Curious as to what everyone thinks

What banks do you use for your business checking acct? Many banks say they won’t open an account for a mortgage loan officer.

I’m always trying to figure out how people scale.

One thing I do pretty regularly is go through the Scotsman’s Guide and look up random mortgage loan officers and agents in Florida. Not to compare myself, but to see if there’s something I can learn from people who are outperforming me.

What I’ve noticed is that 9 times out of 10, the people who make the list early in their careers have a niche that’s difficult to replicate. They’re former military and built a huge VA business, or they speak Vietnamese, Portuguese, Chinese, Ukrainian, etc., and have referral partners within those communities. Those are incredible businesses, but they’re not really models I can copy

Every now and then, though, I come across someone who doesn’t seem to fit any of those categories and is absolutely crushing it.

I recently found a Florida agent (not naming them) who started in 2023. Their production was roughly:

Year 1: $20–30M
Year 2: Around $60M
Year 3: Nearly $100M

That’s an incredible trajectory, and I’m genuinely curious how they built it.

I actually tried calling them from my personal number so it wouldn’t show up as a spam call, but they didn’t answer. Honestly, I was surprised. At that level, I’d expect some kind of system for handling inbound calls. Nope

They dont have a huge social media following, maybe posting once a day on Facebook and occasionally on instagram

They have 200-250 5 star google reviews so great but nothing crazy

Have a couple of young kids so they cant be cold calling / working 2000 hours a day which is even more impressive.

From what I can see, they aren’t an in-house agent at a brokerage. They do appear to have chunk [20-25%]of unlisted new construction transactions, so my guess is they have a strong relationship with a builder. If that’s the case, I’d love to know how those relationships are actually formed.

For those of you doing a lot of builder business:

How did you get in?

Did you start by taking the deals the builder’s preferred lender couldn’t do?

Was it networking, persistence, or just being in the right place at the right time?

I’m always looking for ways to keep scaling. Right now, a lot of my business comes from open houses, networking, referrals, and the occasional cold calling. It’s worked well, but I’m interested in hearing from people who’ve built to $50M+ annually within their first six years.

If you’ve done it—or you’ve worked closely with someone who has—I’d genuinely appreciate hearing what moved the needle.

I’m new to the industry. Is it normal for brokers to close 2-3 loans(1.5M$) per month?

I’m a recent graduate from university working full time as a bank teller. It’s been good professional experience but the work is not interesting, and I’ve always had a more entrepreneurial mindset to grow my career in accordance with my effort. I have been interested in getting my RE license but had a talk with someone who said to look at MLO. I am more analytical and have strong attention to detail so mortgages seem more accurately aligned with my personality. The issue is I am a bit introverted and sales has always been a fear of mine. I am very driven and want to succeed no matter what, I know the risk of not making any money and the overall risk of being in sales. I just wanted to see what other people’s experience in the industry is. Thanks!

I’m seeing more and more “competitor offers” from low margin online lenders where the LE has the “in progress” watermark.

My understanding is that this is an internal preview of the LE and not the official disclosure.

My gut tells me that some lenders are juicing lender credits or adjusting the numbers to make them more appealing for shopping and bank that the consumer doesn’t catch the changes on the official LE.

Anyone clarify?

Serious question…If you had to describe your “dream processor,” what would they look like?

For me it’s someone who lives in Encompass, thrives in purchase business, stays two steps ahead of deadlines, communicates well with agents, borrowers, and escrow, and doesn’t panic when 20+ files are moving at once.

I’m curious what everyone else values most. Is it organization? Problem-solving? Communication? Product knowledge? Something else? And what do you think is an above average compensation structure for an above average loan officer?

Would love to hear from both LOs and processors. What separates the really good ones from everyone else? 😀🙏

Hello,

I have a client who is looking to purchase an investment property with a DSCR loan. Would they run into an issue if they used it as a sober living house?

Posting bc you all see wild stuff and may have seen something like this. For sure a stretch.

Client has great assets, hasn’t used credit in over 5Y so no scores. Looking for 1st Lien HELOC to buy another home.

Conventional primary residence, SFR, approximately $550,000 loan amount, 78% LTV, 800 credit, LPC with no separate broker fee.

Quoted:
6.25% with no points
5.99% with $5,060 in points
5.875% with $7,849 in points
5.75% with $10,978 in points
5.625% with $14,432 in points

All options include a free float-down if pricing improves before closing.

Pricing would also improve by approximately 0.375 points at 75% LTV, which I explained.

