May 21, 2024 • 43 mins
To kick off Season 3 of Batting 1,000 with Dale Vermillion, Dale sits down with Hunter Strong, a top-performing Mortgage Loan Officer at FirstTrust Home Loans. During the conversation, Hunter shares his journey from aspiring pharmacist to professional baseball player, and finally to a mortgage industry leader closing over 40 loans per month. With a unique approach combining hard work, dedication, and strategic relationship-building, Hunter offers invaluable insights for anyone in the mortgage industry.
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In This Episode
From aspiring pharmacist to top-producer (starts at 1 min)
Hunter discusses his initial career aspirations and how he transitioned into the mortgage industry.
Learning from the lock desk (starts at 4 mins)
Hunter explains how starting on the lock desk set the foundation for his success as a Loan Officer.
Building a high-volume business online and off (starts at 15 mins)
Dale and Hunter discuss the strategies Hunter uses to drive so many units per month, including landing a huge referral source through Tik Tok and driving 5 hours in a day to meet with a single broker.
Building a highly specialized team (starts at 24 mins)
Hunter breaks down how he's structured his team to ensure each member fills a specialized role.
Learning it's not about rate (starts at 28 mins)
Dale and Hunter discuss how Hunter addresses clients' concerns about interest rates and why he's learned to focus on payment, not rate, when selling loans.
Hunter's top tips for closing more loans (starts at 32 mins)
Hunter unpacks his top advice for closing more loans, including the importance of playing to your strengths, treating clients with respect, and building trust with your customers and partners.
When failure's not an option (starts at 36 mins)
Hunter shares some of the lessons he's learned from his dad and mentor that have helped to drive his professional and personal success.
Resources
Schedule a call with Dale's team
Soundbites
- "You have to be the smartest person in the
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dale Vermillion (00:05):
All right.
Hello again, everybody.
And welcome to season three of battinga thousand, where we talk to the
heavy hitters in the mortgage market.
And I am super excited about, uh,the guests that we've got today.
Uh, you know, if youremember last year, we had.
We brought in Kara Whitman, who was aScotsman guide, top producer, um, as loan
officers go, who, uh, really did a greatjob and we got so much great feedback.
(00:28):
Well, I got a stud today that I'm goingto bring in by the name of Hunter Strong.
This kid is, uh,absolutely top performance.
He did 47 closed loans in themonth of February of this year.
He did 48.
Eight in March of thisyear, he is killing it.
He averaged over 20 loans a monthlast year in 2023, and he's pacing it
(00:49):
over 40 loans a month in, uh, 2024.
Uh, Hunter, welcome to the show.
We're so glad to have you.
Hunter Strong (00:56):
Yeah, thanks.
So happy to be here.
Dale Vermillion (00:59):
So I think your name is the perfect name as I've thought about it.
Hunter.
Strong, because in thisbusiness, you got to be a hunter.
If you're going to succeed in thedistributor retail world, and we're going
to talk about what you're doing as far asworking with agents and how you're getting
your business from a hunting standpoint,and I love the last name strong, as you
know, I'm good friends with your dad,uh, Glenn, who, uh, is, is, uh, one of
(01:20):
the well known and, uh, highly lauded andregarded people in the mortgage industry.
Um, he runs first trust homeloans, a good friend of mine
and good client for a long time.
So you've come up in that.
Family of the mortgage world.
I'm going to be curious to hear alittle bit about that, but, uh, tell
us a little bit about your background.
I, I know that you played college ball.
(01:40):
You actually played for the Kansas cityRoyals, uh, for a little bit for a year,
had some professional baseball background.
Uh, tell us a little bit about yourbackground and what got you into the
mortgage market in the first place.
Hunter Strong (01:52):
Yeah, for sure.
So I actually funny story.
I wanted to be a pharmacist when Iwent to college, um, got, uh, all
the way to microbiology was my last.
Elective before I couldget into pharmacy school.
Um, as you mentioned, big baseball guy,I played baseball at UCA and went to
the university of central Arkansas.
Um, my junior year kind of unexpected,not unexpected by my junior year, but
(02:15):
going into college pro ball, wasn'tnecessarily the plan, you know, um, but
really blew up and did really well and,uh, got a lot of scouts anyway, when I
got drafted, I, uh, obviously took thatopportunity, um, was super excited, but.
Kind of put a delay in thepharmacy school type things.
And so by the time I got done with that,I didn't want four more years of college.
(02:36):
Really my whole, I was ready to getinto the workforce, start a family,
you know, start making some moneyand, and all of those fun adult
things, I guess, as you would say.
Um, and so at that point Idouble majored in business.
Um, so I knew that, you know, my, likeyou mentioned my dad, Glenn Strong, he
runs first trust, um, first Arkansas fora long time, first trust, I think right
(02:56):
around the time that this was happening.
Is when they made that transitionto first trust because we
expanded to multiple states.
Um, and so I always knew that thatwas a good idea to, you know, I
had opportunities there wasn'treally sure what I would be doing.
Um, so once I was done with baseball,I went to him, said, Hey, I don't
think I want to go to pharmacy school.
I'm ready to just to start working.
You know, if you have anopportunity, I don't care what it is.
(03:17):
Maybe the janitor, you know, I don't care.
Um, and so I actually started asa loan closer so that when I came
into the company, I was a closer.
For my first year and a half, I justclosed loans, you know, got a lot of
really good time to learn the business,learn the back end of it, um, see how
things worked, getting to the closingtable, seeing all the fires and the
issues that everyone seemed to have,you know, so I learned a lot, um, uh,
(03:42):
that was invaluable, I think not goinginto sales for me, especially, um, I
think I would have really struggledif I would have started sales day one.
Um, I think starting there really, reallyset the, you know, the foundation for me
to, to be successful in where I'm at now.
Um, so did that for a year and a half,um, then kind of transitioned to our lot
desk or secondary market, um, ran thelot desk for the company for a year and
(04:05):
a half, um, and about six months in, Iwent ahead and got my license to be an LO.
Um, I really wanted to do that, but hedidn't need me to be an LO at the time.
He needed me to run the lot desk.
Um, but I went and didall of it on my own.
It was like, you know, just if, ifsomething comes up at great, but you
know, this lot desk is, you know,number one, that's what I'm running.
So.
(04:25):
And obviously during this time, whenI got licensed was the very end of 19,
didn't close a loan until January of 2020.
Well, luckily for me, I happened toget licensed right about the time that
it was probably the best time everto be a loan officer in our industry.
So, you know, come March,um, we got past all of that.
(04:46):
And when we thought the mortgageindustry might bust, um, the next
month we started, you know, hittingthe ground running and breaking records
and doing more business than ever.
Well, my, my business startedgrowing and growing and growing.
And finally I went into his officeand just said, Hey, listen, I think I
can do three X of what I'm doing now.
And at this point I was actually close.
(05:06):
This was after, this was 21, 22is why I became a full time LO.
That's when I transitioned.
So 21, I actually tied for the numberone LO in the company while running
the lot desk at the same time.
So, I mean, I was workingjust absurd hours, like trying
to keep up with everything.
And I was like, I put so much timeinto the lot desk, you know, if you
(05:27):
can just give me this opportunityto be an LO, like, I really think
I can take this to the next level.
And that's, so we decided to do that.
So 2022 is my first year that we did that.
And I think I hit 40 somethingmillion that year as my first
year in 22 when I really did it.
