KickStart Program an Attractive Option for Bankers Aiming for Return to Independent Mortgage Broker Business

PLANO, Texas, March 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifteen new independent mortgage brokerage shops are now up and running with support from a $10,000 grant through the NAMB KickStart program. NAMB KickStart was launched in September 2016 by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) with initial financial support from United Wholesale Mortgage.

NAMB KickStart is designed to grow the mortgage broker channel by providing interested and qualified individual loan originators aspiring to open their own mortgage broker shops aspiring to open their own mortgage broker shops with up to $10,000 of grant funding to help with startup costs. Applicants are not required to pay back the funds.

"After mega banks pinned mortgage brokers as the scapegoats of the financial crisis in 2008, a large number of loan originators left these small shops to go work for the banks," said Mat Ishbia, President and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. "Now, a lot of those same loan originators want to go back to running their own broker shops, and we hope that NAMB KickStart gives them added motivation to make that jump."

In a survey that NAMB distributed to approximately 200 loan originators around the country, roughly 70% of respondents reported an interest in owning their own shop. In the same survey, 44% of respondents indicated money as their main barrier to opening their own business, but 60% said they would be more inclined to take the chance if given a grant.

Up until 2008, mortgage brokers made up nearly 33% of the mortgage market before declining drastically to around 6% following the crisis. It has since climbed past 12% and is trending upward.

"Regulations that were created following the crisis now have brokers and bankers on a level playing field. The advantages that broker shops have over bankers, with access to a wider variety of pricing and product options for their clients, is obvious," Ishbia said.

"Brokers are the channel that provides consumer education and availability to the underserved local markets that the big banks sometimes forget about, usually with better pricing and options," said NAMB immediate past president Rocke Andrews.

"KickStart gave me the opportunity to leave a megabank and be my own boss," said Dan Tran, a Massachusetts-based loan originator who left a retail bank to start his broker shop, Transcend Mortgage, Inc. after being awarded a $10,000 NAMB KickStart grant. "As a broker, I now have more control over the experience that I am able to provide to my clients. Applying for the grant was easy and it helped me to get my business up and running within just a few short months."

For more information on the NAMB KickStart program, or for loan originators interested in applying for funding, visit www.nambKickStart.com. 

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kickstart-program-an-attractive-option-for-bankers-aiming-for-return-to-independent-mortgage-broker-business-300425068.html

SOURCE National Association of Mortgage Brokers