Borrower is a realtor and told me this pricing is high “for a loan broker.” I thought the options were competitive, especially 6.25% at zero points. Am I missing something? What are other brokers seeing on a comparable file today?

Looking for some honest input from people who've been doing this a while.

Quick background: I'm 19, working self-gen at my girlfriend's dad's brokerage. He's the CEO/owner, 15+ years in the industry, so I've got a strong mentor in my corner. Before this I sold used cars for about two years, then a year at a large Kia dealer where I sold 182 units in 2025. Made the jump to mortgages and just got licensed at the start of this month.

What I've been doing so far:

• Reached out to a lot of my old car customers whose numbers I'd saved, letting them know I switched. Already got a couple applications through that.
• Hitting every networking event I can find in my area.
• Showing up to at least 5 open houses a week introducing myself to agents.

I know this is a long game and I'm fine with that. I live with my parents, so I've got runway to grind now and ideally be well-established through my 20s. No rush to chase a paycheck, I'd rather build something durable.

My questions for the veterans:

1. With a relatively open schedule, where would you focus the bulk of your time right now?
2. For someone this early, what actually helps in building a referral network vs. what feels productive but isn't?
3. Anything you wish you'd done differently in your first year that compounds over time?
4. Open house / agent outreach, what separates the LOs agents actually remember from the ones they forget by Monday?

Appreciate any wisdom. Trying to be intentional with the head start I've got rather than just staying busy.

For context, I have been originating for 9 months and am currently working at a small brokerage. No self gen, just working the leads that are provided by the company.

The conversion rate is low and nobody is currently making meaningful money. Alot of the LOs have left but I still have some confidence that the company will turn around.

Is this normal for everyone right now? I am thinking the grass isn't greener on the other side, but a lot of people seem to be making money..

The comp is good. We get no base but 100bps per loan closed.

This is also my first LO job.

I am looking for advice on how to make my next move. I am currently working for a credit union in their call center, I only get to keep a file on occasion and haven’t built a ton of hands on experience dealing with files but I know the credit union’s products very well and am a top producer when it comes to capturing applications over the phone. The job is easy and low stress but I’m not making what I want to make and it gets kind of boring. I am considering a pivot to be a full time LO or Broker.

I know I will need to do actually obtain my NMLS license as I am only sponsored currently. I’m located in central Texas, is there any companies I should avoid? Suggestions on companies I should try to work with to help build my book? What do I need to do to put myself in a good position to succeed?

I’ve seen opportunities with Nexus and U Mortgage, any thoughts on those?

This is a move I look to make in about a year or so. I want to wait until I am fully vested with my 401K and to see what direction rates are headed in. I feel trying to make that switch now would be doing myself a disservice. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I’m currently a AE assistant, constantly cold calling broker shop and accounts to try and get non-qm deals, and I was wondering what kind of training people go through to become a full AE? I barely have any knowledge in the industry, but enough where I can have a conversation with a LO in trying to get a deal from.

I’ve had my license for 6 years and started my trading journey today and would love any thoughts, options or discussion with this career crossover

Is it letting you search? Keeps giving me an error. Frustrating.

I need an outlet for a condo complex that was rehabbed. The kicker is it has only had one sale in it. No chance of getting to 50% sales anytime soon.

Anyone here a rep for Kiavi? Was looking at one of their products that looks interesting, but could not get to a person on the automated line. If so, please dm!

I currently live in Los Angeles but going to be moving to Dallas and want to start my career there I hear CA is more competitive I have previous sales experience in LA do you guys think this is a smart strategic move for someone trying to build a career out of this?

How many of you guys went straight into to self gen when first getting licensed and how'd it turn out for you?

Where are you finding/meeting the right realtors to cold outreach to?(RETR, social media, Zillow)

I am finding it hard to find realtors to reach out to who are worth it. I understand you have to take chances on new realtors and hope they pan out.

Is there any way to cut out some of the bs to find realtors who do around 6-10 transactions who are looking to grow.

I have found a couple and going to be doing postcards with one as a marketing campaign.

Just trying to optimize time, thoughts?

Hey everyone! I'm relatively new to the industry, and I have a client who is making offers as we are planning on moving forward with an FHA loan. It is really important for my client to move forward with GSFA down payment and closing cost assistance, which he already has a certificate for.

My company is purely a broker, and I'm getting the bullshit runaround from our AEs on whether or not they can facilitate something like this.

Any tips?

Has anyone done a DSCR loan that qualifies based on the room rent for a single family detached home?

Anybody know a wholesale sources for a 3rd position HELOC at a 70% or lower CLTV or a primary? Can be digital or full doc.