And then, like you said, lastyear we did, um, 53 million.
(05:47):
And then this year we'vedone about 25 through April.
So, um, things are stillgrowing, progressing every year.
We've progressed a little bit.
Um, and I think that's been themost fun and what I love, you
know, taking the competitivenessof baseball and sports and.
You know, the harder you work, you know,the more you do, the more rewards you get.
Right.
And it's the same thing for being an LO.
(06:08):
And I think that's reallyclicked for me a lot.
I enjoy what I'm doing right now.
Dale Vermillion (06:13):
I absolutely love that story.
It's so fun knowing your dadso well and his work ethic.
And I just see so much of, uh, ofhim and you, uh, and, and the fact
that you came into this business,did not start as a loan officer.
Took a low paying job just to learnthe business, build your way up
and transitioned out of 2021, thebest year in history into 2022
(06:37):
to become a loan officer, mostpeople wouldn't make that change.
And a lot of them thatdid have not succeeded.
And yet you have just thrivedfrom that point forward.
And I love your whole conceptabout the importance of work
ethic and all those things.
So let's unpack some of thosethings, because you just said so
many important things in therethat I want to key in on it.
And let's start with the first thing.
You started as a closer,you moved to the lock desk.
(06:58):
You were doing record production withinthe lock desk when you were doing that.
And it allowed you tomove into that business.
We're going to get into the highproduction because I know that's what
everybody wants to hear is how areyou creating this high production?
But before we get into that, I want tohear from you a little bit more about
how understanding the backside of thebusiness really has Kind of formed
(07:20):
and trained and changed the way youview applications and quality and,
and conversations with your customers.
Because what I see a lot about theretoday, you know, all the years that I
managed salespeople and all the companiesthat I've trained, I've always said, the
best thing you could ever do with youremployees is cross train them, let loan
officers spend time on a processor's deskand an underwriter's desk and a closer's
(07:45):
desk to understand the ramifications.
How has that.
Coming into the business on the backside,forge your thought process as it regards
to quality on the origination side.
Hunter Strong (07:59):
Like I said, it was, it was truly invaluable,
um, for a couple of reasons.
I would say one, absolutely quality,you know, getting understanding how
important the very first time youtake the app, asking those questions,
how important it is to get theinformation that you need, because.
You know that in 30 days, if youdon't do this right, it's just going
to be an absolute firestorm, right?
(08:21):
Um, and every little detail matters.
Um, and as you said, through eachprocess, you know, the best you
can do, you know, the file can'tbe good when it starts as bad.
It's only as good as it starts.
You know, as we know, there's a lotof people in the transaction that
help us get to the closing table.
It's not just the LO.
Um, but if, if it's, it's up toyou, I mean, it's, it's, you, you
(08:41):
have to take ownership of the file.
Um, and so if you sit there and doit, you know, halfway, you can't
expect the processor to take it anyother way than halfway, and then the
whole deal is done the wrong way.
Um, and then I think the other part ofit that really was important was, you
know, always was told you have to be thesmartest person in the transaction, right?
You have to be the smartest personin the transaction, whether that's
(09:02):
the real estate agent, the borrower,the customer, the listing agent,
anyone in the transaction, there'sanother lender on another deal, got
to be smarter than them, right, youhave to be able to take that control.
And the more control you have, themore knowledge you have, you know,
the more confidence you will haveand confidence that you can instill
in the people in the transaction andcreate that level of trust with them.
(09:24):
Um, because the more trust you havewithin the transaction, anytime that
something goes wrong or awry or, youknow, out of the ordinary, instead of
everyone panicking and doing backflipsand, you know, calling you and.
Panicking.
They're going to call and justsay, Hey, what's going on?
You tell them, and then you moveon, you find a way to fix it.
And the, the less trust you have,the more of those fires feel on
(09:45):
your shoulders and everyone else.
So, um, I think it's just the confidenceof understanding everything from how
the closing disclosure is preparedto how the package is prepared.
And, you know, people will ask mequestions that I know the log desk,
the secondary market, how, how all ofthese things work, you know, and it's.
That knowledge.
As a combined gives me so much confidence,you know, when I'm talking to people
(10:08):
when they ask me questions, and I canpretty much answer about any questions
someone asked me that allows me to beconfident with anyone I talk to you.
And I think when you have that level ofconfidence to you, when you speak with
people, that makes them think, okay,this guy knows what he's talking about.
He's going to take care of this.
If there's an issue, he'll,he'll find a way to fix it and
we'll get the still closed.
And once you get that trust off yourback, people just, you know, you just
(10:30):
roll them out, you know, at that point.
So I think that's the other part of it.
It's just.
The more knowledge you can have, themore confidence you can have, and the
more trust you can build with everyone.
And that's, I think, why it was soimportant to not start straight out
in sales and run around and say,Hey, send me a deal and not know.
And for some people that works great.
You know, I think it'sa personality thing too.
For me, I'm not just a hugeoutgoing personality by any
(10:54):
means, you know, but I've beensuccessful still in a sales role.
Um, I don't view it as a sales role.
I think that's what's helped me.
You know, I view it as peoplecome to me looking for a solution
with their problem and it's justmy job to give them a solution.
Um, it's not my job tosell them on something.
They want a mortgage.
You know, the realtorwants the deal to close.
They want someone, the realtors wantsomeone to help you get deals closed.
(11:16):
You don't have to sell yourselfor your company or anything.
You just have to show them thatyou're an asset and you can
solve these problems for them.
And then you show them that andthen they'll keep coming back.
Dale Vermillion (11:28):
All right.
Well, I've been doing this for along time, as you know, Hunter.
And I got to tell you for a 27 yearold guy, you had enough wisdom.
You could be my age.
That was pure gold.
That was absolutely pure gold.
You said four things that I haveabsolutely believed and taught forever.
That I love that you said, number one.
You're doing very high quantity ofloans, but your focus is quality first.
(11:51):
And this is a message that loan officersneed to understand and need to hear from
somebody other than Dale Vermillion.
I'm so glad that you're tellingpeople this message that if
you do it right the first time.
Then you're not dealing with allthe problems, the second, third, and
fourth time that drag you away fromthe ability to create more business.
And you actually do more quantitywhen you have better quality.
(12:15):
And then you talked about theimportance of being the smartest
person in the transaction knowledge,have a knowledge of your market,
have a knowledge of your partners,have a knowledge of your products.
Those things are absolutely critical,but also have a knowledge of the process,
knowing what happens so that you canprepare your clients and your partners
for that, And then you talked about theimportance of having that trust with
the clients, building that trust sothat they know that, look, if I give a
(12:37):
deal to Hunter, it's going to get done.
And I know that's the reputationyou guys have created.
That's what you stand on at First Trust.
And I know you as an individual loanofficer, I heard you, you know, I
had the benefit yesterday of beingin Little Rock with you and the whole
team for you guys annual conference andgot to listen to you talk on a panel
where you talked about some of thesethings and the importance of those.
(12:57):
I think what you just.
Just laid out right.
There is such gold for loan officers tounderstand that you don't need to rush.
You don't need to do it sloppy.
You need to do it right.
And you need to know your business.
You need to be the person that ispolished when you get on the phone.
So people can trust you havefaith in you and do a good job.
(13:19):
I just absolutely love that.
Now, let me ask you this questionbecause yeah, You mentioned some
of the numbers that you did.
