By Beth McGuire
RE/MAX CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder Dave Liniger will announce today the launch of Motto Mortgage, an innovative mortgage brokerage franchise and the second member of the RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. family of brands.
Motto Mortgage will open mortgage franchises throughout the U.S., increasing competition in the industry and resulting in more choice and a better experience for consumers, the company states. Its loan originators will work with real estate offices so that agents can help homebuyers obtain the mortgage loans that best fit their individual needs.
“RE/MAX disrupted the real estate industry when it was created more than four decades ago. We did it by empowering real estate agents and ultimately giving consumers a better home-buying and -selling experience,” said Liniger at invitation-only gatherings of seasoned RE/MAX franchise owners in Dallas and Orlando. “The RE/MAX model remains unique and continues to thrive because we have the best agents in the business who deliver exceptional service. Today, we are extending our core competency of franchising into the mortgage origination market by introducing Motto Mortgage.”
In an interview with RISMedia, Liniger explained that Motto Mortgage is designed to bring mortgage business back to many local markets. “The big banks were too big to fail and got bailed out by the U.S. government,” he said. “The small mortgage brokers weren’t too big to fail, so they didn’t get any of the bailouts. This consolidated the U.S. into bigger and bigger banks. We’re going to take back some of that business and put it into the hands of the local broker/owners of mortgage and real estate firms who operate in the locations where they’re making the loans.”
Liniger emphasized that Motto Mortgage is focused on the consumer. “We obsess about ways to improve the real estate experience for the consumer,” he said. “We know that independent mortgage brokers’ share of the mortgage origination market dropped significantly following the economic downturn, falling from a 15-year average of 22 percent—with a high of 35 percent in 2006—to 10 percent in 2015. Mortgage brokers bring choice and service to the consumer and Motto Mortgage will work to expand the market share of mortgage brokers and bring better mortgage choice and service to consumers as a result.”
Motto Mortgage will inspire new specialists to join the profession by offering them tools, resources and a built-in relationship with a real estate brokerage, including direct access to agents, the company states.
“We look forward to the return of mortgage brokers and skilled loan originators to the market,” said newly named Motto Mortgage President Ward Morrison, who has been with RE/MAX, LLC for 11 years and most recently served as vice president, Region Operations and Business Opportunities. “Our priorities will be educating, training and supporting our franchisees so that they can provide exemplary customer service to their clients.”
Pairing a Motto Mortgage franchise with a real estate brokerage means homebuyers can work with a real estate agent to find a home and with a Motto Mortgage loan originator to secure financing in offices at one location. And Motto
From:: Finance and Economy
