An Brief Intro to the Originator Connect Network
I have been in the mortgage business for over 40 years and I must admit that this business changes each day. This week I want to talk about understanding your customer and what the Originator Connect Network is doing to help support Brokers and Originators.
I have been in the Mortgage and Finance business since 1976 and I have been associated with Mortgage Brokers since 1988. I have been a member of the Indiana Association of Mortgage Brokers and their President and the National Association of Mortgage Brokers working my way up from Director to President to CEO. I have worked for a Mortgage Broker, was an Account Rep going after Brokers and owned my own Broker company for 15 years.
In February 2014, my partner sold our broker company to a bank. At that time, it was either work for them and get paid for my loans or walk away and not make any money for 90 days. So, in the next year, a group of us found a company that had a mortgage division that worked just like a broker but had the power of the bank behind us. And I have continued to support Brokers and Originators since my first interaction with them in 1988.
Before I left NAMB and throughout my presidency of 3 years and my term as CEO of 3 years, I fought to keep the name at the National Association of Mortgage Brokers because this is who we were. I know that some state associations were changing to the P for Professionals, but NAMB was an established item in Washington and around the nation. Therefore, we needed to stay NAMB. I was on the forefront of the kickstart program that would benefit new brokers trying to start their new company and get back to being a broker.
This brings me to Originator Connect. We had our first conference last year and it was all about brokers and originators. At Agility, we put on 13 conferences around the United States and our objective is to represent the Broker and the Originator. They are our number one goal at each and every conference we put on.
So this year we are taking things to a new level. We are putting together a panel of Lenders and Originators to work together and help us shape the conferences to make them meaningful to each of you. We will also be addressing items to help lenders and brokers work together to expand the broker channel as well as the wholesale channel. So stay tuned and prepare to enjoy a fantastic year from Originator Connect.
Don Frommeyer is the National Mortgage Chair for Agility Resources Group, and a long time past president and CEO of NAMB. He can be reached at dfrommeyer@agilityresourcesgroup.com.