You did 53 million last year.
How many, how much was it in2022, the year before that?
Hunter Strong (13:32):
It was in the forties, 40, I wanna say 47.
I believe it was 47.
Dale Vermillion (13:36):
Yeah, it, it sounds like you're tracking at about 75
million to a hundred million this year.
What's your average loan size?
'cause I know you guys don't have hugeaverage loan sizes where you're at.
What's your average loan size on a loan?
Hunter Strong (13:48):
Well, that's our joke in the office right now.
It just keeps going down.
Um, but I believe last year was aroundtwo 20, um, something like that.
I think this year we're closerto one 80, one 90 right now
through this year as an average.
So,
Dale Vermillion (14:03):
yeah, I wanted to clarify that for the audience because
those units you're doing are massive.
50 units a month is in the top echelonin the industry, but I'm sure some
people were like, even though 40 millionand 50 million even to any market.
Those are big numbers.
When you actually take those averagesfrom where you guys are at in Arkansas
(14:24):
and you put those on a national scalewhere the average loan is closer to
400,000, you almost double that number.
So your 50 million is a normalloan officer's, a hundred million.
If you do 75 or a hundred millionthis year, that's 150 to 200
million in the normal market.
So that any originatorswatch this be like.
Oh my gosh, these are massivenumbers we're talking about.
(14:45):
So now let's talk about how you'regetting those massive numbers.
Let's begin with who you're working with.
What are you doing froman origination standpoint?
The hunter piece of it, ifI can use that terminology.
What are you doing today that is creatingall of the opportunities for you?
Walk us through that.
Hunter Strong (15:04):
Well, I mean, I think, you know, Rome wasn't built in a day.
As we just said, we've gotten hereover a two or three year period.
So I'm not going to say that what I'mdoing today, if you go out tomorrow,
you're going to get to 48 loans a month.
You know, it takes time.
Um, but you know, it's, it's starting.
I started as simple asjust who I knew, right.
(15:26):
And you know, a lot more peoplethan you think, you know, and that
sounds pretty obvious, but I thinkit's, some people don't realize that,
Voice Over (15:32):
you
Hunter Strong (15:32):
know, there's so many sources of business other than realtors.
And my biggest sourceof business is realtors.
So that's obviously, I wouldsay, number one, there's so many
sources, title companies, attorneys,you know, all of these people,
um, investment professionals.
I've gotten a lot of deals fromdifferent investment professionals
that I've known or friends haveknown, you know, I've asked people,
you know, you know, More people whomight have investment professionals,
(15:55):
you know, Hey, who do you use?
You know, do you like them?
Would you mind settingup a meeting, you know?
And so I just started really simple andjust started finding different ways to
get my name out there as a loan officerand having a conversation with someone
and then being, you know, like I said,being confident, showing your value,
showing why you, I could be a goodresource for them to send their client.
(16:18):
You know, whether it's my company,whether it's me, a mixture of our
products, you know, just our abilityto handle certain things that other
people can't and just creating thatmultitude of places that it can come from.
You know, um, that'sreally where I started.
And then just calling and meetingand calling and meeting, calling and
meeting people, um, over and over again.
(16:40):
Um, I, a lot of my business is notwithin a 50 mile radius of where I am.
Um, that was one of the things thatwe talked about on the panel was.
Um, and we live in a small communityin a small town and we, our,
our company is based off local.
I mean, that's what we sell.
And that's what we believe in.
We go in the communities thateach of our branches are in.
We invest in those communities and we'revery proud of that and very thankful
(17:03):
for the communities and give back.
You know, that's what we love to do.
And I love the town that I'm from.
Um, but if I would have, you know, what'sthe word I'm looking for, if I would
have tried to, you know, survive offjust 30 mile race that I'm in, I would,
and I wouldn't have done a 10th of thebusiness that I would have done if I
would have only wanted to stay in my area.
Voice Over (17:24):
Right.
And
Hunter Strong (17:24):
so I went out and found, you know, for me, it was baseball.
You know, I knew a lot ofguys that were just graduating
that I played baseball with.
That we're moving intocommunities and becoming coaches.
That was a, that's a pretty common thingfor my teammates as they became coaches
in high schools, all throughout the state.
Um, and then, you know, it's, you know,going to them and, and calling and
saying, Hey, are you buying a home?
(17:44):
Getting their loans, getting in withthe realtor that they are with, and
then following up with that realtor overand over again, and they're like, well,
you're in Sheridan, I'm in West Memphis,Arkansas, you know, that's three hours
away and I'm like, it doesn't matter.
Here's all the things that I can do.
Are you working with someonethat can do that right now?
They're like, no.
And I said, how was this transaction?
You know, how did it go?
Well, you closed it and you know, 20something days with our, our people
(18:07):
that we're used to working with, they,they can't close this type of deal in
35 days, you know, this was amazing.
Can I introduce you to my broker?
Absolutely.
Let's set up a meeting.
I'll, I'll drive over there tomorrow.
I'll drive two and a half hourstomorrow and meet with you guys.
And I did, I went and met with themand it just took off from there.
Um, so, you know, just.
Geography and distance can't limit you.
(18:28):
Um, and then investorsare a big thing right now.
That's kind of what's taken usfrom the 20th to 40 ish a month.
Um, and as crazy as thissounds, I found that on Tik TOK.
So, um, got on Tik TOK.
I follow a bunch of real estate stuff,Facebook, Instagram, I don't know how that
works, but whatever you're into is what'sgoing to show up on your feed every day.
As everybody knows.
(18:50):
Um, so for me, it's real estateand mortgages and things like that.
And there's this guy that's a, a sellingguru that does section eight investing,
and he gets people in and he keeps saying,I have the best private lenders, have the
best private lenders to get you financing.
And so I just DM him and said,Hey, who's your private lenders?
You know, that are the best.
And he's like, well, do you wantto be a part of the program?
(19:11):
I said, well, I can get on a call.
So we got on a call and I, youknow, zoom just like this, me
and him, he's in California.
Um, told him what we could do and hisentire business models in the midst,
the Mid South Midwest, because theproperties are a little more affordable.
And so for cash flow purposes,it makes the most sense to
be right where I'm sitting.
And so I explained how we haveall of these markets in these, in
(19:33):
these states surrounding this area.
Um, and how we have the relationshipsalready with title companies
and realtors, which is all true.
Um, and he said, man, this is awesome.
I'm adding you right now,adding me to his list.
He's got 2000 students.
And I'm the number one LO on that.
And it's just, I mean, my phone blowsup every day from just investors
wanting to buy into Mid South.
(19:53):
So, um, it's just, it's just findingcreative ways to ask and, and put
yourself out there and I've beentold no way more than I've been told.
Yes, but you don't have to be told yesmore than you're told no to be successful.
Dale Vermillion (20:07):
Kinda like batting averages, right?
If you, if, if you hit that.
I was about to say, yeah.
Yeah.
If you hit three out of 10,you're in the Hall of Fame.
That's all it is.
I mean, you could fail 70% of thetime and make the Hall of Fame.
Hunter Strong (20:17):
Yeah.
It helped coming from baseball,you know, game of failure.
Um, like you said, you fail 70% of thetime and you're considered really good.
I'm like, gosh, you ask a thousandpeople to send you a deal and 20%
of 'em say yes, you had a good year.
You know?
So that's kind of how I took it.
