InterLinc's new CEO discusses his 5-year strategy
April 16, 2021 11:00 AM
As the former president and
“I've got a three year plan that takes us to $5 billion and a five year plan that takes us to $7.5 billion,” he told NMN.
Former CEO Jim VanSteenhouse, who is now the company's chairman, bought 49% of InterLinc in 2010, and then a year later, both of them acquired the rest of the company.
While it’s a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae seller and servicer, as part of its best execution strategy, InterLinc will also sell loans to aggregators.
It’s licensed in 22 states, with a total of 52 branches in 13 of them, with a footprint that stretches from its home state of Texas through New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Kansas, then east into Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, down to the Carolinas and Florida, and then back
The following question and answer session has been edited for length and clarity
Let's get a little bit about your background. How long have you been in the mortgage business and how long have you been with InterLinc?
I got into the mortgage business in 1997. I started in origination and then climbed the ladder. I went to a sales manager role and then a regional manager role. After doing that for several years, I decided that I would start my own company. So I started a small broker shop and within 12 months turned it into a small mortgage bank. I was delivering government loans — I didn't have a full eagle — to Jim Van Steenhouse. He and I started to work together in 1997 at CTX Mortgage, and we were together from 1997 till 2002. Jim and I got back together here at InterLinc in 2007, however neither one of us owned any of the organization [at the time].
The company was doing less than $100 million a year in annual production. We knew what we wanted to build and how we wanted to build it. We started employee by employee and here we are today. It's been a fantastic run. We did just shy of $2.6 billion last year and we're on track to $3.5 billion this year. I've got a three year plan that takes us to $5 billion and a five year plan that takes us to $7.5 billion. I have plenty of expansion opportunities in the states that I'm already licensed in. So that growth we believe can come from that footprint.
The company was doing less than $100 million a year in annual production. We knew what we wanted to build and how we wanted to build it. We started employee by employee and here we are today. It's been a fantastic run. We did just shy of $2.6 billion last year and we're on track to $3.5 billion this year. I've got a three year plan that takes us to $5 billion and a five year plan that takes us to $7.5 billion. I have plenty of expansion opportunities in the states that I'm already licensed in. So that growth we believe can come from that footprint.
Are your duties changing with your new role as CEO at InterLinc?
Prior to taking on the CEO role, I was president and chief operating officer. The way that Jim and I used to describe the difference between the CEO and the COO roles before was that his job was to create and hold the vision, my job was to execute it. So in moving from the COO role to the CEO role, it is now my job to create and hold the vision which I have established with the entire organization. They know exactly what the vision is, everybody in my company does. They know what my business plan is to get there, how each one plays a part in it, whether you're at the branch level or the executive level. So my job is creating that vision and holding the individuals in the organization accountable to achieving it.
And the servicing portfolio is a way to earn fee income, and/or retain customers?
The truth of the matter is that servicing from our perspective, it is a part of our execution, but unlike a large organization, servicing is not a business strategy of ours. Meaning that my sole goal is not to boost my servicing portfolio, it's a part of the business strategy. We run a best execution model, and so there are certain products that need to be delivered direct, we've got a couple of proprietary products that have to be delivered direct the way that we designed them. And the truth of the matter is, is direct to agency is the best execution in some instances and in some instances the aggregators are paying up for servicing values that you can't get by selling direct. That's a constant balancing act for us.
What did InterLinc do to make it standout for its employees during the pandemic?
The pandemic forcing everybody to work from home for a period of time has changed business in general, not just in our industry but across the nation. We are seeing a significant employees that used to be in office employees that are now working from home. And we have adapted to that. And quite frankly there has been some efficiencies picked up due to that.
