Can I get a result with a trimerge soft credit pull with DU and LPA through Arive? How about a single bureau soft pull?
Does every platform’s AUS use the same algorithm? Does the algorithm live in the platform (Arive, UWM Ease, etc) or is the data sent to some central AUS server somewhere and the algorithm is run on the server.
I need to kill a couple hours this morning, if you have any one-off questions or scenarios about underwriting or appraisals feel free to comment them or send a DM, happy to help if I can :)
I'm doing this wrong. I quote a rate and then they like it and decide to go with me. Then they fill out the application and once we're on contract and go to lock the rate the pricing has gotten worse and because I don't want to go back on what I quoted them I just take the hit and get less money. This is when I'm going non-del correspondent so I can give them whatever rate that I think will win their business if they are shopping different lenders.
What's your process for quoting rates?
Do you give a range?
Do you tell them I can't give you an exact rate since rates change every day.
When do you have the lock discussion? Up front or when you have a signed contract?
I became an MLO recently with cross country mortgage. Wanted a change from being a Realtor. The lender job is more my cup of tea but it’s just a different game than the Realtor side in terms of client acquisition.
A few colleagues of mine become dual licensed so they can leverage their Realtor license to have easier access to buyer leads and try to double dip. Which I get and it’s clever and legal with all disclosures. They think the industry is going this way with even Realtors becoming dual licensed.
However, I’m just wanting to master my trade and be good at one thing and not try to wear all these hats. (Sure I’ll close a Real estate buyer/seller if it came on a silver platter.)
What do you y’all think of this trend of dual licensees? Do you think the deal consolidation will be the future?
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 $50M+ annually within their first six years.
If you’ve done it—or you’ve worked closely with someone who has—I’d genuinely appreciate hearing what moved the needle.
I am a newer LO and have been at this company for 3 weeks, I get about a APP a day but nothing really serious they always end up falling out. I get paid a really low base salary that barely even covers my bills. I wanna build a pipeline and start getting serious clients so I can start making commission. I know it's not easy and it's not something that simple, I just want to get some tips on how I can scale my income in this business.
I’m new to the industry. Is it normal for brokers to close 2-3 loans(1.5M$) 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?
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:
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:
Appreciate any wisdom. Trying to be intentional with the head start I've got rather than just staying busy.
As title states, I already am situated in a brokerage, but I have an opportunity that has opened up to me and I want to make sure I'm making the right choice.
Option 1 (current): I work for a brokerage as a Loan Officer Assistant (Although they have me doing the work of a loan officer and processor as well) I make about 150-200 cold calls a day off a dialer, my first 3 months they had base pay but that fell off and i am commission only. I am the main point of contact, I get the app, gather the docs, I pull credit and price the loan, i help schedule pest inspections and water tests. i pitch the deals. the loan officer i work under basically does the encompass and sends the deals out and lightly monitors my pipeline and conditions while keeping contact with the processor. at this point in time there have been several months the company has paid me 0$ because i did not close any loans even while working full time hours, and ive talked to several other people this has happened to. they promised me they would help me get my license and 1 year in yet that has not happened. my pay on loans is 90bps
the opportunity: a company that will make sure i get licensed within the first 4 weeks of working. they pay a base of 20/hr plus commission(base is not repealed if my commission surpasses it either). the leads are warm from mail, online applications, and leads passed over from call centers and ai agents. all inbound calls, after closing a certain amount of volume or number of loans, they move me to an executive and my commission on loans closed rises drastically. the only flag that raised was in the offer letter it states if the client falls behind on payments within 6 months of closing my commission will be recollected. is this something i should expect to happen?
while typing this out and reading it back it almost seems like there's only one actual logical option here, but i want to hear it first hand from people who may have experienced both sides of the bridge who will have knowledge on where the greener grass is. i will say i do experience a lot of mental burnout in my current position and as of this year since credit pull leads were banned, the leads have been ice cold and 95% of my calls are being cussed ant and hung up on the second i state my company name. do i have a decent opportunity on my hands or does it sound like more false promise
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?
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.
Has anyone worked for a decent consumer direct company? I had an interview with Zillow but they stated they hire people with 2years plus experience. I don’t have that. I do not want to go broker or self generate right now. I have to have an income.
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
How many of you guys went straight into to self gen when first getting licensed and how'd it turn out for you?