Wanted to share my experience as a mortgage broker in the current climate. I started a couple years ago for a startup that trained the hell out of us and got us NMLS certified, so for about a month in the position everything was fine and I was making commission. Everyone there had an encyclopedic knowledge of mortgage laws and regulations for QM, it was such a cool time in my life and while it was exhausting it was extremely rewarding.
Very very quickly it became clear that the company ran out of leads. Strange, because we did refinances, purchases, sales, everything. You'd think there'd be business rain or shine? The prime rate wasnt half bad (2.75% in 2021) and I personally could sell anyone I talked to. I was scratching my head.
Soon they start having huge fire-offs. We went from 1100 staff to 1000 overnight. Operations got the worst. We also were getting blamed for not producing business, which was insanity. We stopped using leads, we abolished an extravagant annual bonus system, and we were being micromanaged every five minutes. Bizarre.
Finally, they cut me. I didn't even work there a full year. I got along famously with everyone, people up top knew my name, it was completely out of left field. I was fired on the spot and required to clear my desk. What the hell???
So they put my wife, my kid and I on the street. Thanks guys. By the grace of tom petty my wife immediately got an incredible job which she still has, so we scraped by.
Now, during this time I transferred my NMLS to a tiny firm near my home town that sold special mortgages. This allowed me to do, like 2 applications a month. We did all the work but I made some money to take the kid to the zoo.
This kept going into 2022 and before I knew it I was clearing a higher salary than before for less work. I paid for health insurance for us out of pocket but at least we had it. Now, almost without noticing, we have become totally stable again. Before, my wife was scared to get a job because it would be so hard to balance life for a number of reasons. Now I work whenever I want, wherever, and I have an awesome reputation at my company – even if I'm just on contract. Why was I getting up at 5AM before just to make it into work on time and take my miserable son to preschool at 6am? Why didnt I have benefits before? Why was I treated like I was the company's enemy because they refused to give up on absurd policies? Quit, guys. Start a business. Find a company with under 50 people. My last job would have my family starve instead of generate business for them. Jobs are a complete joke. Thanks for reading