Top Producers Pro Tips: Masters of the Midwest 2016

April 8, 2016 2:45 PM

Midwest Regional Rankings

Learn how the some of the industry's most successful loan originators get it done with these tricks of the trade from the 2016 Top Producers top 20 loan officers of the Midwest.

No. 20 Matt Tierney, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 77 overall)

What do you know about the mortgage business now that you wished you knew when you started out? I am glad that I learned "the hard way" through a lot of experiences. I would say the most important thing I have learned is how much customers and referral partners value a quick response. A quick "no" can be better than a long "maybe." If the answer is no, we can give borrowers a plan of action so that they are able to qualify in the future.

No. 19 Drew Boland, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 71 overall)

Who is someone in your life, either personally or professionally, who helps contribute to your success? Mike Zuker. He's a Realtor with @Properties. This is not just because he refers his clients to me but more importantly he has shown me the importance of displaying a positive, confident attitude in all facets of life. He is an incredibly high energy person and I consider him a mentor. Watching his success has directly affected the success I have been able to achieve in my business.

No. 18 Matthew Adler, Lake Michigan Credit Union Troy, Mich. (No. 69 overall)

What's unique about the local market that you serve and what do you do to address those needs? Detroit is a city on the rise again. There are not a lot of lenders catering to the needs of the developing neighborhoods and reestablished buildings. Some lenders are concerned about helping in those areas, whereas I relish the opportunity.

No. 17 Chad Lubben, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 67 overall)

What do you know about the mortgage business now that you wished you knew when you started out? I wish I would have known to better prepare myself for the peaks and valleys that can come in this business. Starting out I would get stressed when the market would slow down and there wasn't as much business around. Now by building my team and sticking to my business plan I don't have as many peaks and valleys and have grown to appreciate the cycle of the housing market.

No. 16 Suren Sampat, 1st Advantage Mortgage Lombard, Ill. (No. 63 overall)

Who is someone in your life, either personally or professionally, who helps contribute to your success? My family has been incredibly supportive in my success. They understand the long and sometimes unusual hours required to be a successful loan originator. The nature of the business is to be available whenever a customer is available, which means my working hours are always dictated by my clients.

No. 15 JD Cortese, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 61 overall)

Tell us about your most creative or successful marketing strategy. How did you come up with the idea? What were the results? I have found that working with real estate agents for co-branded advertisements has had the best outcome. Not only does it give me exposure, it also connects me with the agent on many deals.

No. 14 Ryan Mecum, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 58 overall)

Tell us about your most creative or successful marketing strategy. How did you come up with the idea? What were the results? We found a niche in marketing to clients that were overseas and moving to the United States. It seemed like there was a void when it came to what many banks were able to offer them for financing. Because of this, I focused on becoming a local expert, was able to find financing options for them, and have been very successful with these clients.

No. 13 Tim Smith, Talmer Bank and Trust Troy, Mich. (No. 56 overall)

What do you know about the mortgage business now that you wished you knew when you started out? That I needed to become more knowledgeable than the underwriters. Know your guidelines inside and out. This gives you power and knowledge on how to structure a loan and to be aware up front if there are any issues. I strongly believe the underwriters should be able to sign off on my deals with no conditions because I did my job upfront.

No. 12 Lisa Billings, Smarter Mortgages Columbus, Ohio (No. 52 overall)

Tell us about an unusual or difficult loan scenario and what you did to ensure a successful closing. Investor overlays can be challenging. So if a situation comes up that may cause an issue with closing you need to be prepared with a back up plan. Keep the borrower in the loop and communicate along the way.

No. 11 Patrick Ruffner, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 46 overall)

Tell us about your most creative or successful marketing strategy. How did you come up with the idea? What were the results? My goal is to market directly to a borrower's employer. By reaching the employer it allows you to market to all employees. This has allowed me to reach this level in only four years as a loan officer.

No. 10 Dan Gjeldum, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 42 overall)

What's unique about the local market that you serve and what do you do to address those needs? Chicago has increasing rental costs and this is pushing a lot of people into the jumbo market faster than renters would have liked. We are working with our real estate partners to have detailed discussions with those buyers, almost always around options with less than 20% down. There is still misinformation about less than 20% down payments and those discussions are allowing us to create buyers.

No. 9 Dean Vlamis, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 37 overall)

Who is someone in your life, either personally or professionally, who helps contribute to your success? Both my parents are immigrants from Greece. They left the country after WWII and the onset of the Greek Civil War. They have instilled in me a tremendous work and survival ethic. Any task that you take on requires your full and best effort, there is no alternative. I took this with me when I entered the business knowing that I must constantly strive to get better, increase my business and grow.

No. 8 Brian Jessen, Guaranteed Rate Northbrook, Ill. (No. 35 overall)

What's unique about the local market that you serve and what do you do to address those needs? My local market is hyper competitive and I address it by being an expert in not only the mortgage field but in the economic world. I get to know my clients, their families, their interests and far beyond what their mortgage is going to look like. Most of the time, people like to choose providers that they like on a personal level.

No. 7 Tom Lavallee, Guaranteed Rate Palatine, Ill. (No. 28 overall)

What do you know about the mortgage business now that you wished you knew when you started out? I know that the mortgage business is about building trust with both my customers and referral partners. Most people only do one or two mortgage transactions in their lifetime.

No. 6 John Noldan, Guaranteed Rate Naperville, Ill. (No. 24 overall)

Tell us about your most creative or successful marketing strategy. How did you come up with the idea? What were the results? The best thing I have done is hire a team to handle all of my marketing so I can focus on writing loans.

No. 5 Sam Sharp, Guaranteed Rate Chicago (No. 19 overall)

Tell us about an unusual or difficult loan scenario and what you did to ensure a successful closing. I have worked with a few clients who treat you like you are their personal servant, showing no respect for our industry or our experience and knowledge. I have been able to successfully communicate my role as their business partner and effectively establish a better working relationship. You have to be the expert in your field and the clients need to understand that this is why they are working with you in the first place.

No. 4 Jessie Pachan, Smarter Mortgages Powell, Ohio (No. 17 overall)

What do you know about the mortgage business now that you wished you knew when you started out? I wish I knew where I needed to spend my time and where I didn't. I joined events that generated no business and spent a lot of time with clients that weren't going to qualify.

No. 3 Shimmy Braun, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 13 overall)

What's unique about the local market that you serve and what do you do to address those needs? The local markets I mostly serve are Chicago and Baltimore. Both are similar in that there are so many different price ranges within several blocks of each other. It can make appraising hard. For the most part I educate the borrowers of the risks. I explain that sometimes after we get the appraisal we have to ask for a reconsideration of value and so I advise them to speak with agents and be prepared with the best comparables that they can.

No. 2 Joe Caltabiano, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 9 overall)

Tell us about your most creative or successful marketing strategy. How did you come up with the idea? What were the results? We made bobblehead dolls of our real estate brokers as holiday gifts. The bobbleheads went viral on social media, which made them a huge success.

No. 1 Ben Cohen, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, Ill. (No. 7 overall)

Tell us about an unusual or difficult loan scenario and what you did to ensure a successful closing. There were many changes this year including the TILA/RESPA integrated disclosures. To ensure a smooth transition, I invested a lot of time in understanding TRID and how it would impact my borrowers, my referral sources, my business and my team. Once the changes were implemented, I was able to close a jumbo loan in eight days. Being informed and organized has helped me and my team not miss a beat.