Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to season five of the Mic'd up show, where every mortgage has a story.
We are the ultimate hub where the hidden stories behind the mortgage industry come to life. My name is Michael Kelleher.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Good morning from where I am at. My name is Michael Zhao.
[00:00:17] Speaker A: And in every episode, the Mike's dive deep into the entrepreneurial spirit, the strategic insights and the breakthrough innovations that build the world's greatest mortgage companies.
So whether you're advancing your career, scouting for industry leaders, or exploring opportunities in real estate, mortgage fintech, Proctech, you're in the right place. Get ready to unlock the story behind every mortgage. Let's dive in with Latasha Waddy, who is going to give us some insight today on, I think a very special story that you will see happen more and more in mortgage, which is the rise from attorney to president of a mortgage company. In this particular case, it is a large independent mortgage banker. If you watch our shows, we do break down sometimes what the difference between an independent mortgage banker and other channels are. But when I think independent mortgage banker, and this isn't always the case, it is distributed retail, which means they have branches in your zip code, helping you in your first time home buying journey, helping you in your family equity and debt situation get to a better place or just being more part of the community by continuing to live in that community.
And these companies like Latasha's are expanded across the country.
And we'll hear a lot about leadership today and how easy and how hard it is to lead not just in your own zip code, not just in your own state, but here in America. So thank you, Latasha, for joining us today. We appreciate it.
[00:01:58] Speaker C: Yeah. Thank you for having me.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
Now, it wasn't that long ago the announcement that you were president of the mortgage industry, you shared part of that story publicly. You also were, I think, coincidentally participating in a lot of the housing wire events at the time.
So rather than just saying, I'm president, I'm here, what have, what drove you to give at least a little bit part of your personal story?
Was it the fact that it coincided with the book coming out? Was it that this journey is one you're trying to inspire others to do? Or was it just letting the industry know who you are as a leader, not just what you lead now?
[00:02:49] Speaker C: That's great. It really is a combination of all of those things.
I thought it was important to share a little bit about my personal background to inspire others that are thinking of some sort of pivot and what they're Currently doing, but also to, to have people to understand that my background and you know, I've talked about being a young mother and what that looked like and going to law school and then entering into the mortgage space that they might be able to look at my story and say I actually can, can do this too.
And we are still in a generation in the industry of people who kind of fall in and they aren't necessarily taking a path where they're in high school or college and they're saying the mortgage industry is absolutely for me. And so I thought sharing my background and how I arrived at NFM and my journey to the president of the organization I'm six months in was important as well for people who might not necessarily have that intentionality, but, but are interested in a path in our industry which is, it's an incredible industry. It's a life changing industry. It's a, you have one of two ways to actually get the type of net worth that homeownership provides. And that's either you own a home and you have generational wealth there, or you are very good at the stock market.
So those are still two of the strongest options to build your net worth. And so I think telling people about my story and perhaps they're interested in joining the industry and understanding you don't always have to take a straight path.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: Intentionality is an interesting word that you use because as we grow with our experiences, our intentionality can change.
[00:04:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: And I, I was just mentioning this to my family this weekend. When your values are clear, your decisions are easy. And when you are in your teens and early twenties, you, you have a certain amount of values based upon what you think you know and your experiences.
[00:05:11] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: And then when you get into your 20s and 30s, you're like, oh, well, with the experience.
My intentionality of how I want my life to be is different at 28 than at 18 and at 38 versus 28. So we fall into the industry in a different way. So what was your what, what, what change between teenage hood to 20 hood, professionally speaking, that is on how you, how you wanted to grow up when you were younger. And so if we can go through this path because many people fall into it. Nobody says, I want to be a mortgage banker when I grow up.
[00:05:47] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: So let's start with what was your, what was your thought process when you were younger? And then we'll lead into that as you, into your intentionality and your growth as a professional and leader.
[00:05:59] Speaker C: Yeah, that's great. I knew I wanted to be an Attorney. Very early on, I did not know what type of attorney. I've. I've shared this before that. I was in seventh grade. I was watching this movie called. Called 1776. It's a musical. It's the first Hamilton is what I call it. But it's a musical about the founding fathers. And I remember being, like, fascinated with these individuals that had written Our independence as a country. And I went to my teacher after the filming, and he asked them, what do these people do? What was their career?
