It’s hard to stand out in an industry like residential mortgage origination, where an abundance of lenders compete for the same customers. But some of last year’s top loan originators in New Hampshire credit their success to staying true to the basics, including excellent customer service.
The Warren Group, publisher of The Registry Review, has compiled from its proprietary loan originators module the top loan originators of 2018. The originators are ranked by number of loans, loan volume statewide and by region, and by the institution with which they are most closely affiliated.
Jay Vogel of Nashua-based Residential Mortgage Services led the state with more than $67.4 million in total loan volume.
To see the full list of the most productive loan originators in Massachusetts and each of its major regions, visit our Top Loan Originators special section!
Vogel said he does most of his lending in southern New Hampshire, where he thinks the market has been stable. He said 2018 was a bit of an off year compared to others due to a shortage of inventory, but that things are picking up as the spring real estate market heats up this year.
Homes are not staying on the market in southern New Hampshire, according to Vogel, particularly those within reach of first-time homebuyers. A good deal of buyers who work in Massachusetts are moving northward, taking advantage of cheaper home prices, a familiar trend that’s only accelerating as Boston home prices climb higher.
Massachusetts single-family home sales edged higher last month as the median sale price reached an all-time high of $377,000 for the month of March, according to The Warren Group, a 6.2 percent increase year-over-year. In New Hampshire, the March 2018 median single-family sale price was $245,000. The median price in March of this year was $269,533, a 10 percent increase year-over-year.
Vogel attributes many of his accomplishments to the simple concept of returning phone calls and requests in a timely manner.
“It floors me how frequently lenders don’t call people back,” he said. “My referral partners like to do business with me because I am responsive. In this industry, people want you to return their calls yesterday for preapproval and other inquiries. I’m a little OCD about that.”
Vogel added that a lot of loans he gets are from preapproval clients, some of whom report waiting two weeks or more to hear back from a bank.
Vogel suspects that lenders aren’t responsive for a few different reasons.
They may only be doing the job part-time, they may work at a credit union or bank that does not compensate their lenders on a commission basis or they may just lack an understanding about the importance of timeliness.
“To me to be in sales, which is what we are in, you don’t have to be salesy-type person, but you do have to have product intelligence and be in tune with what the customers wants,” Vogel said. “The customer wants answers very quickly. It astounds me that some lenders don’t get that.”
Vogel said he does his best to return all of his calls within three to four hours. If he can’t reach someone or does not have time, he at the very least will leave a message or send a text acknowledging their call and stating his plan to call them back or set up a time in the future to speak.
Just as Vogel puts an emphasis on getting in touch with people as soon as possible, Laurel Hansen, a lender at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, ensures that she stays with her clients from start to finish in the mortgage process.
Hansen successfully funded over $23.6 million in total loan volume in 2018, according to data from The Warren Group.
Hansen lends mainly from the Vermont border to the Manchester and Nashua areas, where people come for the beautiful scenery and relaxed quality of life.
“I’m the type of lender who does not let their customer go through the process alone. I lead them through, from beginning to end, and attend every closing to make sure I’m there to answer any last–minute questions,” she said. “I enjoy working with people and try hard to exceed their expectations. It’s so rewarding to see the big smile on a client’s face when the closing is complete, and they own a new home.”
