00:00If anything, I would say that your tech stack not only needs to meet the needs of your sales
00:04teams today, but it even needs to meet the needs of the things they don't even know they want yet.
00:22Black Branch Home Loans is a residential mortgage banker. We got our start in the Midwest
00:27about 21 years ago. We were licensed in 40 states, and we've got brick and mortar in about 14 of
00:34those.
00:35We are a people-first organization that takes a very grassroots approach to the borrowers and
00:40referral partners that we serve in the communities that we live in. Hands down, our biggest asset,
00:45it's always our people. We are an ESOP, which means that every employee we have is a shareholder in
00:50the company, so they have a stake in the outcome. You really feel that in every transaction they're
00:56doing and how they show up to work, how they show up for our borrowers, and how they show up
01:01for each
01:01other. We are staying laser-focused on origination. Things are moving faster than ever, and sure,
01:11you've got to be able to adapt, but you also can't lose sight of the basics and what got us
01:16to where
01:16we are. So we are owning the narrative with our teams, making sure that they're part of the changes
01:23that are coming, but not losing sight of our culture and our core values that have made FlatBranch a
01:28success. So from a capital markets perspective, a key focus for us has always been to make sure that
01:33our sales teams have the right products for the communities that they serve. Years ago, we invested
01:38heavily in a down payment assistance program just for our own sales teams. And recently, in the last
01:43few years, we've really pushed heavily into the non-QM space, the one-time closed space, always making
01:49sure that the products that are available in market are also available here at FlatBranch to serve the
01:53communities that we are in. Partnerships are everything to us. Our company was built on
02:01partnerships, from the partnerships that we make, communities that we serve with our borrowers,
02:05our referral partners, to also our third-party partners that play such an important role in our
02:11success. So you've got to be able to have partners that can move at the speed the current market demands,
02:15while at the same time, you have to respect that the origination process, it does take time to evolve.
02:20For example, we recently signed up Poly as our new product and pricing engine. There were obvious
02:25wins there from speed, tech advancements, all those things, but none of that works without a vision and
02:30without the customer service behind it. Ultimately, we chose Poly because they were more than just the
02:35tool itself. Good technology is technology that our loan officers are actually going to use and
02:40and not run away from. And certainly, Poly was the right pick for us in that secondary space.
02:50For execution, that's really our X factor. Whether it's our marketing team, our in-house servicing,
02:54or hitting our closings, literally every single time when you give your sales teams a best-in-class
03:00loan origination platform, good things are going to happen. And I would say doing it efficiently,
03:04that's probably where we really shine. Our cost to originate alone is about 60% of the industry
03:10average. What that tells us is that every team member from top to bottom comes in and gets the
03:16job done. So for me, we're living in an age where information is available at all times,
03:20literally at your fingerprints. That's an amazing thing for us. We love our data,
03:24but our industry also loves our data too. The burden is using that data to actually get an
03:29national outcome because if you don't do it, your competitor is going to do it. Things like
03:34leveraging Poly to be able to create refi campaigns on your servicing portfolio, maybe using your CRM to
03:40create digital campaigns for your referral partners. These are a requirement to actually succeed in the
03:46industry that exists today. If anything, I would say that your tech stack not only needs to meet the
03:51needs of your sales teams today, but it even needs to meet the needs of the things they don't even
03:55know
03:55they want yet. Agility for us comes down to decision-making. Regarding technology, we bring
04:01our loan officers in early to start the discussion and we keep that door open with them. When we're
04:06looking at new technology and new vendors, we're doing it with one key question in mind. Does it improve
04:13the borrower experience? Does it improve our loan officer's experience? And if it doesn't do that, then we're
04:18not moving forward with them. And that's why we chose to move forward with Poly.
04:25So I would say embrace volatility. Don't try to fight it. Our clients, our referral partners,
04:30they need information to know what's going on and they look at Flat Branch. If you accept the
04:35volatility rather than to fight it, you're able to learn from it. You're able to educate others and
04:39then you're able to be the pillar in the community that we're trying to achieve day in and day out.
04:43The volatility only makes it more important. Our strategy isn't going to change with the market.
04:48We're going to be consistent in our mission and continue to invest in technology, but not at the
04:53expense of our people.
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