Ameer Katifi wasn’t content to be a top loan officer for an established mortgage provider.
He wanted to strike out on his own, to start a new company and “build a legacy for myself.”
And he wanted his business to be like a family, where everyone gets treated how they want to be treated, with state-of-the-art technology in a supportive environment.
So in January, the 31-year-old Irvine native launched Trusted Mortgage Capital, a mortgage brokerage and loan origination business in Laguna Hills.
Depending on how you look at it, he either had lousy timing or is getting in on the ground floor of the next boom.
On the one hand, soaring interest rates throttled the mortgage business, causing home loan volume to plunge 71% in the first half of 2023 from the 2021 peak. But on the other hand, a wave of mortgage layoffs created a large pool of unemployed talent for Trusted Mortgage to tap.
“It’s all about the mindset you have going on. Even though the business went down by 70%, there’s still a lot of business out there,” said Katifi, Trusted Mortgage’s chief executive.
“In this type of environment, it’s really you building out your engine and sharpening your skill to be the best you’ve ever been,” he said. “And the best time to grow is when it’s slow. Once it’s busy, once the rates are low again, then it will be really hard to capture good talent.”
Trusted Mortgage Capital already scored big in one arena. Even though it’s just a year old, it ranked No. 1 in the small business category of the Orange County Register’s Top Workplaces program.
The selection is based on employee survey responses rating the company.
In one response, an anonymous employee said he or she loves the job because “of the potential to grow.”
The 40-employee company already is licensed to work in 17 states. As of October, license applications were pending in five others.
The firm is both a lender — originating its own home loans to borrowers — and a mortgage broker, acting like a matchmaker connecting customers to other lenders.
During the first 10 months of the year, Trusted Mortgage already had issued 81 loans totaling almost $30 million. That doesn’t include income from the mortgage brokerage side of the business.
Katifi said his company was on track to become profitable by the end of 2023.
The firm has just seven salaried employees and at least 19 loan officers who work on commission. Of those, three to five earn both a salary and commission.
The remaining 14 loan officers are independent contractors, depending solely on commissions. And the company is looking to hire more.
Half of the company’s 6,100-square-foot office is for future growth. The other half, with about 30 cubicles, is festooned with motivational posters, with slogans like, “The only time SUCCESS comes before WORK is in the dictionary.”
Liz Meza, Trusted Mortgage’s compliance manager, said loan officers can earn $3,500 to $50,000 a month.
What makes Trusted Mortgage unique, however, is the free package of services the company provides its loan officers, including marketing, loan processing, technology and lead generation.
“A lot of mortgage lenders and a lot of mortgage brokers have the independent model, which means you have to provide your own marketing, pay for your own processing, pay for everything yourself,” Katifi said. “The difference about us is we provide all that for our branch managers (and) our loan officers … so they don’t need any money out of pocket to be able to work as a mortgage loan originator.”
Katifi said Trusted Mortgage is big on marketing and big on training. New employees start out as junior loan officers, working under the tutelage of a senior loan officer for six months.
They get a week of training at the United Wholesale Mortgage’s headquarters in Pontiac, Mich., and the company gets them licensed.
There are weekly sales and training meetings as well.
“I’m constantly adapting to changes in the industry. I’m constantly updating our approach on how they should approach the clients,” Katifi said. “And just creating a fun environment where people want to come to the office where they don’t watch the clock.”
The company provides lunch every Friday, stages potlucks and celebrates all the major holidays. There are awards ceremonies recognizing the top producers.
The big question is how long can a new company hang on during one of the slowest housing markets on record.
Katifi feels confident that loan volume will pick up as soon as mortgage rates start to subside. A lot of borrowers have high-interest home equity loans. Once rates moderate, they will want to refinance, combining those second mortgages with their firsts.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Katifi said. “Diamonds form under pressure. We’ve got the marketing down. We’ve got the operations down. … There’s still people (who are) going to be buying and selling homes, having to move and needing to get second mortgages for some unexpected expenses.
“So we are here for a long time.”
Trusted Mortgage Capital
Founded: 2022
Headquarters: Laguna Hills
Industry: credit and finance
OC employees: 40
Website: trustedmortgagecapital.com/
Quote: “In this type of environment, it’s really you building out your engine and sharpening your skill to be the best you’ve ever been.” — Ameer Katifi, CEO of Trusted Mortgage Capital
