What it takes to start wholesale from BrokerBrand TPO exec
To run its start-up mortgage wholesale production channel, Evergreen Moneysource turned to an executive who has a broad swath of experience in third-party originations, as well as including reverse mortgages and depositories.
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Bob Marseilles most recently was vice president, third party originations at First Tech Federal Credit Union. Prior to this, Marseilles also worked at Spring EQ, PHH Mortgage,
He is now
National Mortgage News spoke with Marseilles about his work in setting up the wholesale channel. His responses are below.
What is his guiding philosophy
“In nearly 25 years spent in the mortgage space, almost all of it has come back to really one question: How you build a lending business that works for people that are actually the ones that are originating loans?” Marseilles said in an interview with National Mortgage News.
He has focused on designing, launching and growing both wholesale and correspondent channels.
At Spring EQ, Marseilles headed
“But then, more importantly, introduced the correspondent platform for them at a national level,” he said. “From there, I received an extremely unique opportunity to move over into the depository space for First Tech Federal Credit Union.” He created the TPO platform for the credit union from the ground up.
“I think the exciting part of that was, not only were we building a new business, we were actually doing it at a really exciting time as they were undergoing the largest credit union merger in the industry,” Marseilles said. At the start of the year, First Tech and Digital Federal Credit Union became a single organization, completing
Still, what matters most in starting a wholesale operation isn’t necessarily the resume.
What he likes about the wholesale business
“It’s understanding our brokers,” and doing so by getting out from behind the desk to meet with them, Marseilles said.
“It’s one of my favorite parts of the business, getting to meet with our partners in person, helping determine what they need from a lender, understanding where lenders let them down, what it actually means to earn their business, and then most importantly, keeping it,” he elaborated. Wholesalers win on items like trust, service and technology, the things which make a broker’s job easier, not rate sheets alone.
BrokerBrand TPO is one of several recent startups in the channel which are coming on board at a time when three lenders control more than half of its volume. United Wholesale Mortgage
Competition in the broker channel
Such concentration is an opportunity as brokers have come to what he called “an uncomfortable reality.” Too much of the wholesale business is built for lenders to capture the borrower, not to protect the mortgage broker’s relationship with them,” Marseilles said.
“Brokers are telling us that they want a different kind of partner,” he said. “They want a partner that helps them grow their business instead of competing for it.”
The fulfillment model is built around communication, including creating a relationship between the broker and the underwriter.
Evergreen has over four decades of experience in the mortgage business, under the leadership of founder and CEO Donald Burton and Dan Richards, chief strategy officer, which creates the foundation for focusing its efforts on answering this main concern of mortgage brokers.
“We’re building our channel around making sure our broker’s business becomes stronger and the borrower experience becomes more consistent,” Marseilles pointed out.
This includes committing to not going after the borrower if a refinance or recapture opportunity comes up and having its servicing function “broker branded.”