And he said, most of them were lawyers. And I said, I want to be a lawyer.
And he's like, yeah, Latasha, you know, go sit down. And so. And so from. From that moment on, I knew I. I wanted to. To be a lawyer, because I'm like, if this is the type of power I have to advocate for others, to make changes, to make a difference on the planet, then. Then I'm. I'm in.
And so I really never moved from that through college into law school.
And I don't even think I thought about it in terms of. Well, only 2% of women. Only 2% of women of color are actually attorneys. I just was like, I want to be in this field.
And then fast forward to graduating from law school, which was in 2001.
The. The goal was for me to go and actually be in house for my family's business, because we. We had a business. And so my. My dad said, look, go to law school. You'll come be in house counsel.
And. And that'll be. That'll be it. He said, but you have to go work somewhere else first, because I want you to have that experience outside of the. The family business.
You know, September 11th happens. I'm scrambling to find an opportunity. I see a advertisement in a newspaper for a local law firm, and they're looking for a paralegal.
My first sales role, to be honest with you. I go and I interview with this attorney, and I convince him that he doesn't need a paralegal. He actually needs another attorney. And so I walk him through why he needs another attorney, how he can double his business, how I can take on more substantive work.
And he's like, well, I'm still going to pay you the same as what I would pay a.
A paralegal. And I said, that's fine, because in a year, you're gonna have so much business, so much opportunity, that you're gonna want to give me a little bit more money.
That first job, I met who would eventually be the general counsel of NFM Lending. So at that first job I, I became a friend with one of the other attorneys.
And 10 years later, we had kept in touch. She called me and she said, do you want to come on as associate general counsel of mortgage company?
And I said no, said absolutely not. And I came into NFM through that very first relationship and I met the team here and the mission and I just believed so much that I could take all the experience I had amass as a title attorney, as a transactional attorney, and I could really make some impact in the organization. And that, that was, that was 15 years ago.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's a, a microcosm. And that's probably what NFM saw in you, of a great loan officer. Right. Willing to walk into an office and sell yourself and then by getting out of your comfort zone, meeting future, in their case, referral partners. But in yours, it was the bedrock of, of where you would go.
We had on Rick Rock from NFM Lending, leader at NFM Lending, and he brought up something interesting in addition to financial literacy, which we'll talk about your book in a little bit.
He believed the biggest piece the mortgage industry technically could do or our society could do to drive home ownership is actually get people to settle down and have kids earlier. He thinks that is the, when someone has a child, they are more likely to start to think about the idea of having a foundation, a house, going from community to really neighbors. And I, you know, I think that's. There are a lot of people that have good financial literacy who will be at the bars in South Boston watching the United States play, that chose to live in a condo, you know, or rent, rent a condo versus settle down because they don't have children yet.
How do you, by juggling work and motherhood.
How do you think that teaching of discipline, urgency, long term focus. How will you use that experience to help your loan officers understand that, you know, parenthood and housing and owning a house are very related?
[00:11:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:46] Speaker C: You know, what's so interesting is I take a different approach just based on the data.
So the, the, that may be an old thought in my mind, but the, the data is very clear that people are waiting later to have children or not having children at all. People are having smaller, you know, families even when they do start to have a family.
So when I'm thinking about homeownership really for the next generation, I think not necessarily framing it up in that manner, but framing it up as part of an investment strategy. And so as an investment strategy, you might want to start with a Condo, your first home isn't your dream home. And then perhaps if you have children or you start to have a family now, you've got this additional investment or this first home where you can then become a step up borrower, you'll take the equity from that first home and then you'll be able to buy perhaps a larger home or a second home as you continue either in your career or as a family.
And so, you know, the data is, is very clear. We know that the age of first time homebuyers is starting to creep up.
We also know that the age that people even think about children, if they want children, has crept up as well. So if as an industry we're going to actually meet this moment where we introduce this next generation to home ownership, I really think we should be framing it up slightly different than we would have in prior generations.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: And that's probably where loan offices are more needed or advice would be more needed in that portion than at the discovery a decade later.
[00:13:47] Speaker C: A hundred percent. And so if you're thinking about where salespeople still matter, where loan originators still matter, and there's all this conversation, Mike and Mike, about like that AI is going to come and just it's going to be a tsunami where salespeople are obsolete, it's just not true.
