Scotsman Guide - October 2010 Residential Edition

“I haven’t found a lender like 360 in
a long time.”
—Lisa Ballentine, Cobalt Financial
Weiss-Malik stated, “We want our brokers to say, ‘The
loan closed on time because 360 did a great job of
setting my expectations and meeting the goals.’” This
attitude can be seen by the strong relationships 360
has been able to forge.
Lisa Ballentine, with San Diego-based Cobalt Financial,
the second largest mortgage broker in the United States,
concurred. She said that working with 360 is a refreshing
change from working with a lot of other lenders. “I
haven’t found a lender like 360 in a long time,” she said.
“I’ve worked with a lot of different lending institutions
throughout the years, and the past couple of years have
been extremely frustrating.”
Ballentine continued, “It’s almost like you have to
apologize for asking other lenders to do their job. I don’t
feel like I have to do that with 360.”
She’s been a long-time proponent of teamwork, and she
considers both her loan processor Mona Ide Lyons and
360 critical members of her team. Ballentine asserted,
“The stronger the team, the happier the customer is. If
you focus on the reason you’re in this business, and that
is to satisfy the customer, the more business you’ll get.”
According to Ballentine, 360 understands what her
customer needs, what she needs as the loan officer, and
what Lyons needs as the loan processor. Ballentine said,
“Mona was extremely happy from the first transaction
with 360. She couldn’t believe the difference 360 made
to the loan process.”
The key factors that are important to Ballentine and
Lyons include the simplicity of 360’s loan submission
process and the fact that they can always get a hold of
someone to get questions answered. Both Ballentine
and Lyons appreciate 360’s reasonable approach to
approvals and conditions.

the ideal mortgage broker for 360 is someone with
a high level of integrity and when originating a loan,
doesn’t just ask, “Can I get this loan funded?” They ask,
“Will this loan perform and will it help my reputation?”
Anny Havland and her husband, who co-own
Neighborhood Mortgage in Bellingham, Washington,
fit that description perfectly. Havland describes
Neighborhood Mortgage as a family-owned business
that treats its customers like family. Integrity and
quality are everything to her.
That approach to Neighborhood Mortgage’s business
has paid off, as evidenced by the company’s reputation.
The company, which started in 2004, was voted a 2006
and 2007 Small Business of the Year finalist by the
Bellingham Chamber of Commerce and voted 2006
Start Up Business of the Year by Northwest Business
Monthly Magazine.
Havland said that 360 helps her business stay on
top of things with advice and training. The company
has come to Neighborhood Mortgage’s office and
conducted training for the entire staff in person and
provides online video courses.
She appreciates the informative approach 360 offers.
She said that in an industry where everything is
changing rapidly, it’s difficult for anybody to keep up.
360 notifies her of industry changes along with what
impact it may have directly on her business.
What’s more, Havland said 360 utilizes technology to
assist brokers with the industry-required compliance.
Their understanding of compliance has greatly
simplified the broker process and following their online
system has made compliance virtually effortless.
Havland said, “360 has really neat tools on their
website that are innovative. You can click on your loan
application and view a timeline of every single stage.
So you know exactly when your file was uploaded.
You know exactly when your appraisal was scheduled
and performed. You know exactly when you got your
approval. You know the status of what’s happened and
when it happened with your file in real time.”
According to Greco, “Creating close partnerships with
intelligent brokers who are committed to the industry
long term is the foundation of our success.”
Clearly it’s a formula that’s working for 360’s business.
The company boasts a less than one percent default
rate for the loans they’ve funded over the past three
years, and its customer base has more than doubled in
the past 12 months.
“I absolutely consider 360 a partner.
It’s not just us out there on our own,
sink or swim.”
—Anny Havland,
Neighborhood Mortgage
From left: Mark Greco, President, and Andrew
Weiss-Malik, Chief Operating Officer, at 360.

Greco and Weiss-Malik use technology to improve
customer service.

Both men are committed to finding new ways to
streamline the loan process for brokers.
5
In-house appraisal management. 360 eliminated
the cumbersome usage of a third-party appraisal
management company, and now orders
all appraisals through their own approved
appraiser panel.
7
Paperless start to finish. Reducing costs in
shipping and paper results in overall better rates
to the broker.
6
Industry-exclusive website. State-of-the-art
technology written and developed in house.
360 is not subject to the restrictions of an
over-the-counter website system.
8
One of the prestigious lenders integrated with
Calyx Point. This integration allows brokers
to fully access 360’s web system without ever
leaving the Calyx Point software.