For Mike Meena, hard work built up over a lot of years in the business was the driving factor behind his 2010 production numbers. That hard work turned into referrals from business partners and past clients. Underlying that is a culture of service. Meena was the 12th highest producer on the Origination News Top 150 Loan Officer list for 2010, with volume of $142 million, an increase of 17% over his 2009 production of $121 million.
Meena started in the business over 20 years ago. He is the owner of Augusta Financial in Newhall, Calif., which is in the Santa Clarita Valley, located on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
Out of college he was working in the retail business and looked around and talked with some people in the mortgage industry and felt it was something he would like to do.
A friend owned a mortgage company 86 miles from his house. The friend had him come down and interview and this gave him his first experience in the business. “I was lucky, I was good at it, I was good at talking to people and treating my clients’ right, treating them with a retail customer service attitude,” Meena said.
Approximately 90% of his business is referrals and past clients; he said he does very little advertising or marketing.
“It is getting to know real estate agents. Not looking at the negative, always looking at the positive. Finding new agents and new people to work with. Working with the right financial planners or stockbrokers or accountants along with having a good amount of real estate agents that I work with and do good business with,” he explained.
Another key to Meena’s success is his work ethic. His typical workday Monday to Friday is between 14 and 16 hours and on weekends it could be another two to three hours.
For 2010, because of the low interest rate environment, nearly half of his business was purchase and the other half refinance. This year, the share has shifted to 80% purchase 20% refi, which is more typical of a normal year for him, Meena said.
It is tougher to get past client referrals these days because of market conditions. However, as long as you treat people well, he said, they are willing to give referrals.
Customer service is the big selling point for Augusta Financial. His team has grown from two people a few years ago to four today. He admitted that a few years ago there were some growing pains learning the changes in the market, but now they’ve adjusted very well “and now we’re in a great place.”
The company underwrites everything in house, including Federal Housing Administration loans (its staff includes four Direct Endorsement underwriters). “We have 24-hour underwriting, 24-hour loan documents, 24-hour funding. So we’re able to close an FHA transaction in two, two-and-a-half weeks, if necessary. We try not to. People come to us when they need a quick close,” Meena said. Augusta is ready to handle large amounts of FHA volume. Right now, these loans are about 50% of its purchase originations. This is a change from 2001 through 2008 era when high home prices combined with the FHA loan limits restricted originations of those loans all across California.
This high level of service is also important for his B2B partners; it’s what the real estate community expects from a lender, he said.
Approximately two-and-a-half years ago, Augusta Financial switched from being a mortgage broker to being a mortgage banker.
It is also doing the things that others can’t do. Augusta still brokers approximately 10% of its production, the stuff it is unable to originate as a mortgage banker.
Meena said he is very good at explaining to a client what their options are regarding their mortgage loan and going over why buying a home is a great financial decision for them as opposed to renting. This includes counseling them on looking at a home they can afford vs. something they want to buy and getting them to understand the whole financial aspect to the transaction, such as the tax breaks.
“I really like the planning of the file for the client and knowing that I am setting them up for the next 20 or 30 years,” and providing them with good financial advice, Meena said.
As part of that holistic approach, he said he is advising past clients to purchase investment properties in today’s market, as one way of helping to secure their financial future.
That service attitude applies also to the way he treats the people at Augusta Financial. After three years at his first employer, that company closed up shop and he bounced around.
In 1995 he came to the realization that most broker owners are out for themselves. “And I said, 'You know what. I am going to run a company that is not that way. I am going to run a company to support the loan officer.’ And that is what I have done.
“I’ve done well, my company has done very well.”
And as a result, Augusta has good retention among its loan officers.
Even though Meena does not conduct marketing campaigns aimed at potential new clients, he does keep in touch with his past client base.
He sends a hard-copy newsletter every other month. “It talks about me, my family, that kind of stuff. It will talk about other things in general, it will have a little bit on mortgage,” he said, adding it lets his sources get to know him as a person. There is also a monthly email sent out as well.
Meena does a lot of marketing with his real estate agent partners, including a graphics person that helps out with putting out flyers.
“We do as much as we can to help our agents out in growing their business,” while staying within the state regulatory guidelines.
Meena goes out and does a lot of public speaking and informational seminars.
There is also a monthly “lunch and learn” for some of the newer real estate agents.
He is “very light” on his social media efforts. He does like to write a blog article every week or two, but is not convinced that it does a lot for his business.
Most of the Santa Clarita Valley market is made up of single-family houses. Many of the residents commute into Los Angeles. The area is 40 minutes from Hollywood and one hour away from the Pacific Ocean beaches.
The Santa Clarita Valley Guide website notes, “Our housing market provides a lot to choose from: new homes, pre-owned homes, rental homes, apartments and apartment homes.”
Meena commented that people looking to relocate to this area are typically looking for better schools, nicer and newer homes and similar suburban trappings. Meena said the average home price is between $360,000 and $380,000, while the company’s average loan amount is $315,000, making the Santa Clarita Valley more affordable than some of the adjoining communities.
The Santa Clarita Valley website adds, “Basically, this is a family community. We’ve got lots of churches and very few bars. Think 'upscale hometown’ and that’s Santa Clarita. We like it here so much we actually dance in the streets (during our summer concerts).”
Augusta Financial also has offices in the nearby San Fernando Valley as well as in Orange County and in Burbank. But the company does loans up and down the state.
Although Meena himself does not do all of these loan types, according to the company’s website, Augusta Financial originates both Veteran’s Affairs and CAL-VET loans, PERS loans (where the borrower can use retirement savings as part of the down payment), CalSTRS loans, jumbo loans, hard money and commercial loans.
The website echoes what Meena said, “Here at Augusta Financial our loan officers go through extensive training to make sure they understand the loan programs that are available to their clients. When you are making what is usually the largest purchase of your life, you want to make sure you are in good hands and your loan will close in a timely manner.”
Being both a producer and an owner can be challenging. “But I put together a very good staff,” Meena said. He purchased a company that was losing its warehouse line and brought in seven key members of its staff.
Rarely does he have to spend a lot of time running Augusta, “but there are always decisions to be made,” he said.