When I'm talking to, you know, this next generation, when I'm talking to first time home buyers, they want to know where to start and they don't necessarily want to start with a chatbot or with AI. They want to start with actually having a conversation. I, I, I look at all kinds of data all day long because I'm very interested in how to meet this generation.
And you're starting to see people start with their financial planners if they have a financial planner about home ownership. Because if I'm saying mortgage originator, loan officer, loan originator, for someone who is not familiar, does that name even resonate with them in terms of actually being able to buy a home? Which is why I think people also go to Realtors first.
Because from just from a verbiage standpoint, Realtor sounds more like someone who's actually going to help me buy a home than a loan originator.
[00:15:12] Speaker B: Nowadays with social media, we're in an age where instant gratification becomes more of the norm than, than, than, than a rule. And I think that when we look at how the process is, are we looking for a fast food experience or are we looking for a restaurant experience?
[00:15:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: And if you want the fast food experience, then you don't really get much, but it's just like eating a cake. How do you eat a cake? One bite at a time or anything for that matter. And when we begin to understand in the home buying process, it's not just a home buying process, it's a find a job process. It's a earn the savings after you have your job at the process. It's a series of small experiences that we go through.
[00:15:59] Speaker C: Yeah. Just.
[00:15:59] Speaker B: Just to get to the, okay, I need to borrow a quarter of a million dollars to buy my first place or 100,000 or whatever that dollar amount would be.
[00:16:06] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: And it's not explained in that way what it is. It's explained in the sense of, okay, well, I just need to go buy a house. Why? Because it's not the thing to do.
We don't explain our lives in stages of experiences. We explain them of. We just need to go and do it. And when we rush through things, we tend to make mistakes, which is. Which. Which is the whole fallacy of financial literacy. We just need to do it this way. Instead of having a series of small experiences and along the way of making experiences happen, life happens.
We have things that happen when you're a teenager, things that we happen in our 20s. So how do we. How do we create that in leadership so that we can say, you know what, it's not just about getting to the goal, but it's getting through the small experiences. How do you. How do we create that in the environment on a sales level and then an op so that we can create the better experience for not only sales, but for the ancillary services that also help us?
[00:17:04] Speaker C: You have to, at all costs, put yourself in the consumer shoes.
And so I do think that as. As an industry at times, we're talking vernacular, we're talking in acronyms, we're talking in a language that a consumer doesn't necessarily understand.
And there are already examples of how to start this process in a manner that's more digestible.
So we prepare our children for college in eighth grade.
So in eighth grade, I'm not telling an eighth grader to take sat, right?
In eighth grade, I'm saying, what do you want? What do you think you'd be interested in?
What schools do you think you'd be interested in? And what type of grades are required for those schools? And so in eighth grade, maybe we start in this conversation.
Ninth grade, we're starting to select courses or interests that line up with where they're headed.
10th grade, we might start visiting schools.
11th grade is showtime. You know, so like, like there are so many examples of how other industry or other experiences have kind of taken this process and put it into a longer funnel.
4 years, 3 years, etc.
I think it would be wise as an industry to take those examples and start to, to replicate that and we can do it through technology. And so at point of thought versus at point of sale is where I do believe the industry needs to move in terms of having that conversation with the consumer.
And then when they get to the salesperson, when they get to the operations person, they already have two years, three years, one year of experience where they now are more familiar and more comfortable with that next step. In terms of a pre qualification of pre approval.
[00:19:20] Speaker A: I think the one difference is the child preparing for college has the backing of the parents. So when life lifes you, you still have that.
And out there in the real world, adults have to manage their time frame versus how life gives you speed bumps and offsets that.
I have said this for a while and I hope there are more presidents like you that were on the loss mitigation side because those are the people that understand what we're actually giving to somebody versus the whole process of just giving and then saying see you later. Can you.
So the message is for other leaders out there maybe putting a spotlight on that department so that they can at least point of thought of future leadership start to focus on, on that person. Can you talk about how dealing with, during the Great Recession, dealing with actual, the humanization part of those conversations of people that wanted the work, work it out, how it shaped your thoughts on documentation of loans risk. And I think what we don't talk about as much as we should with AI coming out. Fraud.
[00:20:38] Speaker C: Yeah, no, that, that's so good because we spent a lot of time after the Great Recession really going through, combing through loan files and seeing little things that were missed or just blatantly ignored and looking at that and taking that data and now backing into how do you make sure this consumer is successful?
