5 Things Loan Officers Should Demand Before Switching Lenders

Loan officers switch mortgage lenders every year, and a lot of them end up with the same regrets.

They look for a lender that feels similar to what they already know because it’s comfortable, but comfort is exactly how you repeat the same problems in a new place. If you’re going to make a move, you need to be specific about what you’re looking for, even if it pulls you out of your comfort zone.

Here are the five things loan officers should demand before switching lenders.

1. Start with great interest rates, but don’t fall for the “recruiter rate” trap. Many companies make their pricing look better in the recruiting conversation than it looks in real life, and that lack of transparency will cost you deals. What you want is a lender that’s transparent with interest rates and margin on every file.

At NEXA Lending, loan officers can run loans on the broker path or on the warehouse line, and on both paths, they can see the exact margin made on every deal. Nothing is hidden. In many cases, the company makes very little, sometimes nothing, and pays the loan officer 100% of it. If you want a competitive advantage, you can sell a service and also sell at a great rate. Rates matter, and transparency matters more.

2. Low rates don’t help you if they come with low compensation. If your comp is light, you end up working twice as hard or three times as hard to make good money. A producing loan officer should not have to choose between serving the client and being paid correctly.

The question I hear is, “How can you have low rates and high compensation?” The answer is simple. The company has to make very little on the loans, and that’s the model at NEXA. The company makes a little on a lot of volume and pays loan officers up to 100% of the revenue generated on the loan, which allows both low rates and high comp at the same time.

3. You need business freedom. That means the company does not get in the way of you building your business your way, with your branding, your voice, your team, and the niches you want to pursue. Most companies say they support niche growth, but their product availability is limited once you get past the sales pitch.

At NEXA, loan officers build around very different strategies, from VA manual underwrites to DSCR investor loans, to commercial, to reverse mortgages. You may not care about those exact niches, but the point is that a lender should create an environment where you can build the business you want without being boxed in.

4. Look for a company with a long game plan, not a short-term vision. Short-term vision is how companies disappear. You’ve seen it with refinance-heavy strategies when refis dried up, and you’ll see it with other short-term plays unless companies truly pivot. A lender with a long-term plan invests in what helps you survive and thrive across markets.

One of the priorities at NEXA is investing heavily in technology, including AI, with more on the way that will impact how loan officers do business. A producing loan officer needs a platform that plans ahead, not reacts late.

5. Producer-minded leadership matters. Leadership sets the direction, the culture, and the decisions that affect your day-to-day reality as an originator.

At NEXA, the leadership approach is loan officer-centric and producer-driven, setting loan officers up for the greatest success. One example is compensation changes. NEXA has had multiple compensation changes, and the focus has been on improving outcomes for loan officers, not squeezing them.

If these five things resonate with you, and you want to talk through what your next move should look like, you can request a time to connect with me. My team will schedule a one-on-one Zoom, and we’ll walk through what you’re looking for and whether the model fits your goals. You can reach me at DJ@NEXAmortgage.com or visit DJChristofferson.com.

Remember: You don’t need a new logo; you need a better model.