Scotsman Guide - April 2012 Residential Edition

is the charm. And it felt a little like that for us, as for the third year in a row, Scotsman Guide ranked the nation’s top-producing mortgage professionals.

A record-setting number of mortgage brokers, bankers, originators and loan officers entered Scotsman Guide’s Top Originators 2011. With more than 800 entrants, the competition to make the final rankings was tougher than ever.

Of course, those working in the mortgage industry are used to tough times and stiff competition after the past few years. As the ranks of mortgage originators have thinned, those still working in the business know what it takes to survive despite a struggling economy and a struggling housing market. In some ways, it’s difficult to characterize 2011 for the mortgage industry. The refinance boom of 2010 carried over into this past year, and interest rates continued to set record lows, prompting many homeowners to refinance not just once, but multiple times. Foreclosures began to level off, but the purchase market remained weak. So what did the top originators in the business do?

You’ll find out on the next few pages. We are honored to present the top 200 originators by volume, the top 150 by loans closed, the top 75 by Federal Housing Administration (FHA) volume, the top 25 by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) volume, and the top 25 by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) volume, as well as top entrants by purchase volume, refinance volume and volume gain from the previous year.

From the more than 800 entrants, we have put together a bigger, more comprehensive list than even last year’s. And it remains the most solid, most accurate and most intensely verified ranking in the industry.

For many, the third time
Methodology

So how did the process work? To start, we accepted entries at scotsman guide.com between Jan. 4 and Jan. 31 — no later.

To be eligible for consideration, originators must have had at least $30 million in loan volume or 100 closed home loans in the 2011 calendar year. A key point: Only loans and volume that originators closed personally could be considered. That is, loans for which they shared commission with anyone else, such as a junior or associate originator or an assistant, could not apply to originators’ totals.

Next came the verification process. We requested 2011 production reports from all top entrants, in addition to written verification of their volume from a certified public accountant, the chief financial officer at their company or a similar source. This included a statement that no other originator received commission for these loans and that the numbers were accurate.

We checked this data against the original submissions and followed up where necessary. Only entrants whose data we could verify in this fashion made it to the final list.

The results

On the next few pages, you’ll find originators’ rankings in multiple categories. In addition to their volumes and other loan data, we list each person’s:

• • State: Location of the originator’s primary office;

• • Purchases• vs.• Refis: The percentage of the originator’s total loan volume (on the volume list) or closings (on the loans-closed list) that was for purchase loans compared to refinances;

• • Closing•Ratio: Called the “pull-through rate” by some, this refers to the percentage of loans an originator closed versus the applications taken. Some categories also include the closing ratio by loan type — FHA, purchases, refis, etc.;

• • Apps.•Taken: The percentage of loan applications that originators took personally. Some originators have assistants who take some initial applications — per our guidelines, though, we only could count loans that originators closed personally toward their 2011 production totals; and

• • Staff: The number of personal assistants for each originator. Again, only loans each originator closed personally applied to the originators’ 2011 production total.

In some cases, we accepted originators’ best estimates for their closing ratios. Although other company representatives submitted the initial information for some entrants, we have confirmed (and sometimes, re-confirmed) all the data that appear in these rankings. Also: Inclusion of any individual on this list does not constitute an endorsement of that individual by Scotsman Guide or Scotsman Guide Media.