As you climb your “mortgage mastery ladder,” it’s critical that your ladder is on the right wall.
The company in which you invest your talents must match your ambition.
Our industry is already hard enough:
The company you keep and the company you employ are essential determinants of your success, and unfortunately, in most cases, that may change as you advance in your career.
The chances you’ll be at the same company for years are not probable.
Therefore, clearly understanding your specific short-term and mid-term goals and discerning an excellent company for your goals through diligent discovery is imperative.
And remember: what could be an excellent company for someone else may not be a great company fit for you.
Years ago, I asked a potential company suitor what their production vision was, and when they answered:
“We want to stay at this couple billion dollar a year mark,”
I moved on from the vetting as my own Branch funded $600M the year before and was looking to hit $1B.
Our growth vision was not aligned.
Years later, I asked another potential company suitor how many $100M+ loan officers they had, and when they answered:
“We have over 20 that funded over $100M last year.”
I knew it was the place for me as that was my personal production aspiration.
Our growth vision was aligned.
In this comprehensive guide, you will find various questions to ponder and ask.
As mentioned in the first line, communication is one of the BIG 3 essential skills.
Persuasion, active listening, and negotiation all fall under communication.
How you navigate these conversations, the questions you ask, and the way you evaluate responses will increase your value; don’t ever forget that.
The best Loan Officers don’t just accept what they’re told at face value—they analyze, verify, and ensure that any opportunity aligns with their goals.
Choosing the right company is an important decision, and your ability to discover and discern the best fit is critical.
This playbook will help you move correctly, not quickly.
The 7even Pillars:
Each company has seven major pillars for you to consider, which has helped me categorize them into color codes.
Each of these pillars represents a critical component of a company’s framework, and understanding them can help you assess whether an organization aligns with your personal and professional goals.
Let’s break them down in order of importance, and you will then be equipped with the specific questions to vet these areas.
1. Leadership (Blue)
Leadership sets the tone for the entire organization.
A company with strong leadership offers a clear vision with an enthusiastic and optimistic tone at ALL times.
I associate great leadership with the color blue because it evokes the image of a vast, calm ocean—serene and full of potential.
If the leadership is not excited about the people in the company, the company's initiatives, and the company's vision, you will feel it.
Just as a blue ocean offers endless opportunities to explore and expand, visionary leaders create environments where innovation flourishes and strategic decisions are made with a broad perspective and meticulous attention to detail.
At the same time, blue embodies the calm and strength needed to navigate through turbulent, wavy waters, ensuring that challenges are met with steady resolve.
In contrast, if the Leadership is disconnected, self-serving, and unapproachable, the company will lose its A-players, who make a great company thrive.
2. Culture (Yellow)
Speaking of people, culture is the unique personality of a company, reflecting its values, attitudes, and work environment.
Yellow brings to mind optimism, creativity, and a sense of happiness.
A vibrant company culture encourages collaboration, innovation, and employee satisfaction.
It’s about creating a workplace where everyone feels valued and motivated to contribute their best, ultimately driving the company’s long-term success.
The best companies live by their core values, not aspirational values.
You may not care about this and want a company that can provide competitive rates, products, compensation, and basic operational support.
That is cool, but if you seek long-term growth and fulfillment, then alignment with your values and goals becomes crucial.
3. Marketing (Orange)
Marketing is the creative engine that drives brand recognition and market engagement.
The vibrant orange represents energy, enthusiasm, and innovation.
A great marketing department knows how to craft compelling narratives, build strong customer relationships, and differentiate the company in a crowded marketplace.
It’s all about making your message resonate and ensuring your personal brand remains top-of-mind.
Millennials no longer trust big brands as much as personal, relatable, and approachable brands, specifically through social media.
Understanding how the company invests its dollars into its branding effort and how it values and supports your modern online marketing is critical, especially how its compliance department approaches it, because, as the saying goes: “compliance is the killer of creativity.”
4. Sales (Green)
Sales is fundamentally about generating predictable revenue, which derives from the active roster of Loan Officers.
The more volume per Loan Officer, the more telling it will be for you to discern how the rest of the entire company is doing.
The color green symbolizes growth, and prosperity, and “green lights” giving you the feeling to move ahead with confidence and seize new opportunities.
Most critically, it emphasizes velocity—the speed and agility the company can move to provide its sales team with the best resources.
5. Operations (Red)
Operations drive sales; never forget that. It’s not the other way around.
If the company has tight systems, processes, and A players that have a mentality that the Loan Officer is their client, the company will thrive.
Red signifies energy, urgency, and attention to detail.
Companies with effective operational strategies ensure that processes are streamlined, quality is maintained, and resources are optimized.
This bucket is about creating systems that support rapid responsiveness and sustained performance.
I’ve gone from funding $50M in one year with one company to $100M at a different company (true story) without having any different favorable market conditions.
The new company's attitude, speed, and efficiency made manufacturing loans 2x easier, which directly 2x’d my output, not to mention the confidence and energy factor I gained.
6. Finance (Black)
Finance is the backbone of any sustainable business, involving budgeting, investment, and risk management.
The color black represents profitability and reserves.
I’ve visited various mortgage companies, and it’s always the ones with the super fancy offices and wasted square footage carrying dead weight Loan Officers that tell me almost everything I need to know about their overhead philosophy.
They often lack the lean efficiency needed to maximize profits and maintain healthy reserves. In contrast, companies prioritizing solid profitability and robust reserves tend to operate with greater fiscal discipline, ensuring they can weather market fluctuations and invest strategically in growth opportunities.
Strong financial management means careful cash flow monitoring, smart capital allocation, and a commitment to transparency.
A company needs to maintain fiscal discipline while strategically investing in growth opportunities.
7. Technology (Purple)
Technology is the seventh bucket, and many mortgage companies are embarrassingly behind.
Most homebuyers and homeowners want competitive rates, fees, and a seamless experience; it’s really that simple.
Purple represents creativity, innovation, and a forward-thinking mindset.
A strong, modern, and unified tech stack and commitment to innovation will provide a great borrower experience and drive down loan manufacturing costs.
As you can see, there needs to be thoughtful consideration in which wall you rest your mortgage mastery ladder.
If you have read this far, I have something extra for you:
All the questions to ask around these 7even pillars can be answered by simply replying to this email and kindly asking for it.
Cheers to your inevitable success,
Amir
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