A survey of high-producing loan originators highlights what the group considers important when evaluating a potential lender for employment.
Among high-producing mortgage loan originators, 43 percent found their employers through a colleague who referred them to the company.
A quarter of the originators were recruited by their new employers, while 15 percent worked for a company that was involved in a merger.
Only 8 percent reached out to the new employer on their own initiative.
Those details were described in the 2016 Loan Officer
Recruitment and Retention Study from Floify LLC. While more than 13,000 originators were solicited for the study, the focus of the report was on just those who close at least $21 million annually. However, there was no indication about how many originators actually participated.
The most important characteristic that an originator considers when evaluating whether or not to join a company is if it supports high loan volumes and fast turn times.
Next, originators are concerned about whether technologies and systems at the prospective employer are scalable.
No. 3 is compensation, though originators with longer tenure attribute more of their
success to capturing loan volume than high commissions.
Fourth for the group is how much executive management is engaged.
“The awareness gap between loan officers and their executive management is widening, threatening the internal adoption of corporate systems and encouraging LOs use of 3rd party technology providers,” the report stated.
No. 5 was culture, with the report indicating that successful originators want to be on the same teams as other successful leaders.
In the sixth through 10th spots were culture, lender reputation, competitive rates and pricing, diverse loan products, training and mentorship, and marketing support.
Just 5 percent of loan officers say they are “very unsatisfied” with their current employer, and nearly a quarter indicated they are “somewhat satisfied.”
Seventy percent of loan originators with more than $100 million in annual production have at least a decade in the business.
Just 11 percent of the loan originators have only worked at a single lender during their career, while 9 percent worked at just two. Half of the group has worked at between three and five lenders.
Thirty-six percent of originators will only give their employer up to six months before they decide if the lender is a good fit. On the other hand, nearly a third will give their lender more than a year before drawing a conclusion.
