Confessions of a Former Retail Lender: Why I Was a Salesman, Not a Loan Officer.

This is the first in a series I’m calling Confessions of a Former Retail Lender. More to follow, until my old companies ask me to stop…

I wasn’t really a “Loan Consultant.”

And I definitely wasn’t a “VP of Lending” — no matter what my business card said.

I was a salesman.

You have very little power to “consult” when your margin is set at 350–400 bps and you only see a third of it. And you’re certainly not a “VP” of anything if you have to ask someone for a pricing exception just to be competitive.

“Sell the rate.”

That phrase became nauseating. I heard it on repeat from VPs, sales managers, and coaches. But I wasn’t selling the rate. I was selling their rate. The rate that paid for their salaries, their assistants, their travel, and their perks.

So I quit.

And I became a broker.

Blake Hallum, Producing Branch Manager at BridgePoint Mortgage

NMLS# 1365524 425.760.2874 Blake@BridgePointMtg.com