And then obviously I'm notasking quite as much now.
That's our next phase.
Um, we just added another LOAon and she's amazing and really
(20:41):
helped transition from 20 to 40.
Cause obviously that's just double, youknow, and triple the total amount of acid
are coming in versus also what's closing.
So growing that organicallyand then just continue to grow.
So getting it to where I can keepthat quality that we talked about
before I go and try and go get more.
Um, I don't want to go and ask moreif I don't feel like I can give each
(21:03):
borrower the quality they deserve either.
Cause that's still themost important thing to me.
Um, and the realtors as well thatwork with me, you know, when I
send a pre approval, I have tobe able to stand behind them.
Well, I have to have the time to do that.
You know, um, that's, that's so important.
You know, everyone asks me thatif they haven't worked with me,
you know, is this a prequal?
Is this a pre approval?
I'm like, we don't do prequals.
(21:24):
We do pre approvals.
Um, I've verified the income.
I don't, I'm not saying I have anentire file before a pre approval.
Everything's got to be quick.
But I'm not sending a preapproval.
If I haven't at least seen paystubs,I mean, I'm just not doing it.
Um, I don't care how rushed they are.
I said, tell, I'll call them.
I'll tell the realtors,send me the paystubs.
If it all, everything elselines up, I'll send it.
But I have to have that, that confidence,that trust with these people, um, with
(21:50):
the realtors, especially because, youknow, the transact, the borrower is
extremely important, but they're probablyone transaction that realtor is where.
It keeps coming.
So you can't, you know, riskone transaction to, to, to
mess up that reputation.
Um, so that's kind of the nextphase is just making sure we feel
confident and with this big bumpthat we've had to keep that quality.
(22:11):
And then we'll go out and keep findingcreative ways to ask for more business.
Dale Vermillion (22:14):
I love it.
So a couple, a couple of thingsI want to key in on what you said
there that were super powerful again.
Uh, first off, I love the factthat you said, I don't do prequels.
I only do pre approvals,something I've taught forever.
The realtors don't wantprequalifications and the borrower
should never get a prequalificationbecause it, it isn't accurate.
You're, you're, you're settingthem up for failure and you're
setting your partnership up forpotential problems by doing that.
(22:38):
Because if you tell a realtor, thisis what this person can qualify for.
And then you find out when youget the docs, they can't qualify.
You've lost that realtor for life andeverybody they would have referred to you.
So a lot of wisdom in that tomake sure that we're getting docs
and we're not running ahead ofourselves and you do find it.
But I loved your whole statementabout do not let distance in
(22:58):
geography, keep you from succeeding.
The fact that you're working inArkansas with one of the top investor
teachers in the country in California.
And I just love that you just We'rebrave enough to just contact him.
There's so many loan officersacross the nation would be super
intimidated by that and be like,Oh, I can't reach out to that guy.
(23:19):
He just said, he's gotthe best lenders instead.
You're like, well, let me hear who theseare because I think I'm better than them.
We have to have this inherent belief thatwe can bring the best to our clients.
If we don't have that, whyare we in this business?
Why are we doing anything?
So I love how you talked about thosetwo things and the impact of that.
(23:40):
And I agree with you.
Investors are a greatopportunity out there.
I love how you went afterthe baseball community.
You stuck in the community thatyou knew you were in to build
some inroads for opportunities.
These are just brilliant thingsthat bring a lot of business about.
I so appreciate thosethoughts that you brought.
Let's talk a little bit about yourteam because you mentioned your LOA.
(24:01):
Talk about the structure of your teamand how you work with your team to do
the kind of volume you're doing today.
Hunter Strong (24:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, so we, I have had an LOA since 2022.
I got one in the middle of 22 is whenI got one as things were progressing
and building, um, just had one LOA.
And then the way my company is structured,we have a processor and an underwriter.
Um, actually back then we, that thosewould mix a little, um, you generally
(24:30):
have the same ones, but it wouldmix, um, as we grew and grew and
I've gotten my consistent production.
I've now have my own, I actually havetwo processors now that do my team.
So we have two processors.
I have one underwriter for every deal,which is super convenient because
we all know how each other works.
Um, and then I have two LOAs.
(24:51):
So my first LOA is Camden.
She is more of the true, um, sales side.
So she's helping withonly front end stuff.
So apps coming in.
Um, I'll review them, but if, you know,if something comes in, she might get
the file cleaned up and then I'll makethat initial call, something like that.
Um, she also helps with marketing,um, keeping up with numbers as
(25:13):
far as which realtors have sent methis, who do I need to reach out to?
Um, You know, who have we notgotten a deal from in a few
months that sent us 30 last year?
You know what's going on?
Is it because they don't like us anymore?
Is it because they're slow, right?
She's all that son.
She is not as soon as the file is active.
She has no idea what's going onShe's never in the file one time.
She's only on front end marketingthings like that Um, and then
(25:36):
brandy is the newest hire andshe's been she's a rock star.
loa for 20 years I think Couldbe an underwriter, could be a
processor, could be a loan officer.
I mean, she's just, she's, she'sgot that factor and she's been huge.
Um, she takes over thefile when it's active.
So she has no idea what's going on.
She does nothing with preapprovals, nothing with
(25:56):
sales, nothing with marketing.
She takes over the file.
We send it in once weget the contract active.
She's going to get it cleaned upbefore it goes to the processor.
She will reach out to the borrowerat that point, if there's anything
needed or updated, like a new bankstatement, something like that.
And she's trying to get that fileready for underwriting before
it even goes to the processor.
(26:17):
Um, so she gets that superclean, gets it to the processor.
They do their processing things withtitle, you know, whatever's left
and then goes to the underwriter.
And then Brandy helps managethe active pipeline for me.
Um, so she has calls oncea week with the processor.
Helping in, you know, what's neededon these files that are active.
She's taking that role of makingsure everything's online and on time.
(26:39):
And then I step in, obviously, ifthere's ever a major issue with the file.
Um, or, or they can't get adocument from someone and they've
asked three times or something.
So that's the main structure that we have.
Dale Vermillion (26:50):
So two things you said in there that I thought
were critically important.
One was, uh, you said that you initiateevery one of those calls with the
borrowers, which I love because you'rethe guy you're, you know, the mistake
I see a lot of times that more thatloan originators will make is they'll,
they'll go work with the realtors.
Tell them, Hey, I'm Iwant you to work with me.
(27:11):
I want your business.
I want to help you.
And then when they refera customer in, guess what?
They don't even get that person.
They get somebody else and thenthere's a letdown for the realtor.
They're not getting the person theythought they were going to get.
I love the fact that youinitiate those conversations.
But then you talked about specialization,which I preach all the time.
And that is each one of your Peoplehave a completely different and defined
(27:34):
role that complements each other.
They're not overlapping.
They're, they're notgetting in each other's way.
They're, they're not reviewing things thathave already been done that somebody else
did that creates duplication of effort.
That's the way a system should bebuilt for efficiency so that you've
got a process in place where everybodyknows what it is you're supposed to do.
(27:55):
They do it and they move thefile up to the next level.
That's, that's the wayprocess should work.
And clearly based on the numbers you'redoing, those things are happening.
What are some of the.
Uh, in today's marketplace with someof the challenge of things like rates,
let's talk about rate for a minute,because, you know, you've heard me
talk about this a million times.
Our rate doesn't matter.
(28:16):
Everybody makes a big deal about rate.
