A lot of people ask me about my background and how and why I am in mortgages. Most people want to know why someone in the mortgage industry has a web site like Blown Mortgage. I guess its a little weird having a site that is primarily focused on the negative aspects of the industry in which I work. So with out further ado, for those of you that care about who is writing this blog please enjoy this autobiographical article that should shed some light on who I am and why I write Blown Mortgage.
Part 4 - Today
PART 4
A Sea Change
After reaching some exceptional heights (we were named #4 in the nation Spring of 2006 in wholesale delivery for one of the largest mortgage companies in the world) we noticed a change. It really began in the summer of 2006 and picked up speed in the fall. Our consultants weren’t closing sales, complaints began to rise from our customers, and we experienced some of our first losing months as a company. We had brought in some business consultants who hastily advised us to bring in management to run the ship so that we could focus on other things. It turned out that by disconnecting we basically amputated the soul of the company from the operations. People lost focus as to what New Day was all about. They focused on themselves – with fewer loans closing they needed to maximize their take. A horrible situation.
After a few months of watching this happen we decided enough was enough. We went back to small. We went back to basics. We fired those that weren’t with the program; and took the responsibility back in to our own hands. It was the best move we ever made. Instead of being a mediocre medium-size enterprise we are now a small, sophisticated consulting group that wows customers. I have finally reached the ideal. We now deliver exactly what we promise.
As the industry shifted we refused to be caught up with loan buybacks and unsustainable business expenses and cut our losses quickly. And while we did experience some financial pain we are far better than the 150 companies gracing the Implode-O-Meter’s site (and countless brokers that are now doing something else).
Blown Mortgage
Blown Mortgage started after the New Century debacle. It was started because I was tired of hearing from my employees all the stories of people being duped in to crappy mortgages. I was tired of hearing about the bait-and-switches, the fraudulent CPA letters, the made-up W2’s, the forged rescission pages – everything. I was tired of losing people to companies that chose lying over honest competition for a customer. I would hear “they loved us and what we had to offer but went for a lower rate,” and knowing that the better rate was non-existent tried to determine the best way to eliminate that problem for our staff.
Blown Mortgage turned in to a way for me to highlight our skills as mortgage professionals with out being a sales platform. Blown Mortgage took on a life of its own, and has become successful in the blogosphere partly for refreshing honest content (I think anyway) and more importantly being in the right place at the right time. Will people care about mortgages in 4 years like they do today? There may not be as much scrutiny or press coverage about them; but they will always be an important part of our economy and the American Dream of home ownership. I hope that Blown Mortgage is there to continue to educate homeowners about the pitfalls of our industry; and how they can avoid getting stuck with a bad mortgage. Of course, only time will tell.
I’ve written more about why Blown Mortgage is here in an interview I did, that you can read here for the rest of the Blown Mortgage back story.
Today
After 3 years we are in some respects back to where we started; in others we have come a very, very long way. The mortgage industry is at a crucial stage – the uncertainty and fear in the markets is unprecedented. The daily changes, lender failures and news make for an incredibly rocky ride. Yet, we are extremely grateful for where we are today. We are consultative experts who provide our clients insight and planning when dealing with their mortgages. We are FHA approved and put people in to good loans based on sound common-sense underwriting. We have matured as a company and as individuals.
I have learned that the ideal is there – that you can deliver on exactly what you promise; as long as you have the right people operating in the right framework. We have that now and I am proud to own a mortgage company that is different – finally. As the road gets tough we are confident that the money we invested in our licensing and FHA approval, along with our ability to truly deliver exceptional service will in turn serve us well.
Thank you for reading my story and for reading Blown Mortgage. It truly is an honor to me.
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