You know, it really takes understanding what will happen in life, what could happen in life that would cause a consumer to have disruption in income or to start to miss payments. And the first thing to me is it goes back to affordability.
And so having a consumer not just understand the interest rate, but the mortgage payment on a monthly basis, the fact that the mortgage payment is going to fluctuate in the event you have taxes and insurance that are increasing that we know will increase annually, also ensuring that you have some sort of reserves or Safety net.
We have programs now where you can go 100% financing, and the consumer is not necessarily bringing anything to the table.
Well, what my experience has shown me, looking at loss mitigation of thousands of loans that failed, was that either that consumer didn't understand the necessity for reserves, or they bought more than they could afford at the time. And so having a more common sense approach, where you say, okay, here are some of the data points where we know we need to either better educate the consumer or do a better job underwriting for that consumer's success, are some of the things that I learned very quickly in this loss mitigation realm. And Mike, like, even before that, I was a title attorney. And so as a title attorney, you're just kind of like this neutral party that helps people sign their, their documents.
And I can remember sitting in closings and I'm looking at the loan documents and I'm looking at their income.
Like, do you understand this? This teaser rate is temporary, and so you can afford this home only in interest only. And I would sometimes, you know, get reprimanded by my, some of the lawyers to say, oh, you're not really supposed to be explaining this. You're actually supposed to be just getting them to send the documents and send the documents back to the lender. But the, the common sense in me, I would typically pause and make sure the consumer understood this interest rate is going to change, this interest rate is going to adjust up before they signed it. You know, most instances they did just go forward and like. Latasha, knock it off. Right? But there were instances where I was actually able to have, like, a more substantive conversation around making sure they were prepared for that adjustment of, of that interest rate.
[00:24:11] Speaker B: Do you have a definition in your words for what would, what could be fidicial responsibility when it comes to the mortgage loan originator? What do you think the fidicial responsibility of the originator is to the consumer?
[00:24:28] Speaker C: I think the fiduciary responsibility of everybody. So forget about the originator. I'm talking about the salesperson, the underwriter, the processor, all the way to post closing.
The responsibility of the industry is to make sure this consumer succeeds in the homeownership experience.
And if there are any semblances where there might not look like success for the homeowner based on either reserves or assets or income, then to me, you know, we have some responsibility to at least confirm with the consumer that they understand that life might change, job may change, and that they are knowledgeable about proceeding. I do think that this industry got a bad rap after the Great Recession in terms of salespeople that were portrayed as, you know, villains. Quite honestly, I haven't met a salesperson yet and I haven't led a sales team at NFM yet. Where people are that nefarious. Like at the end of the day, people want to put individuals in homes. They want them to succeed and they want them to create this community for either theirselves or their families and the generations behind them. And so that fiduciary duty has to that what I just stated is the center of everything that we do at NFM and what we're looking for, whether it's a sales team that's already here or a sales team that wants to join the organization.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: I love that answer. Mike, hold on. Because although we have responsibility as professionals in our industry to the consumer, what you've effectively stated, which actually really should be the mantra for our industry as, as an opinion of mine, is that yes, we should be able to provide some education, but the ball is in your court, Mr. Or Ms. Consumer. The ball has always been in your court to make responsible decisions on working, saving, investing, purchasing and, and then investing back into your home ownership.
[00:27:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:01] Speaker B: And the fact that you can place the, the onus back to the consumer not for the responsibility of just all these massive amounts of products that are available, but to say Mr. And Ms. Consumer, you actually have to be fiscally conscious for your own decision making and not blame us.
That that's actually. So your answer actually is much deeper than I thought it was going to be in placing that onus.
[00:27:25] Speaker C: Like yeah.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: And to take it deeper, one thing that I Learned helping over 200 lenders roll out and have a mobile app, 80,000 loan officers, hundreds of thousands of people. My only knock on the industry is it thinks very linear with little depth on different topics. So I just want to jump out of order here and some questions and because I think it's very relevant. But I'll give you an example of this, what you're talking about, whether it's preparing for college or when you're thinking about your payments and how much they don't just impact you, but if you have a teaser rate and how are you going to give it down to the children, that goes to me in all ways that Josh and Gabby can better tell that story. And it's not just about Josh and Gabby, your children learning it, but I think that that depth is the parent reading it to Josh and Gabby can learn.
