Written By: Karen Deis, An Interview with Pat Fitzgerald, Prime Lending, TX Pat@PrimeLending.com. Loan Officer and Military Loan Expert - www.texas-vet-loans.com
For over 20 years, I’ve been preaching that the absolute best way to make money and insure that you get leads forever is by embracing a “lending niche”!
Since 2004, when everyone else was doing the easy, easy deals, Pat had just gotten into the mortgage business in San Antonio. Since there were 3 military bases in the area, he made the recession-proof decision to learn everything he could about VA loans, read the 1,500 pages underwriting manual and adopted a faking it until making it “attitude”.
And, because he only concentrates his marketing efforts and works with veterans, he has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, closing 263 loans last year and being named by the San Antonio Business Journal as the number one VA lender in closed transactions.
In this interview, Pat was kind enough to share his secrets with you and I. But, when you read this and how he does it, you can virtually substitute any niche you choose.
Karen: Pat, thanks for your willingness to share your strategies and I’ll start out by asking what you did before getting into the mortgage biz?
Pat: I was 55 years old, was in sales management for an auto parts manufacturing company, when I made the change. I’ve been specializing in VA loans for 6 years. I was lucky to work with an underwriter who was willing to answer my questions — and reading the VA manual—that’s what I think LOs need to do first — learn all the lending rules in their niche.
Karen: Is it tough to become a VA-approved lender?
Pat: No, it’s easy for mortgage companies to become a VA-approved lender. So many people are afraid of VA loans, including Realtors®, thinking that it’s some exotic loan program. I get 20% of my loans from active military and the rest from people who have been out of the military. You can do VA loans forever because there are veterans living everywhere.
Karen: What did you do first?
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