From LO to owner: John Overfelt’s model is built for the future

HousingWire

What happens when you give loan officers direct access to decision-makers and true autonomy?  In this episode of Ten Minute Talks, John Overfelt, Director of Sales at American Security Mortgage Corp, sits down with Brena Nath to explore how his “lean and mean” model is scaling smart in today’s environment.   Overfelt explains how his approach, empowering loan officers, is driving $1.4 billion in production across just 65 LOs. He outlines strategies to empower teams, compete with rate-driven borrowers and focus only on metrics that translate to real execution.    Explore strategies for building strong team habits, systems, and culture while maximizing efficiency. Gain insights into leadership approaches that make a real impact.     #MortgageIndustry #ScalingSmart #LoanOfficer #Leadership

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm Brenna Nath. I'm Vice President of Events and Community here at Housing Wire.

00:12I'm super excited to be joined today by John Overfelt. He's the Director of Sales at American

00:18Security Mortgage. They're a top 10 lender in North Carolina and really big in Charlotte.

00:24The reason why, John, I'm excited to have you is because something that's been super top of mind

00:29as we are gearing up for our Mortgage Banking Summit coming up in October is who are the

00:34leaders that are scaling smart in this space? What is unique about their model? How are they

00:40approaching the next year and strategizing with their team to make sure they're efficient,

00:44to make sure they're growing? And you are someone who's doing that so well. So saying I'm excited

00:49to have you, but also wanted to say welcome, John. I am. I'm glad to be here. I'm glad you're

00:54having me. I feel very grateful. Let's dig into the baseline of everything that I just

01:01unpacked for why I'm excited that you're on 10 Minute Talks. That being you're known as one of

01:06the best operators in this industry. When we were brainstorming this call, you were spitting out

01:10numbers that I can see really are creating that baseline success for you guys. So what stands out

01:16or can we dive into your model some and what's making your model successful at American Security

01:22Mortgage? Yeah, there's a lot of things, but at the core of it, we have four owners and then we

01:27have the loan officers. So within that, we do have teams. We don't have middle management. So what that

01:33creates for the loan officer is what we call LO to CEO. They can come directly to ownership to get a

01:39fast answer on a complex problem. Without having so much middle management or layers, we're also able

01:48to pay loan officers more, which empowers them to invest more within themselves. I think the other

01:55part of it is it's a little different is we push their brand. We don't push the American Security

02:00brand. We're not cheerleaders for us. We have several teams that honestly, people probably don't

02:06even know work for American Security. So we're very big on LO branding, team branding, and I think

02:12that's going to be a big deal in the future. That's what stood out to me when we were talking

02:17is the fact that you don't need to push your brand, that you're elevating their teams, but then also

02:23that you don't have that mid-level. It goes directly to the four founders. How is that being seen in the

02:30data and how your LOs are driving results? I think you and I talked some numbers beforehand, would love to

02:35share that now. When you take out some of those numbers or even the staffing, you guys are still

02:42originating and producing a lot. Yeah. So one, you have to get the right model match. I can't hire

02:48certain people. They've got to be self-sufficient. They need to know what they're doing. But when they

02:53slide into our model, they can operate at a very, very high level. So call it 62 to 65 loan officers

03:01will close about $1.4 billion with those guys. And this is a retail shop. We're not a consumer

03:06direct. We do it the old-fashioned way, calling on realtors, builders, working our database,

03:12circle of influence. So these guys operate at a high level and we're able to support that.

03:17Assuming we get the right person, we have to hire the right person.

03:21The right person, I think, is such a good call. And I know our listeners would probably love to know a

03:26little bit more there. How do you ensure when you're... I mean, talent and recruiting is a really big

03:30conversation. What does that look like in action to make sure you're getting the right person,

03:35whether that's a culture fit or even just that model fit we're talking about?

03:38Yeah. I have to know that they're good at sales and marketing and that they're able to drive the

03:43business in and that they know how to put deals together. They can't come in here and clog up the

03:48pipeline and pull down operational efficiency. Because when you run at this lean, it's kind of like a

03:55Ferrari engine. This thing's got to be hitting on all cylinders all the time. So it's a lot of

04:02looking at the data, maybe through Redder or MMI. And then it's also asking a lot of questions.

04:09We have to figure out, are they going to fit in with the team? And are they going to be able to

04:16execute given the tools that we're going to give them? So it's one, scoping the data. Two,

04:22it's asking a lot of questions. As someone who's on the news side, questions are valuable and

04:27questions are important. You mentioned that when people do come to one of the four owners,

04:32when they come to you, John, you guys are actually coming with real tangible solves that you can help

04:39them with that when it kind of comes to you, you guys are making an impact in those conversations of

04:43where they need support. So when you're running this lean, how do you guys approach building those

04:51habits and systems or the culture within this? How do you still, even if they're maybe they're

04:56branded on their own, operate as a unit that's growing or driving towards a mission?