Even though it's made for the children, the Parent reading it is that extra depth. And I think sometimes we look at just a two dimensional piece of everything we do, but it is so much more contagious when you tell that story. Can you talk about kind of knowing this now, what you.
Why you created Josh in Gabby, what you wanted parents and the children to learn and how it relates to the first half of our show?
[00:28:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
And to be clear, this, this is for the family.
So. So Gabby and Josh can was really written with intention in mind, that this would also have parents starting to ask questions about where they sit in terms of the financial conversation.
And so I in researching where to start, what age group to start.
There is a study, I believe it was Cambridge study that came out that said children form their understanding around money as early as seven.
And so I said, okay, I need to start this conversation between 5 and 8 because that way the child hasn't necessarily formed whether or not they, they understand money or love money or they have anxiety around money. But to everything to me leads towards homeownership. And so the earlier that we can have these conversations, the earlier that parents are reading these books and now they have their children, you know, fact checking them on. Well, was Josh spent all his money and I had a reading and this kid raised her hand, her parents were there and she said, well, you know, sometimes parents spend all their money on beer. Like Josh, like Josh spent all his money. I'm like, oh, so it is, it is a. Not just a conversation starter to start to develop healthy money habits for the children that are reading Gabby and Josh can. But it also is intended to have some cues to the parents to say, I should probably be thinking about how I look at money too, or how I'm showing up to my children about how money is being spent, earned and saved in the household.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: What did writing a children's book teach you about simplifying financial concepts?
If, if it was so easy to teach financial concepts, everybody would get it. But we don't all get it.
[00:31:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:03] Speaker B: So how does, how did writing that children's book help not only teach you about it, but teach you so you can have that expansion to other people?
[00:31:12] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, trying to make it rhyme, like, forget about it, that was the, that was like cash, stash, whatever. But trying to make it rhyme was the most difficult part. But for me, it was the research that I was doing behind it. Like, what, what other things are we teaching children at this age? We're teaching them to brush their teeth, perhaps we're teaching them about cleanliness and making their room or washing dishes. And how could I use some of these things that I know are consistently being taught and tie them into, to the book? And so, like, I have written two more books, and one of the books is about a birthday party. And so if you think of children that have birthday parties, they get, they get money, they get gift cards, they get all these things. And so all these things are opportunities for parents to say, okay, you have $200 in gift cards, 500. Let's, let's have a conversation about how to spend this money. And so really meeting children where they are adding just a little bit of adventure. And then I have workbooks as well. So it's not just the book, but I have, you know, workbooks that go. That parents can go a step further and actually do some activities with the, the children. The, the reaction has been wild to me. Like the, the DMS that I get, the videos that I get of parents saying, oh, my, my child, you know, slept the house for change.
And, and now we're have this change, and now we're at the bank and now we're investing, you know, this change just from reading the book or something I posted on Instagram, that has been the most rewarding because then I know it's resonating with people, and then I know I need to do more of it because again, for me, all roads lead to homeownership.
[00:33:19] Speaker A: Yeah. And when the book comes out, Josh and Gabby start a lemonade stand. Put me on the pre order. We, we just did one the other day and we were shocked by how, I think this appreciation for entrepreneurs, the people that pull over and just give the money not for the lemonade, is pretty amazing. But then you have this money and it's, you can tell them till you're blue in the face, but it's really reaching them in ways they understand, like storytelling.
When you were writing it, where else did you do research or seek advice on making sure it was as much storytelling as it was common sense? Financial literacy.
[00:34:01] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:01] Speaker B: Children.
[00:34:03] Speaker C: I, I have nieces and nephews. My children, Josh and Gabby are teenagers, but they were teenagers at the time.
And I was like literally asking them, what was your experience about money and what are your peers thinking about money and how, how did you spend money as a child? And do you think this makes sense? Like, you know, this is final version is an iteration. I was, I was writing about something totally different. And I just, I can remember Josh saying, mom, love you, but kids don't understand what the heck you're talking about. Like you need to, you need to go as basic as xyz.
And I was like, all right, let me, let me start over. And, and then reading a lot of children's books in the financial literacy space. I loved Bernstein Bears Common Sense where they had like a checkbook and everything like that. And so talking to children, reading books in the space and then just doing research on psychologically and it's a lawyer in me, I think I like, you know, sometimes overanalyzed. But having that process of the psychological part, the, the realistic part and what's out in the market space were really my, my paths to, to writing the books.
