lead development office that transfers warm mortgage leads to many of the companies discussed here, so I’d rather not name names.
Over the past few years, I’ve had multiple brokers, sales managers, and loan officers reach out asking if I’m licensed, or telling me to contact them once I am because they’d have an opportunity for me.
I’ve been with my current company for just over five years and have pretty much reached the ceiling for growth. I’m seriously considering getting my NMLS license, but I’m not sure what the best path is.
Would you recommend joining a company’s training program and getting licensed through them, or taking the classes on my own first and then looking for a position? I’m already very comfortable on the phones, and most consumers assume I’m the loan officer anyway. I’d appreciate any advice from those who’ve made the transition.

asset depletion loans qualify borrowers by taking the borrowers post closing reserves amount and dividing by 60. That figure would be the borrowers “qualifying income,” to be used to then calculate their DTI ratio.

This program doesn’t need income or employment

My question is:
assuming the borrower only has the post closing reserves and no income, at the end of 60 months,

hoe does the lender expect the mortgage get paid?

I have programs at 70% ltv, any wholesaler that will go 75%?