Clearly it doesn't seem to affect you abit because it's not slowing you down.
You're speeding up, not slowing down.
Tell me why rates not a big dealto you, because I know it's not.
We've, we've, we'vetalked about this before.
Tell me why, tell me how you're movingthrough this rate market and it's not
affecting you one bit in your mindset.
Hunter Strong (28:36):
Yeah.
And I'll say this, um, when Istarted, all it was about was rate.
So it was even, I think abigger transition for me.
When I started the rates were 3%, 2%.
So every time someone called me, thefirst question was, is the rate 2%?
And I'm like, yeah.
And they're like, Oh, this is great.
You know, this is amazing.
Or I'm calling refinancesand, and the rates are good.
(28:57):
So for me, when I started, itwas about when I started my
business, that's all it was.
But then.
When you go from 2% to 6%, you can'ttalk about rate and get a deal , right?
So it was a big adaptation,you know, adapt or die.
Um, and that's what it was.
And it was, um, so what I startedlearning what I figured out just by
talking to people and talking to people,they don't care what their rate is.
(29:19):
And, and once I figuredthis out, it was easy.
Um, they just care what,what their payment is, right?
I mean, that's what they're asking you.
What's the rate or what's this?
Or how much can I afford?
They don't care if you tell'em it's 300,000 or 200,000.
It doesn't matter.
It's how much paymentcan you afford a month?
So I just broke it down really simply.
Every time, one of the first questionsI ask when I take an application, no
(29:40):
matter what they tell me, they'll tellme, well, we want a 300, 000 house.
Okay, where do you want your payments?
Oh, we want, if the rate's not, um,below 7%, we're just not going to buy.
Say, okay, well, whatcan you pay per month?
I don't even answer thequestion that they're asking.
I need to know, what are youwilling to pay per month?
And you know what they do?
They answer.
(30:01):
You have to have a housing.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Okay.
We want to pay 1800 a month.
Okay.
So you're going to be at 220, 000.
Can you find a house at 220?
Uh, yeah, we saw one.
Oh, okay.
Well, let's, let's finish the application.
You know, we'll get you, we'll see ifwe can get you pre approved for that.
Um, I had someone last week say if therate's over 7%, we're not going to buy it.
(30:23):
I said, well, what can, whatare you guys paying in rent?
They pay 2000.
I said, well, how muchcould you pay on a mortgage?
And they said 2, 500 is what they'll pay.
And I said, okay, what three, Ithink it was like 300, 000 house.
Your payment's going to be lessthan 2, 500 with their down payment.
They're putting down.
They're like, oh, really?
Okay.
I was like, yeah, so doyou still want to do it?
And they said, yeah, theyforgot about the rate.
(30:44):
So, I mean, it's, it's simplified.
There's always going to be rate shoppers.
There's always going to be people thatsay, I don't care what you tell me.
But 98%, I would say 98 percent ofpeople, if you just steer the conversation
to how much can you pay per month,You're you've, you've, you've fixed it.
(31:05):
You fix the issue of ratebecause that's really the issue.
I've, I've had that conversationwith someone when they said,
well, the rate 7%, I can't do it.
I said, well, if the rate was2%, but the payment was 5, 000,
would you make the payment?
They said, no, I said, okay,
so that was the big shift for me.
You know, 21 to 22, you know, gettinginto straight LO going from it being
(31:29):
easier than anything to say, Oh, you know,your rates 3 percent or your rates 2%.
And they said, okay, great.
You know, I completely that's, Iregurgitated that hundreds of times.
And then I started realizingwhen I said your rates 4%.
4.
5%, 5%, 5.
5%, 6%.
Dale Vermillion (31:46):
They're not so happy.
Hunter Strong (31:48):
That didn't work.
Yeah.
That didn't work.
Um, and that's what's so funny too.
I tell people this, you know, that askedme, you know, what about the rates?
I said, people were mad whenthe rates were three and a half.
They were mad when they were four.
They were mad when they were five.
They're seven now.
They would go back to people thattold it when they did ask what the
rate was and told us we were crazy.
They would love for those rates now.
People are never goingto be happy with rates.
(32:09):
You can't sell on rate or noone's ever going to be happy.
I remember people tellingme when I told them 2.
5 that they heard that they could get 2.
3.
I mean, that's just human nature.
That's just human nature.
So you can't worry about the rate.
You got to figure out, like I said.
Everyone's got a problem.
You have to be thesolution to the problem.
The problem isn't the rate.
The problem is what can they affordand what can their family afford so
(32:30):
they can have the house they want,but also be able to pay for that
house, you know, and have a life.
And if you can just connect those dots,you're going to get a lot of business.
Dale Vermillion (32:39):
Awesome.
Hunter Strong (32:39):
Love it.
Dale Vermillion (32:41):
So if you were to give the audience, uh, your best tip.
The thing that you think is mostimportant from your perspective
to succeed in today's marketplace.
And it may be a couple of things.
What, what would that be?
Hunter Strong (32:57):
I think for me, what has worked for me the most
is I'll answer this kind of thesame way, but first be yourself.
Um, I think people can tell if you're notyourself, if you are not a sales, like
me, I'm not going to come in and, youknow, sell someone a pin like the wolf of
wall street, that's not my personality.
Right.
I'm a genuine person.
(33:18):
I like to help.
So I go and tell peoplethat's what I like to do.
I'm not saying thatsalesy people are wrong.
Some people have amazingsalesy personality.
Well, then play off that strength.
I think you have to be who you are,play to your strengths, and then figure
out the people in the marketplace thatthat fits with, you know, my personality
and my strengths might not fit up with.
(33:39):
Certain, you know, realtorsand certain business, you know,
portfolios that they work with, butfor others, it works wonderfully.
So I'm not going for thepeople that I know my strengths
aren't going to fit with.
I think that's the case.
And then just treat every singleperson in the transaction.
Like you treat your family.
Um, I think if you treat people withrespect and just be kind and be patient,
(34:05):
if it's the third time they've askedthe dumbest question, you answer it
with the happiest smile on your face andsay, this is, this is a great question.
Um, this is the answer.
If you have any more, please, please ask.
Please call me and ask, you know,I think being truly genuine to your
clients, they relay that to yourrealtors in the same way with realtors.
You know, I have a lot of realtors.
And ask me questions because they knowI'm not going to make them feel dumb.
Voice Over (34:27):
They
Hunter Strong (34:28):
know I'm not going to talk down to them.
You know, you can't talk down to people.
You can't act like you're smarterthan anyone, whether you are or not.
It's irrelevant.
Um, so those are the two biggest things Ithink play to your strengths, be yourself,
and then treat every single person.
Like it's your mom, you know, and, uh,and if they're asking you questions, you
treat them like it was your family member.
(34:49):
And I think if you do those twothings, that's what I've done.
And, you know, you do that every singleday, you play a day by day and you look
up in a year or two years, two months.
Um, you will build somethingthat's pretty cool.
Dale Vermillion (35:00):
I love it.
And I will tell you just fromexperience, having trained millions
of originators around the country,the salesy kind of approach doesn't
work in today's marketplace.
I see very few loan officerswho succeed doing that.
And the ones that do succeedfor very short periods of time.
And it catches up to them when you'resincere, when you've got that other's
(35:22):
first mindset, which we teach all thetime, which you just basically said, treat
them like they're part of your family.
I mean, I love that.