[00:35:29] Speaker A: Well, before we, we're going to get your response here and then we're going to take it right into commercial.
How could a library or a school system get, get access to this book?
[00:35:42] Speaker C: Book.
[00:35:42] Speaker A: Find this book.
[00:35:43] Speaker C: Yeah, it. And it is already in some libraries, but if you have a library card in most instances you can recommend that the Unbelievable Adventures of Gabby and Josh can.
Is added to the library. The school path is a little bit trickier because of some of the guidance around what can be in school systems and the process for that. So we've really been having conversations with public private schools rather and charter schools. Where I have been getting the most traction is actually with community lenders, is actually with credit unions. It's with banks and when they are opening up accounts for their, their young depositors or their young consumers, I've been working with them on how they can include this book as a offering as a reward for opening up the savings Account or the 529Account or the checking account with their minor child.
[00:36:51] Speaker A: Well, if you're watching or listening and you know a bank or credit union that needs this, please comment on any of our audio. And we couldn't do this without our sponsors. So we are going to take a quick break so you can hear about some of the technology that allows the mortgage process to go faster, to be a better process. And then on the other side, we're going to hear more about NFM lending and what makes NFM lending so special.
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[00:40:27] Speaker B: All right, we're back. Thanks to of course to all our sponsors because without them we're not able to have conversations and getting to know our leaders in our mortgage industry.
The the question that Mike asked was started with a how.
And it typically leads into the question, especially when it comes to money. A lot of people will say, well how can I afford it?
How can I do this? And they don't utilize it in an effective way. They should be asking themselves how do I afford it? How can I do it? And one of the things you've done really well according to I've seen so far is the implementation of the how, which leads me into how do you create the why? What are you hearing right now from loan officers right now that executives really need to understand in creating more of a why into what originators are doing and what could more executives be doing to understand the originator?
[00:41:29] Speaker C: Executives really need to understand that loan originators have been waiting for this refinance boom and or rate relief for a very long time.
Coming out of the pandemic was not a normal market. I mean we went from 3% to 8% almost overnight.
We have to remember these individuals are self generating their commission only.
It's about them making income to feed their families, to have a career, to plan for their retirement, et cetera. And so what that requires in this interest rate environment and this product environment is much more flexibility in terms of product offerings. I talked a little bit about it, but you know, non QM is certainly becoming more and more prevalent in this space. It's not the same as subprime like there. If you look at the underwriting guidelines in 2006 and you look at the underwriting guidelines in 2026, it's not the same product.
So, you know, getting into this risk conversation I think is a waste of time and energy.
So looking at what products are available, looking at where the consumer appetite is and arming our salespeople with those and being willing to be a little bit more creative and not just what's available to the consumer, but how we package up the marketing. We have rocket, we have, you know, Mr. Cooper, we have all of these alliances. And so in the IMB space, you're starting to see this consolidation. As a loan originator, you know, how are you going to compete with that? I think you, you compete with that by one understanding your market, knowing the consumer, but also for executives having that same intelligence but being more open to listening about products that are going to serve these consumers. We have more consumers that are self employed. We have more consumers that are in some sort of gig economy.
We have multi generational. And so for me, gone are the days where we're just looking for the 7, 27, 40 credit score with 20% down.
Like we, we really need to understand that we're dealing with a different consumer regardless of interest rate. Right. And that executive should be really listening to the front line because they are the ones having the conversations with the consumers about what they really need to get into a home. And not only that, you know, they know which transactions they're getting beat on by competitors.
So, you know, those are the things I think executives for sure should be thinking about when they're not just talking to the existing loan originators. But they have prospects coming in and being able to partner with them to face some of the challenges we're dealing with right now in the market space.
[00:44:49] Speaker A: My free advice for loan officers is in this new world, Stand Out a podcast, for example, less than 1% of people in the world make it to 21 episodes, let alone loan officers. If you want Latasha to say, oh, our podcasters are XYZ or say we work, I I'm the specialist with Uber drivers. You can still do the entire suite, she said.
