Spouses Compete for Originations

With more married couples than one might find on the set of the Newlywed Game, a Miami, Fla.-based lender is finding that mortgages and marriages can go hand in hand. Many years ago, a psychic told Claudine Claus-Wheeler that she would meet and marry a man who worked in the same field as her — the mortgage industry. So it didn’t come as much of a shock when she ended up falling in love with a loan officer from a competing Savings and Loan company. Shortly thereafter, Todd Wheeler began working with his wife at her parent’s company, Home Financing Center in Coral Gables, Fla. “I was concerned with what would happen if it didn’t work out,” he said of the couple’s relationship. “If it didn’t, it might create animosity while working together.”

couples Wheeler & Claus

“But it did work out and it’s great,” Wheeler added. “I think it’s advantageous to work with your spouse. With everyone working so many hours these days it’s the only way to touch base and find out what’s going on.”Claus-Wheeler, co-CEO of Home Financing, said now that the roles have changed there is no competition between her and her husband, production manager of Home Financing’s Coral Gables office. “I find it enjoyable that we have so much in common,” she explained. “We can discuss the day’s events and understand each other’s situation.”

She said unlike the tension other couples experience when a spouse is working late hours, they understand the nature of the business; and they get to communicate during the workday as well, which relieves some of the strain. “When two people are working and have children, it’s a lot of work,” Claus-Wheeler said. “But when you are building a career together it takes some of the pressure off.”

“The only downside is that after a while you start taking it for granted that you see your spouse everyday,” she added. “You could say, ‘we haven’t talked all day’ and hear ‘I was with you all day, what do you mean?”

On the production side, Home Financing Center employs two other married couples that compete for sales production incentives, but Wheeler said it works out fine. “Nobody works as a team, everyone works individually,” he explained. “But since a husband and wife share finances they will help each other out when necessary.”

So, what does the company president think of mixing business with marriage and family?

Just ask Claus-Wheeler’s brother and partner, Terry Claus, Jr., co-CEO and President of Home Financing. But, don’t expect to get a biased answer — his wife works for Home Financing too.

Home Financing Center says it is a full service mortgage lender and has 60 mortgage employees working in five branch offices. The company, which also owns a title company and real estate office, says it is the largest independently owned and operated mortgage lender in South Florida.