And having been down now withyour team yesterday, that truly is
the culture within your company.
And, you know, I know your momand dad, not now I know your mom
too, but known your dad for years.
And.
Clearly your wholefamily is wired that way.
(35:44):
It's about really honoring people.
It's being kind to people.
Um, that makes all thedifference in the world.
I just, I gotta say it again.
You're, you're wise beyondyour years, my friend.
Um, you, you've done a great job and.
Great information to provide today.
All right.
Let me ask you the same questionthat I ask every one of my
(36:05):
guests as the last question.
Um, I'm a firm believer that one ofthe keys to success for every human
being is you got to have mentors.
You got to have people who teach you,train you, guide you, and encourage
you Uh, through your life and, andI've asked every one of my guests to
share, you know, a mentor or the mentoror a couple of mentors that have been
(36:26):
super meaningful in their life and,and how that meant, uh, and made a
difference for them in their life.
Share with the audience who that wouldbe for you and, and, and why that's been
important and powerful to have somebodyto help you learn and grow and get better.
Hunter Strong (36:44):
Yeah.
Um, I think this answer isprobably pretty obvious.
Um, but that would be my dad.
Dale Vermillion (36:48):
I figured,
Hunter Strong (36:49):
um, so, um, from day one, you know, baseball
sports was my upbringing.
He was the coach of every team.
He was, he was at every single event.
Um, and if there's something that heis, his gift, I think is bringing out
the best in you, whether that's me oranybody else, that is, that is, is, is.
(37:10):
His true gift is whatever yourpotential is, he's going to get
you to a hundred percent of it.
Um, and I think that's whathe's done for me my whole life.
He has pushed me in everything, whetherit was school, I never made a B because
I thought there wasn't an option.
You know, I, I didn't thinkthere was another option.
I, you know, it's like, you don'tmake an a, I don't, I don't know.
(37:32):
You know, and it's simple as that.
So he created that mindset of me thatfailures, you know, it's, it's not an
option, so you better figure out how tosucceed, you know, you better figure out
how to go get this done, you know, ifyou're going to play baseball, you better
figure out how to be one of the bestplayers out there, it doesn't matter.
I mean, naturally gifted, none ofit was not, not a natural athlete.
I mean, I was athletic, but fifth,sixth best person on my team.
(37:55):
And every, every team I started, whetherit was little league, freshman team,
senior year, I was not the best team, butby year I was the best player on the team.
And it was pure, pure hard work anddetermination and, uh, and that was
instilled because that's how he is.
And that he taught that to me, I mean,if he wouldn't have taught me that
I wouldn't have been anywhere that Iwas, I would have never gotten, I would
(38:18):
have never, you know, gone throughcollege and had the GPA that I had, not
that that really matters, but, or theGPA in high school, but all of these
things that I can attribute to success.
Would be the mentality that he hasinstilled in me as far as just hard work
and, and refusing to fail and refusing tosee that as an option, um, just finding
a way, and there's something to that, youknow, people will ask, like on the panel,
(38:41):
they're like, well, what are you doing?
I said, well, I didn't know therewas another option, but to do
this, I mean, that's just howthat's, that's just how it was.
Everything I do, it's 120%.
And if you're not the best, you better bethe best you could possibly be, because
if you're not, you're just lettingyourself and everyone that counts on you.
Um, and so I would say thatobviously he has done that with
(39:03):
this company and building it.
Um, he's done that with me personally,um, and that consistency and everything
that he does is what's taught meto be that way and everything I do.
Same thing with my family, you know,with my wife and my, you know, family.
My daughter, who's now one, um, tome, there's nothing more important
than being the best husbandand the best dad you can be.
I'm not saying I'm the best husbandin the world, but I'm going to be the
(39:25):
best husband that I can be, right?
Because that's my responsibility.
Um, and so I think that mentalityand everything you do is what
he's taught me and what I stilllean on today and everything.
So,
Dale Vermillion (39:36):
well, I know your dad's awfully proud of you and, and you're
going to laugh at this, but this is true.
Both my team and several people that Italked to over the last several weeks.
I mentioned, yeah, I've got aguest coming on batting a thousand,
just kickoff season three.
Loan officer did 50.
About 50 loans last month.
And everybody said,how do you do 50 loans?
I said, well, no one is dad.
He probably didn't knowhe wasn't supposed to.
(39:58):
That's probably what it comes down to.
I think you just
Hunter Strong (40:02):
hit the nail on the head.
Dale Vermillion (40:05):
Hunter, this has been awesome.
You have done an incredible job today.
You have provided so many great, justgolden nuggets for people to just
see what it takes to be successful.
I think the biggest thing that you didtoday that I really appreciate about you.
As you just showed people, it'snot, it's not rocket science.
It's not hard.
You don't have to do anything butwork hard, be creative, and just put
(40:30):
your 1000 percent into what you do.
And you can do well in this marketplace.
I am really grateful foryou being on the show today.
Uh, I know that the listeners aregoing to get a ton out of this.
You bring your family down to Destin.
We would love to, Laurel and I wouldlove to take you guys out to dinner.
Um, on our treat and spend some timewith you guys and get to know you better.
(40:50):
But I want to thank you, uh,for really being here today and
for having such a huge impact.
Hunter Strong (40:55):
Absolutely.
It's an honor.
I appreciate you asking me to be on here.
I really appreciate it.
Dale Vermillion (40:59):
All right, my friend.
Well, we will look forward toseeing you soon for the rest of you.
Thank you for being on batting a thousand.
This is just the first ofthe series for season three.
We'll see on the next batting athousand where the heavy hitters
in the mortgage industry show up.
Thanks so much for being here.
God bless y'all.
See you next time.
All right.
Hello again, everybody.
And welcome to season three of battinga thousand, where we talk to the
heavy hitters in the mortgage market.
And I am super excited about, uh,the guests that we've got today.
Uh, you know, if youremember last year, we had.
We brought in Kara Whitman, who was aScotsman guide, top producer, um, as loan
officers go, who, uh, really did a greatjob and we got so much great feedback.
(00:28):
Well, I got a stud today that I'm goingto bring in by the name of Hunter Strong.
This kid is, uh,absolutely top performance.
He did 47 closed loans in themonth of February of this year.
He did 48.
Eight in March of thisyear, he is killing it.
He averaged over 20 loans a monthlast year in 2023, and he's pacing it
(00:49):
over 40 loans a month in, uh, 2024.
Uh, Hunter, welcome to the show.
We're so glad to have you.
Hunter Strong (00:56):
Yeah, thanks.
So happy to be here.
Dale Vermillion (00:59):
So I think your name is the perfect name as I've thought about it.
Hunter.
Strong, because in thisbusiness, you got to be a hunter.
If you're going to succeed in thedistributor retail world, and we're going
to talk about what you're doing as far asworking with agents and how you're getting
your business from a hunting standpoint,and I love the last name strong, as you
know, I'm good friends with your dad,uh, Glenn, who, uh, is, is, uh, one of
(01:20):
the well known and, uh, highly lauded andregarded people in the mortgage industry.
Um, he runs first trust homeloans, a good friend of mine
and good client for a long time.
So you've come up in that.
Family of the mortgage world.
I'm going to be curious to hear alittle bit about that, but, uh, tell
us a little bit about your background.
I, I know that you played college ball.
(01:40):
You actually played for the Kansas cityRoyals, uh, for a little bit for a year,
had some professional baseball background.