But then she'll say, in my mind, I do have one special loan officer that works with Uber drivers. So yeah, you mentioned recruiting as a major priority. I know acquisitions are are happening for NFM and on the target, but just that individual loan officer like I mentioned, that either stands out today, doesn't stand out, but listens to this and sees you as an inspiration to stand out. What type of, what different types of producers, I should say fit the future of nfm. And what do you then do to place them in the best possible position to win?
[00:45:52] Speaker C: Yeah, no, that's good. And so I'm really interested in that niche loan originator. So some of these niche loan originators, as you stated, they're either doing a large portion of non QM or they're laser focused on veteran borrowers or FHA borrowers. Or you know, there are some individuals that focus on women who are either transitioning from a career standpoint into a different job or they're coming out of a divorce or et cetera. And so having some uniqueness to your customer base I think is going to be critical because at the end of the day everybody can get to the a paper consumer. It is true. And so the only thing you're necessarily competing on with that consumer is rate. But how do you understand the data around this different type of consumer where we're headed from a either multi generational or a gig economy and support those loan originators with the tools that they need.
Certainly with margin compression technology is important.
And so I'm also wanting salespeople who understand automation, who are willing to try different things. We just started an innovation committee here at NFM to talk about fast tracking so many things in terms of processing, underwriting, post closing, pre qualifications, pre approval tools for our referral partners. And so having salespeople to give ideas and to innovate with us is going to be critical for this next chapter of the organization and for the industry.
[00:47:47] Speaker B: So are you saying that as an originator they can create their own community and their own demographic for themselves as a part of a marketing strategy.
[00:47:56] Speaker C: We're already doing that. And so yes. So the answer, the short answer is yes. We have originators who either are with our team who have evolved and become more niche just because of market conditions, or we have individuals that have been serving a certain population the whole time and now they want to do it either on a bigger stage or they want to plug into an organization that has a lot of the pilot programs with agencies, all of the non QM takeouts, lots of investor products available, and they can not just service those consumers, but able to offer those consumers a wider array of product offerings. So I'm and listen and I'll take it all. So if you're interested in joining or learning more about the organization, hit me up on LinkedIn and I'm happy to have the conversation because the world is moving very quickly and it is those who get creative, those who know how to evolve and those who understand technology that are going to be the ones that are going to be successful long term.
[00:49:16] Speaker B: So there's two, there's two different dynamics that we just spoke, spoke about over the course of the last 30 minutes. I want to ask you about. You wrote your book to, to Invoke an Emotion for Fiscal Literacy, and you're running a company to also Invoke an Emotion for Fiscal literacy.
So in the book, what's the emotion that you're looking to invoke? And as a leader to the sales staff, what is the emotion you're looking to invoke in leading them to success?
[00:49:45] Speaker C: It really is discipline and resilience. Right?
So like in the books, I want to teach the thought of discipline in terms of saving, in terms of sharing, in terms of how do you spend what you, you earn.
But also all of this requires some creativity. Like we, we are, are kidding ourselves if we don't think our salespeople are some of the most creative humans on the planet. And so, you know, I am, I am looking for individuals within the organization, without the organization that can get creative in meeting this moment with our consumers. And guess what? Everybody else has to follow suit, right?
So like if I am meeting with a recruit and they're running into a particular challenge with their existing organization, the first thing I'm going to do is if it's an underwriting issue or if it's a processing issue or whatever it is, I'm going to take it back to the underwriting leader and say, can you overcome this? Or this is what they're running into. And how can you partner with this salesperson if they decide NFM is their home? It's no, it's no secret that our attrition rates in terms of loan originators are stellar, you know, industry wide. If you're looking at NMLS data, you're seeing loan originator turnover 20%, 30%. NFM, we're somewhere between 3 to 5%.
So that there is a reason that, that people come to this organization and they stay and they decide that this is their home long term. And it's that creativity, it's that emotion, it's that passion around everyone in this organization, understanding. At the end of the day, our goal is to get as many people in homes as possible. And so how do we collectively do that as an organization like that? That's, that's all that I'm about.
[00:51:52] Speaker A: My final question would be the average age of a loan officer is like 54 years old. I think in the recruitment world we ignore that because they have great books of business. But yeah, I don't know how many years away we are, but at some point you'll start seeing more and more people pop up that say, I'm actually not coming over here to expand my units per month. I am at the stage of my life where I want to give back to my community.
