From the outside, loan origination seems to be all about the money. But for Robert Bram of Long Island's Luxury Mortgage Group, it's always been about the people.
"Nothing gives me more pleasure than the emails I get about helping someone realize the American dream, or about how I made the process a walk in the park," he said. "This is just a very important piece of people's lives."
Bram got his start in a much less customer-friendly part of the industry. After graduating with a master's degree in finance from UCLA, he was hired by Merrill Lynch as an analyst in New York City. There, he eventually worked his way into trading mortgage-backed securities.
"I sort of entered the mortgage business from the backend-forward," he said, adding that he believes this point of view has helped him in the long term. "Like in the restaurant business, the best restaurant owners are the ones that learned the business from the kitchen first."
A self-described people person, Bram said he wasn't satisfied in institutional sales and knew he wanted to deal directly with consumers. So he decided to give loan origination a try. And, from the start, he knew his main goal was to make sure he was serving others effectively.
"Customer service is not rocket science for sure. My dad — may he rest in peace — said to me as a young boy, 'Son, in life if you treat people how you want to be treated you can never go wrong,'" said Bram, adding that he's made this mantra his "silent mission" ever since.
That mindset allows Bram to personally accompany his clients through the process from start to finish — a time-consuming prospect, as he averages between 20 and 25 transactions per month.
All of his clients start with a consultation before ever purchasing a property to "talk everything through from the day they decide to buy to the day they close." After the initial meeting, Bram is constantly available for his clients, day or night.
"Call me at 7:00 in the morning or 8:00 at night on a Sunday and I'll take your call," he said, who even takes his laptop with him on his boat to make sure he's accessible at all times.
"You need to always be available, always walk your talk, and never put your head in the sand and hide from frustration," he said. "You need to be there to help diffuse any anxiety that could come up with your buyers, and to answer any questions before they become anxious situations."
And because closings can often turn into those anxious situations, Bram is there for those, too.
"I attend all of my closings, and I don't understand why others don't. It is the most memorable part of the whole transaction, and if you've done a good job, why wouldn't you want to be there?" he said.
This incredible attention to detail is what keeps Darren Zuckerman, the owner of Dream Home Designs based in Long Island, coming back to Bram.
"I've done multiple mortgages through him, including the one for the home I live in now, and I'm always impressed with how attentive he is.
"He thought of everything, and so the process always goes so smoothly," Zuckerman said. "I'm going to keep coming back to him."
John Ricci, a retired police officer who now invests in real estate and works security, echoes Zuckerman's sentiments about Bram's customer-centric approach.
"He doesn't just email you a form; he's going to call and explain it or ask for a meeting. He's very generous with his time," Ricci said. "I'll never use anyone else, and I'll keep referring him to people because of it."
Bram said he's proud that the majority of his clients come from referrals like those from Zuckerman and Ricci. Yet he's always giving his business "a checkup to look at all the new and innovating things that come into the market." However, he also takes a "if it isn't broke, don't fix it," approach.
This model has allowed him to build such a large and steady business in Long Island that now he has plans to expand his business outside the state in the "very near future" to continue serving his clients in similar ways. He has recently passed the uniform mortgage licensing test as well as the state licensing test for New Jersey, which will allow him to offer his services to current clients interested in purchasing homes in other states.
Bram estimates that 98% of his business is purchase, while the remaining 2% is refinance — a breakdown, unsurprisingly, that is intended for the benefit of the client. While Bram said he does not actively promote the refinance market, he will not turn business away, so long as it makes sense and benefits the clients.
"I never want to turn business away, but my ethical approach to business and life would never allow me to take a deal that wasn't going to benefit the consumer," he said. "I have found that doing that has brought me more trust and respect. So many of the clients that were turned away for a reason have even referred me to their friends when it is time to purchase a home."
Bram is confident that such an approach will lead him to success, regardless of what the market has in store for the future.
"One thing I know for sure," he said, "is that whatever direction our industry evolves in, and whatever regulation changes occur, I'm going to stay 'Robert Bram the Mortgage Man' to my clients."