05:01Yeah. So since there's four of us and my responsibility as a sales team, it's easier to

05:07do than it sounds because I am intimately involved with these guys. Like I've had a loan officer call me

05:12yesterday at five o'clock. I needed a price loan for them because they're on the way to their

05:16kid's ballgame. Most other owners aren't doing that. They don't know. I'm almost like a call it

05:24a super branch manager. So I'm so entrenched. It's easy to see. And you take that with the experience

05:31of that you've had over the years, plus the view that I get at the ownership level. It's really easy

05:36to help them scale business and put them in the right position.

05:41Yeah, that is huge. I think the fact that you can also price loan, you're in the weeds with them,

05:48that is unique about your model and stands out to me that you are just as in the weeds.

05:53Yes. I mean, some of the stuff I'm calling upset customers. I'm doing what branch managers did years

06:02ago. Well, how do you think that's going to be successful? I'm going to break this next question

06:07up into two because right now we're in August, even though we're just over half a year. I know

06:13a lot of us are looking at 2026, the year ahead, but still kind of looking at each month and how

06:18we're closing business. How do you think this model, your model, especially running lean and mean,

06:25taking away that middle section, how do you think that's such a key to being successful in the year

06:31ahead and how, and making your, you know, your model is key to sticking around in the future,

06:37given the market changes? Well, our model has been, the company was founded in 1999 by Phil Mahoney and

06:44Jim Abbott, and they built it that the model has been the same for that for, you know, 20, was that 25,

06:5026 years now? The other mortgage companies are moving to our model, lean and mean and trying to get

06:57rid of the fluff and they don't have a choice because the margins aren't there to support the

07:03business anymore. The consumer is different. That's one thing I see over and over. Not a lot

07:08of people talk about the consumer is very, very rate driven. They want communication on their terms.

07:14They don't have the loyalty that they used to have. They've been, I'll call it COVIDized or maybe Amazon

07:20effect. They want deals. They want communication on their terms. They want it fast. So those

07:27margins aren't coming back and companies are going to have to get skinnier to compete.

07:32How do you balance that with one key area of your success is being in the community. Connection

07:39is really important to you all. So is there something in your value proposition when you're

07:44talking to consumer where you still are offering competitive pricing, but also showing all the other

07:49value? How do you address what you just said, which is an issue in this industry? Borrowers are anchoring

07:56to COVID times. They rate shop more than ever. They're looking for a deal. So how do you approach

08:03that from a strategy perspective? You empower the loan officer. I mean, I'm not doing the loans,

08:10right? It's so you hire good people, you empower them, you give them all the tools and then they'll

08:15solve for it. So one of our keys to success isn't CRMs or AI. It's a lot of these top producers do events.

08:24They do blood drives. They do dog jogs. They do lunch and learns, wine and dines. They do all

08:32this stuff within the community because it helps them get seen and helps them get face to face with

08:37people. One of our biggest initiatives this year has been getting people to actually connect. People

08:43communicate more than they've ever communicated. You can communicate video, text, social media, but people

08:49don't connect like they used to connect. And connecting comes when you can get face to face and

08:53have a human conversation. Is there, I mean, when you look ahead for the next year, not a lot is

08:59probably changing in this space. Is there any other pieces of, I don't know if necessarily the word is

09:05advice, but how you're approaching the next year, strategies that you're bringing into how to not just

09:13stick around, but do well in 2026? Yeah. The connectivity piece is a big one. I would, I guess

09:19the advice I would give to others is one thing that we do well is we only track data and we only measure

09:29what we know we can execute on. And you can get all this reporting, especially with AI now, you can

09:35get all kinds of information, but if you can't execute on it, it really doesn't matter. So I would

09:41say pick one or two things, maybe three at the most and decide, track it and decide that that's where

09:49you're going with it. And just stick to that. Three's a lot. Everything you unpacked here, John, I think

09:54is a lot of really good, but just like tangible ways that people who are listening can see, here's how

10:02you're approaching the market, here, how you guys are saying focus. That's a very big theme in what

10:06I'm seeing you guys and how you're approaching 2026 and working together as a unit, even though

10:11you're only in a mean, you guys are very involved on the strategy. So thank you, John, for kind of

10:16giving us some of your inside story on what you guys are doing and hope to chat more. Thank you. I

10:22appreciate the opportunity.

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