Hello, LOs!
Blake Bianchi has worked at a lot of places during his eight years in mortgage. He’s worked at nonbank mortgage lenders such as Caliber Home Loans and loanDepot, as well as broker shops such as Loan Factory and Great Rate Home Loans.
During the refi boom in 2020, he landed in loanDepot for a second time, the most recent stint as a branch manager. He helped build the Idaho outpost to about $300 million in origination volume, he said. But Bianchi was laid off in October 2021 when the market began to shrink.
Rather than try a new job position in a mortgage lender, he decided to take a different path: In January, Bianchi launched his brokerage in Boise, called Future Mortgage, after raising seed money with the Boise-based investment firm Capital Eleven.
“They’re investing a lot of money into local companies, I pitched my idea to them and we’re able to close the deal in two weeks,” Bianchi said.
“We make very little and give it back to our loan officers and clients,” he said. “The mortgage broker side doesn’t get that much recognition, but it’s a better platform.”
After being laid off, Bianchi is actively hiring professionals for his broker shop in all departments, including sales, operations, and software engineering. “We have 15 employees, but five more are coming on by the end of September. We have an offshore team for technology, but I want to bring it local.”
LOs, based on Bianchi’s example, I’d like to ask – have you considered launching a new mortgage business after being laid off? What are the pluses and minuses? Please share your thoughts with me at flavia@hwmedia.com.
Flávia Furlan Nunes
Mortgage Reporter, HousingWire