Latasha, I heard your show and you share the message. I really want to do. I want to get deeper into my community. I will maintain the amount of units I close a month, but I don't want to do more there. But I want your help on what community means to you as a business. I want to bring that to my community. What will you say to those type of loan officers?
[00:52:43] Speaker C: I would say, talk to me about it. Come, come on, let's have a conversation. You know, ultimately every Moses needs a Joshua. And so the question I'm asking and, and really the reason I, I wrote the books and the reason I'm working on an app for education is you amass all of this knowledge, you amass all this experience. What are you going to do with it? You got to, you can't just take it with you. You have to leave it for the next generation. And so for that salesperson who's saying, I'm good to do 10, 15 units a month, but I really want to dig into this community effort. I'm going to help them do that. But I'm also going to say, what are you doing with your book of business after you decide to wind down? And do you have someone perhaps that isn't as seasoned that we can put them on a path to maintain that business, to start to cultivate those relationships so that there is some succession in the experience.
You know, this is. This is bigger than all of us. And I think that when you actually find your purpose, which I tell people, I'm on mission, like, this is not, you know, something that I'm like, oh, I had this story career. I'm just getting started. And so my. My entire purpose on Earth I do believe in is to create generational wealth, help people be more financially savvy, and to get people in homes that didn't think that they could.
And if you're looking for a story where someone is like, I didn't think this was possible, but it happened, just look at my story. You know, there is. There is a small community of individuals that were young mothers that went to law school, that are now the president of an organization that's doing, you know, seven to eight to $9 billion this year. And so if you're looking for some. Some inspiration or some belief that there's evidence that this can happen, then just look at me. And if you want to be a part of this conversation at nfm, give me a call or give me a dm and let's talk about how we can go on this path in this journey together. Because I'm here for a purpose. And so as many people that I can get on board, that's more homeowners, that's more children that understand financial literacy, that's more generational wealth.
[00:55:17] Speaker B: I love the fact that you're mentioning Joshua, because for those people who don't know the story, they know that the. In the Bible, in the Old Testament, it says that the children of Israel were bought out, were brought out of Egypt. And a lot of people already know the story of Moses and doing that. What a lot of people don't know is that Joshua and Caleb had to lead an entire new generation of people into what they call the good land at the time. And the reason for that is God needed to wait an entire expansive generation for new ideas and true beliefs to. For leadership to be brought into the good land.
[00:55:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:55:53] Speaker B: And. And what you're conveying in this message right now, I love it, because you're asking originators to think a little bit differently, to bring them into the promised land.
Right. And. And in leadership, you're able to do so. It. Whether it's a podcast or whether it's a specialization, it's something really special that you can bring to the table when you're saying I. It's, you're maybe in your past origination vocation, you're a little bit tired, a little bit skeptical and protective of your own database. However, with the right type of leadership, which you're, which you're bringing an FM and its originators into, there's something a little bit newer, there's something a little bit more innovative. And I'm taking the how and the why into do.
There is no try, there's just a doing into this.
[00:56:42] Speaker C: That's it.
[00:56:42] Speaker B: And so.
So what? So the effective use of how we brought this entire conversation is, hey, yeah, you had a few issues when you were younger. However, the leadership and the actual implementation of what you are doing today as a leader is something that you can bring into the originator today.
[00:57:03] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:57:04] Speaker B: And it's really special that you can bring it full circle, not only from your own life, but you can also bring that into your sales leadership as well. So we're both very grateful that you can speak to this truth, write to that truth, and then act and do to that truth as well.
[00:57:22] Speaker C: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for, for having me. Everybody has a story. Everybody has a journey to get, to get them to where they are. And for me, I've harnessed all of that experience and kind of just brought it to the forefront to be the type of individual, to be the type of leader I am. And it's, it's not everybody's cup of tea, but at the same time, like, we all have a history, we all have a journey, and that's what makes us all special and diverse and unique. And how else do we service, community or consumers that are special and unique is we're bringing those experiences with us to, to be better at it every day.
[00:58:05] Speaker A: And that's why our tagline is Every mortgage has a story. So thank you, Latasha, and thank you joining us on this journey into the heart of mortgage innovation. Every mortgage has a story, and we're here to help you write yours. If you enjoyed today's insights, please subscribe, Leave a comment share it with your network and connect with us on social media.
Until next time, keep pushing the boundaries and uncovering the stories that drive our industry forward.
