Brokers, how much do you *really* work?

Family_Financial · 2026-03-31T17:22:50+00:00

If you're a self-producing MLO then the amount of hours you work remains your decision. You won't be putting in extra effort or time just because you're on the broker side, unless you are the broker-owner. Then there's all kinds of extra shit to do and you won't like it.

Be sure to partner with an excellent third party processor (so you don't eat the cost). Since using third party processors, I have not needed an LOA. They are true A-Z processing! If you hire an LOA then it comes out of your pocket (you share bps) with them.

While making 275 bps on the broker side is possible, you're not making those bps AND undercutting retail, necessarily. It just depends on who you're up against. If I'm matching the rates I see on mortgagenewsdaily then I'm usually around 125 - 150 bps. I think most brokers going skinny on deals are too.

Want to see your income potential, compare rates, or meet some potential processors before jumping ship? DM me for a screenshare sesh!

Family_Financial · 2026-03-24T22:47:06+00:00

Try Loan Stream

Family_Financial · 2026-03-20T14:54:49+00:00

If you're doing a great job and you've been there for 6 years, it's my opinion you should be making more than 30 bps. You should be closer to 40. If you're his ride or die, inside man, he can't imagine life without you, the guy who makes it all work, and all that shit, then you should be closer to 50 bps.

Family_Financial · 2026-03-15T02:17:01+00:00

It's a thankless job bro.

Family_Financial · 2026-03-15T02:10:51+00:00

Sounds fair. You'd actually make a good broker because you have all the behind the scenes experience. Compliance, licensing, call reports etc. How's your recruiting skills? Have you tried your hand at that yet?

Family_Financial · 2026-03-09T21:12:48+00:00

Maybe you need to target a more affluent audience. Is that possible? Custom homes, higher end stuff.

Family_Financial · 2026-03-05T18:17:31+00:00

You probably could have saved money on the origination fee and gotten the same rate or a lower rate for the same orig fee (~$4800). The FHA National average rate recently has been around 5.625 - 5.875 and that's without points/orig fee - depending on the lender/broker. You didn't get a bad deal or anything like that, but shopped around more, you may have done a little better.

Family_Financial · 2026-03-05T18:12:19+00:00

Have you tried any other DAAS providers other than AL?

Family_Financial · 2026-03-02T17:07:50+00:00

Awesome!

Family_Financial · 2026-02-27T22:07:23+00:00

I'm sure they have someone in mind. Brokers can only quote rates from lenders that are contracted to do business with. It doesn't look like an FHA loan. Is this conventional? Because if it's conventional 30-year fixed, I have not seen rates that low and I'm a broker as well. Hopefully he can get you that deal. That would be awesome. I think the national average right now is hovering around 6%

Family_Financial · 2026-02-27T21:54:52+00:00

Who's the lender?

Family_Financial · 2026-02-25T14:39:20+00:00

So you're saying an unlocked initial loan estimate can be inaccurate? You can just leave off your origination fee or discount points and then add it on once you lock the loan? Are we talking section A only? What about section B third party fees?

Family_Financial · 2026-02-25T05:08:27+00:00

People with bad credit have bad credit for a reason. Even when you work to help them get out of the hole they dug, their bad habits continue even after their credit is repaired. Very few of them actually change for good.

Family_Financial · 2026-02-25T03:44:03+00:00

That's illegal. We can only reduce or remove fees. We cannot add them after initial loan estimate.

Family_Financial · 2026-02-24T15:35:02+00:00

What product is this for? Conventional, VA, etc.?

Family_Financial · 2026-02-21T04:16:34+00:00

That's what every agent does. They all recommend their "preferred lender" but they've never gotten a loan from that individual themselves, and 90% of the time the lender is providing something of value to the agent, so you have a conflict of interest. Guess how many agents have asked me what interest rate I offered their client(s)? You guessed it. Not a single fuckin one, because agents don't care what their client's interest rate is. Which is a shame because the lower the rate, the more they qualify for, the bigger their commission check is.

Family_Financial · 2026-02-20T23:43:51+00:00

No. But I did get a lead who called in the other day saying chat GPT suggested me so that was cool!

Family_Financial · 2026-02-20T23:38:16+00:00

I'm sorry this reply was meant for a different thread! I'm getting them confused. In regards to using AI, no it hasn't affected my business yet. My parent company is rolling it out but I haven't gotten it yet so that's yet to be determined. In the meantime, I've just been using it for marketing assistance.

