Episodes

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 industry in the 80s, he had a mentor who theorized that brokers, mostly doing hard money loans at the...

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 a team of 20 Loan Officers and are now officially certified as a Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) b...

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 officers on his team by the end of April. Rami, a Hall of AIME Visionary Award winner, is renowned for his pro...

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. “What I enjoy most is holding someone’s hand through the financial aspect of the transaction.” Matt advis...

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 passion to advance his career, Eric applied multiple times to work at Morgan Stanley but was rejected since h...

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 receiving the AIME Spark grant. “Follow your dreams, don’t be scared to make a change,” she says. “The good ou...

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. Every loan is a potential referral connection for other clients,” she says. Don’t be afraid to offer he...

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 while working in corporate America. In addition to showing houses while in school, she also origina...

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 founders with less than a million dollars in revenue, and as the Founder of Kid From Greene, a non-p...

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 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America, number 110 on the 2021 North America Technology Fast 500, and the f...

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 good business model, they began developing lasting relationships with their lending partners by learnin...

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 correspondents in northern New Jersey, he and his wife opened their brokerage in Pittsburgh after realizing the re...

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 a small broker shop. Marc is grateful for the Broker Owners who are willing to share their expertise ...

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 discovering that he didn’t like corporate America’s ‘red tape’, Hammer started OriginatorSuccess, which assist...

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 the box when it comes to advertising, Todd has tapped into the large local tech presence to win many ...

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, and will be able to succeed with rising rates. He attributes this success to a simple but long-term minds...

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 client, communicate clearly, and always strive to do everything you can to help make their life easier. If you ...

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 steps he takes to succeed, reassuring that while it can take time to see success in this easily overwhe...

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. Starting out making and streaming video walkthroughs for children’s games such as Minecraft and Roblox...

Angelo Datseries, Broker/Owner of Leverage Lending Group, is out to make himself a household name in his local market of Charlotte, North Carolina. Starting his brokerage in 2007, he had to dramatically scale back his brokerage to survive the 2008 Stock Market Crash. Since that scale down, he has been organically growing back his brokerage through community engagement, social media, and video marketing. Staying true to his goals and himself, he has built a successful brokerage, but for Angelo, t...

Arman Ghamami, a mortgage broker and branch manager with C2 Financial, has become a high-producer by putting the borrower front-and-center. He personalizes their entire process, has staff dedicated exclusively to borrower questions, and automated procedures in place to streamline the client experience. For Arman, there is a distinction between customer service and consumer experience. Customer service is answering your client’s call or replying to their email. It is the basic things you need to...

Brandee Stephens, a mortgage broker with Answer Home Loans, has become a top producer by helping the borrowers who are turned away the most. A majority of her clients are not credit-ready when they come to her so she works with them to improve their credit and get them ready to be homeowners. As a Mortgage Broker in the Wholesale Channel, Brandee believes it to be her obligation to educate borrowers and help those that retail operations and banks would turn away. Once she has those borrowers, sh...

Amanda Rawls, a Mortgage Broker with Answer Home Loans, has become a top producer by thinking outside the box. Leaning on her experiences as a debt collector, she often takes on complicated Chapter 13 bankruptcy loans, which has allowed her to carve out her own niche within the Wholesale Channel. To keep up her production, Amanda has developed a CRM system that allows her to stay in front of past clients and leads, and even nurture leads who are not yet ready to buy a home. Amanda started her c...

As Broker/Owner of MS Lending, Michelle Dugan has become a champion for veterans and an advocate for building community. As an active member of VettedVA, a veteran education group, Michelle protects military veterans from predatory business practices and helps them get the home of their dreams. She originates in the same town where she grew up and went to school. That intrinsic knowledge helps set her apart from retail banks and has positioned her as a trusted mortgage advisor. Within the broker...