movement’s message, the need for an industry association
solely dedicated to independent mortgage brokers became
glaringly clear and quickly gave way to the official launch of
AIME in the spring of 2018. Now more than 35,000 members
strong, it represents the unified voice of mortgage brokers
and independent mortgage professionals and has proven very
difficult for wholesale lenders to ignore.
According to Casa, the platform is already in beta testing, and
all AIME Fuse attendees will be eligible to pilot it in November
and December. If all goes according to plan, it should be available
for widespread adoption by all AIME members in January 2019.
“This platform is everything any mortgage broker would
want,” Casa said. “It will automate the loan process, it has great
CRM, and mortgage brokers will be able to communicate with
each other. It will be a virtual community exclusive to mortgage
brokers. Think of it as a Facebook-inspired platform specifically
for our AIME members that will unite everyone and make
everyone stronger.”
Mat Ishbia, President and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage,
was an early supporter of AIME. Ishbia said his company has
always seen brokers as partners whose success he considers
crucial to his own. He thinks other lenders are coming to the
same conclusion.
Casa said the new platform is even better than the one his
company invested $1 million in creating just a few years ago.
Laura Brandao said it could be a sea change for independent
brokers.
“There has definitely been a shift in momentum with lenders
supporting the broker model, and that’s a credit to Anthony
Casa and the AIME team,” Ishbia said. “We definitely see that
happening, and the market is shifting as mortgage brokers are
growing stronger.”
“I have very high hopes for the project,” Brandao said. “It could
help bring our brokers to a level playing field with retailers and
will allow them to keep up and get ahead in the marketplace. I’m
sure a lot of the bigger call center model lenders are probably
pulling back on tech spending so this is the perfect timing to
bring this tech asset to brokers. The broker community needed
a leader to do this, and they got one in Anthony.”
Laura Brandao, President of American Financial Resources,
said the movement caught her attention early on because it
fit smoothly into her business model. She said large, national
wholesale lenders with bulky, slow corporate structures might
be slow to catch on—if they ever do. But everywhere she goes,
people in the mortgage industry are talking about AIME.
“AIME comes up in conversation with everyone I speak with,
from mortgage insurance people, AMCs, title companies, and
others,” Brandao said. “AIME fits into my 10-year plan and into
that of the industry. It will come out as a positive for everyone
as a whole. If you’re not evolving, you’re dying, and our industry
needs to evolve.”
Casa, the 33-year old who declared the revolution against the
old way of doing things, is helping lead the charge for industry
innovation in a big way. With more than 35,000 mortgage
brokers behind him, Casa partnered with several high-profile
tech companies to create an end-to-end digital mortgage
platform exclusively for independent mortgage brokers and
loan originators that he expects to cut the time and effort
needed to close a loan by at least 50 percent.
Jim Morrison was the kid who held the flashlight
and secured the bottom of the ladder for his
Dad during weekend projects. He was a second-
generation home inspector for 25 years; who held
a builder’s license for more than a decade; has
covered construction and real estate with a focus
on New England for many years, and has bought
and sold several homes. He is one of the few real
estate writers who know what the number 17 on a
framing square is used for. He is also the author
of the forthcoming book How to Buy a House
which will be published in 2019 by i30media.
More than that, the CRM component of the new platform will
allow brokers and loan originators to automatically stay in front
of their borrowers long after their loan is closed, the same way
that big national lenders do.
“This really is first-of-its-kind, best-in-class,” Casa said. “It’s
no longer David versus Goliath. Now you’ll have the technology
to stay in front of your customers and be able to compete with
big lenders. When everything is said and done, it will be equal to,
if not superior to, anything anyone else is using. There’s never
been anything like this, and it will strengthen our community of
independent mortgage professionals across the country.”
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