Uh, tell us a little bit about yourbackground and what got you into the
mortgage market in the first place.
Hunter Strong (01:52):
Yeah, for sure.
So I actually funny story.
I wanted to be a pharmacist when Iwent to college, um, got, uh, all
the way to microbiology was my last.
Elective before I couldget into pharmacy school.
Um, as you mentioned, big baseball guy,I played baseball at UCA and went to
the university of central Arkansas.
Um, my junior year kind of unexpected,not unexpected by my junior year, but
(02:15):
going into college pro ball, wasn'tnecessarily the plan, you know, um, but
really blew up and did really well and,uh, got a lot of scouts anyway, when I
got drafted, I, uh, obviously took thatopportunity, um, was super excited, but.
Kind of put a delay in thepharmacy school type things.
And so by the time I got done with that,I didn't want four more years of college.
(02:36):
Really my whole, I was ready to getinto the workforce, start a family,
you know, start making some moneyand, and all of those fun adult
things, I guess, as you would say.
Um, and so at that point Idouble majored in business.
Um, so I knew that, you know, my, likeyou mentioned my dad, Glenn Strong, he
runs first trust, um, first Arkansas fora long time, first trust, I think right
(02:56):
around the time that this was happening.
Is when they made that transitionto first trust because we
expanded to multiple states.
Um, and so I always knew that thatwas a good idea to, you know, I
had opportunities there wasn'treally sure what I would be doing.
Um, so once I was done with baseball,I went to him, said, Hey, I don't
think I want to go to pharmacy school.
I'm ready to just to start working.
You know, if you have anopportunity, I don't care what it is.
(03:17):
Maybe the janitor, you know, I don't care.
Um, and so I actually started asa loan closer so that when I came
into the company, I was a closer.
For my first year and a half, I justclosed loans, you know, got a lot of
really good time to learn the business,learn the back end of it, um, see how
things worked, getting to the closingtable, seeing all the fires and the
issues that everyone seemed to have,you know, so I learned a lot, um, uh,
(03:42):
that was invaluable, I think not goinginto sales for me, especially, um, I
think I would have really struggledif I would have started sales day one.
Um, I think starting there really, reallyset the, you know, the foundation for me
to, to be successful in where I'm at now.
Um, so did that for a year and a half,um, then kind of transitioned to our lot
desk or secondary market, um, ran thelot desk for the company for a year and
(04:05):
a half, um, and about six months in, Iwent ahead and got my license to be an LO.
Um, I really wanted to do that, but hedidn't need me to be an LO at the time.
He needed me to run the lot desk.
Um, but I went and didall of it on my own.
It was like, you know, just if, ifsomething comes up at great, but you
know, this lot desk is, you know,number one, that's what I'm running.
So.
(04:25):
And obviously during this time, whenI got licensed was the very end of 19,
didn't close a loan until January of 2020.
Well, luckily for me, I happened toget licensed right about the time that
it was probably the best time everto be a loan officer in our industry.
So, you know, come March,um, we got past all of that.
(04:46):
And when we thought the mortgageindustry might bust, um, the next
month we started, you know, hittingthe ground running and breaking records
and doing more business than ever.
Well, my, my business startedgrowing and growing and growing.
And finally I went into his officeand just said, Hey, listen, I think I
can do three X of what I'm doing now.
And at this point I was actually close.
(05:06):
This was after, this was 21, 22is why I became a full time LO.
That's when I transitioned.
So 21, I actually tied for the numberone LO in the company while running
the lot desk at the same time.
So, I mean, I was workingjust absurd hours, like trying
to keep up with everything.
And I was like, I put so much timeinto the lot desk, you know, if you
(05:27):
can just give me this opportunityto be an LO, like, I really think
I can take this to the next level.
And that's, so we decided to do that.
So 2022 is my first year that we did that.
And I think I hit 40 somethingmillion that year as my first
year in 22 when I really did it.
And then, like you said, lastyear we did, um, 53 million.
(05:47):
And then this year we'vedone about 25 through April.
So, um, things are stillgrowing, progressing every year.
We've progressed a little bit.
Um, and I think that's been themost fun and what I love, you
know, taking the competitivenessof baseball and sports and.
You know, the harder you work, you know,the more you do, the more rewards you get.
Right.
And it's the same thing for being an LO.
(06:08):
And I think that's reallyclicked for me a lot.
I enjoy what I'm doing right now.
Dale Vermillion (06:13):
I absolutely love that story.
It's so fun knowing your dadso well and his work ethic.
And I just see so much of, uh, ofhim and you, uh, and, and the fact
that you came into this business,did not start as a loan officer.
Took a low paying job just to learnthe business, build your way up
and transitioned out of 2021, thebest year in history into 2022
(06:37):
to become a loan officer, mostpeople wouldn't make that change.
And a lot of them thatdid have not succeeded.
And yet you have just thrivedfrom that point forward.
And I love your whole conceptabout the importance of work
ethic and all those things.
So let's unpack some of thosethings, because you just said so
many important things in therethat I want to key in on it.
And let's start with the first thing.
You started as a closer,you moved to the lock desk.
(06:58):
You were doing record production withinthe lock desk when you were doing that.
And it allowed you tomove into that business.
We're going to get into the highproduction because I know that's what
everybody wants to hear is how areyou creating this high production?
But before we get into that, I want tohear from you a little bit more about
how understanding the backside of thebusiness really has Kind of formed
(07:20):
and trained and changed the way youview applications and quality and,
and conversations with your customers.
Because what I see a lot about theretoday, you know, all the years that I
managed salespeople and all the companiesthat I've trained, I've always said, the
best thing you could ever do with youremployees is cross train them, let loan
officers spend time on a processor's deskand an underwriter's desk and a closer's
(07:45):
desk to understand the ramifications.
How has that.
Coming into the business on the backside,forge your thought process as it regards
to quality on the origination side.
Hunter Strong (07:59):
Like I said, it was, it was truly invaluable,
um, for a couple of reasons.
I would say one, absolutely quality,you know, getting understanding how
important the very first time youtake the app, asking those questions,
how important it is to get theinformation that you need, because.
You know that in 30 days, if youdon't do this right, it's just going
to be an absolute firestorm, right?
(08:21):
Um, and every little detail matters.
Um, and as you said, through eachprocess, you know, the best you
can do, you know, the file can'tbe good when it starts as bad.
It's only as good as it starts.
You know, as we know, there's a lotof people in the transaction that
help us get to the closing table.
It's not just the LO.
Um, but if, if it's, it's up toyou, I mean, it's, it's, you, you
(08:41):
have to take ownership of the file.
Um, and so if you sit there and doit, you know, halfway, you can't
expect the processor to take it anyother way than halfway, and then the
whole deal is done the wrong way.
Um, and then I think the other part ofit that really was important was, you
know, always was told you have to be thesmartest person in the transaction, right?
You have to be the smartest personin the transaction, whether that's
(09:02):
the real estate agent, the borrower,the customer, the listing agent,
anyone in the transaction, there'sanother lender on another deal, got
to be smarter than them, right, youhave to be able to take that control.
And the more control you have, themore knowledge you have, you know,
the more confidence you will haveand confidence that you can instill
in the people in the transaction andcreate that level of trust with them.