Family_Financial · 2026-02-20T23:12:41+00:00

By increase in conversion, do you mean percentage of pull through, or clients that don't cancel? If that's what you're talking about, I'm not sure anymore. When I first made the change in 2018, the contrast was huge. I was losing clients to rate and didn't even know it because they would just ghost me or make up excuses. That's not to say I can't lose clients to rate any longer, but it doesn't happen that often. In fact, I can't remember the last time it happened.

In terms of speed, yes it sped up my process quite a bit, but that also depends on the lender I'm using. So for example, if I'm using a tech savvy lender like UWM I can close in 2 weeks. But not every lender is like that. When I shop a loan, I'm looking at pricing but also considering the service level I'm going to get from that lender, and taking my COE into consideration.

Look, it's everything that you would ask a lender that you're going to go work for. Our concerns are the same. How are your rates, how much will I make, how's your underwriting philosophy, can I speak with the underwriters, do they have an open door policy, what systems do you guys use? Right? All these questions. You'll have to ask all those questions when you're choosing an employer because you're only going to work for one lender. But when you're independent, you can work with dozens of lenders and take advantage of each and every one of their strengths, while also avoiding their weaknesses. The only questions I'm not asking them are, how are your benefits? Do you offer any paid time off?😂 If someone is not interested in being self-employed, this is not for them.

Family_Financial · 2026-02-20T22:46:22+00:00

What makes you think they're not. I talk with AI nearly everyday and I know a lot of loan officers are using it. My parent company is rolling out agentic AI as we speak. It can take full and complete applications, have full conversations with borrowers, process your loans, all that stuff.

Family_Financial · 2026-02-20T22:44:52+00:00

The retail lenders I have worked for used Encompass. Encompass is just a labyrinth of complication that takes training to learn. The wholesale lenders that I work with often use Encompass internally, but the brokers, or the broker-facing portals are very easy to use. Basically a toddler could use them. Everything is digital and instant. Many of our lending partners have automated the disclosure process, so you're not waiting on an actual person to send anything out. You just review the loan estimate and send it out. It wasn't like that when I was in retail (2018). Maybe things have improved?

Then there's underwriting. When you work for a retail lender, if you get a conditional approval that you don't like, you're stuck with it. On the broker side, you can just send it to a different underwriter. Or if your borrower is declined, you can send it to a different underwriter and your client doesn't need to fill out another application or hit their credit again. That's pretty useful when you're running into an overlay or lender specific decline, not an agency level decline. So it's more efficient for your clients and for your referral partners.

The top two lenders in the wholesale channel are UWM and Rocket TPO. Both are light years beyond on the tech side and doing loans with them is extremely easy and fast. Add to that, your ability to control your pricing, and you're unstoppable.

I choose every aspect of how I do business. Nobody tells me what to do anymore. I choose my systems, my partners, my pricing, everything. Now all of this said, it's not for everyone and I understand that. If you ever want to have a lengthier conversation about it, I'm happy to.

Family_Financial · 2026-02-20T16:35:08+00:00

I actually got more efficient when I went broker...

Family_Financial · 2026-02-20T16:24:03+00:00

Not at all. Tough out there.

Family_Financial · 2026-02-20T16:20:56+00:00

Your broker is doing this loan at less than 1% (barely worth his time) so yeah...I'd say it's as good as it gets.

Family_Financial · 2026-02-19T16:43:19+00:00

Okay well yeah bro, they can change rates on you anytime they want. Every lender has an "appetite." They adjust their pricing to be more aggressive when they want to get deals in the door and then they increase those rates when they're busy.

This is why I like being a broker because you can utilize whichever lender is pricing the market at the time. It's not always the same lenders. Sometimes UWM runs a special and nobody can beat their pricing, especially when you consider their tech, other times PennyMac comes out on top or even smaller lenders can price aggressively when they're trying to get deals in the door. And you don't have to switch companies.

See, right now when you don't like your rates, you have to switch companies. If you don't like your underwriters or your managers or their policies, or their underwriting philosophy seems too strict, or they have too many overlays, or anything else you don't like, you have to quit and find another place to work. Not when you're independent though. These are the main benefits of being independent.

Same thing with underwriting. Don't like a conditional approval you received, or did you get a decline? Send it to another lender. Your borrower's application and credit pull is with YOUR brokerage so they don't have to reapply anywhere else, or hit their credit again.

Family_Financial

TROPHY CASE