(09:24):
Um, because the more trust you havewithin the transaction, anytime that
something goes wrong or awry or, youknow, out of the ordinary, instead of
everyone panicking and doing backflipsand, you know, calling you and.
Panicking.
They're going to call and justsay, Hey, what's going on?
You tell them, and then you moveon, you find a way to fix it.
And the, the less trust you have,the more of those fires feel on
(09:45):
your shoulders and everyone else.
So, um, I think it's just the confidenceof understanding everything from how
the closing disclosure is preparedto how the package is prepared.
And, you know, people will ask mequestions that I know the log desk,
the secondary market, how, how all ofthese things work, you know, and it's.
That knowledge.
As a combined gives me so much confidence,you know, when I'm talking to people
(10:08):
when they ask me questions, and I canpretty much answer about any questions
someone asked me that allows me to beconfident with anyone I talk to you.
And I think when you have that level ofconfidence to you, when you speak with
people, that makes them think, okay,this guy knows what he's talking about.
He's going to take care of this.
If there's an issue, he'll,he'll find a way to fix it and
we'll get the still closed.
And once you get that trust off yourback, people just, you know, you just
(10:30):
roll them out, you know, at that point.
So I think that's the other part of it.
It's just.
The more knowledge you can have, themore confidence you can have, and the
more trust you can build with everyone.
And that's, I think, why it was soimportant to not start straight out
in sales and run around and say,Hey, send me a deal and not know.
And for some people that works great.
You know, I think it'sa personality thing too.
For me, I'm not just a hugeoutgoing personality by any
(10:54):
means, you know, but I've beensuccessful still in a sales role.
Um, I don't view it as a sales role.
I think that's what's helped me.
You know, I view it as peoplecome to me looking for a solution
with their problem and it's justmy job to give them a solution.
Um, it's not my job tosell them on something.
They want a mortgage.
You know, the realtorwants the deal to close.
They want someone, the realtors wantsomeone to help you get deals closed.
(11:16):
You don't have to sell yourselfor your company or anything.
You just have to show them thatyou're an asset and you can
solve these problems for them.
And then you show them that andthen they'll keep coming back.
Dale Vermillion (11:28):
All right.
Well, I've been doing this for along time, as you know, Hunter.
And I got to tell you for a 27 yearold guy, you had enough wisdom.
You could be my age.
That was pure gold.
That was absolutely pure gold.
You said four things that I haveabsolutely believed and taught forever.
That I love that you said, number one.
You're doing very high quantity ofloans, but your focus is quality first.
(11:51):
And this is a message that loan officersneed to understand and need to hear from
somebody other than Dale Vermillion.
I'm so glad that you're tellingpeople this message that if
you do it right the first time.
Then you're not dealing with allthe problems, the second, third, and
fourth time that drag you away fromthe ability to create more business.
And you actually do more quantitywhen you have better quality.
(12:15):
And then you talked about theimportance of being the smartest
person in the transaction knowledge,have a knowledge of your market,
have a knowledge of your partners,have a knowledge of your products.
Those things are absolutely critical,but also have a knowledge of the process,
knowing what happens so that you canprepare your clients and your partners
for that, And then you talked about theimportance of having that trust with
the clients, building that trust sothat they know that, look, if I give a
(12:37):
deal to Hunter, it's going to get done.
And I know that's the reputationyou guys have created.
That's what you stand on at First Trust.
And I know you as an individual loanofficer, I heard you, you know, I
had the benefit yesterday of beingin Little Rock with you and the whole
team for you guys annual conference andgot to listen to you talk on a panel
where you talked about some of thesethings and the importance of those.
(12:57):
I think what you just.
Just laid out right.
There is such gold for loan officers tounderstand that you don't need to rush.
You don't need to do it sloppy.
You need to do it right.
And you need to know your business.
You need to be the person that ispolished when you get on the phone.
So people can trust you havefaith in you and do a good job.
(13:19):
I just absolutely love that.
Now, let me ask you this questionbecause yeah, You mentioned some
of the numbers that you did.
You did 53 million last year.
How many, how much was it in2022, the year before that?
Hunter Strong (13:32):
It was in the forties, 40, I wanna say 47.
I believe it was 47.
Dale Vermillion (13:36):
Yeah, it, it sounds like you're tracking at about 75
million to a hundred million this year.
What's your average loan size?
'cause I know you guys don't have hugeaverage loan sizes where you're at.
What's your average loan size on a loan?
Hunter Strong (13:48):
Well, that's our joke in the office right now.
It just keeps going down.
Um, but I believe last year was aroundtwo 20, um, something like that.
I think this year we're closerto one 80, one 90 right now
through this year as an average.
So,
Dale Vermillion (14:03):
yeah, I wanted to clarify that for the audience because
those units you're doing are massive.
50 units a month is in the top echelonin the industry, but I'm sure some
people were like, even though 40 millionand 50 million even to any market.
Those are big numbers.
When you actually take those averagesfrom where you guys are at in Arkansas
(14:24):
and you put those on a national scalewhere the average loan is closer to
400,000, you almost double that number.
So your 50 million is a normalloan officer's, a hundred million.
If you do 75 or a hundred millionthis year, that's 150 to 200
million in the normal market.
So that any originatorswatch this be like.
Oh my gosh, these are massivenumbers we're talking about.
(14:45):
So now let's talk about how you'regetting those massive numbers.
Let's begin with who you're working with.
What are you doing froman origination standpoint?
The hunter piece of it, ifI can use that terminology.
What are you doing today that is creatingall of the opportunities for you?
Walk us through that.
Hunter Strong (15:04):
Well, I mean, I think, you know, Rome wasn't built in a day.
As we just said, we've gotten hereover a two or three year period.
So I'm not going to say that what I'mdoing today, if you go out tomorrow,
you're going to get to 48 loans a month.
You know, it takes time.
Um, but you know, it's, it's starting.
I started as simple asjust who I knew, right.
(15:26):
And you know, a lot more peoplethan you think, you know, and that
sounds pretty obvious, but I thinkit's, some people don't realize that,
Voice Over (15:32):
you
Hunter Strong (15:32):
know, there's so many sources of business other than realtors.
And my biggest sourceof business is realtors.
So that's obviously, I wouldsay, number one, there's so many
sources, title companies, attorneys,you know, all of these people,
um, investment professionals.
I've gotten a lot of deals fromdifferent investment professionals
that I've known or friends haveknown, you know, I've asked people,
you know, you know, More people whomight have investment professionals,
(15:55):
you know, Hey, who do you use?
You know, do you like them?
Would you mind settingup a meeting, you know?
And so I just started really simple andjust started finding different ways to
get my name out there as a loan officerand having a conversation with someone
and then being, you know, like I said,being confident, showing your value,
showing why you, I could be a goodresource for them to send their client.
(16:18):
You know, whether it's my company,whether it's me, a mixture of our
products, you know, just our abilityto handle certain things that other
people can't and just creating thatmultitude of places that it can come from.
You know, um, that'sreally where I started.
And then just calling and meetingand calling and meeting, calling and
meeting people, um, over and over again.
(16:40):
Um, I, a lot of my business is notwithin a 50 mile radius of where I am.
Um, that was one of the things thatwe talked about on the panel was.
Um, and we live in a small communityin a small town and we, our,
our company is based off local.
I mean, that's what we sell.
And that's what we believe in.
We go in the communities thateach of our branches are in.
We invest in those communities and we'revery proud of that and very thankful
(17:03):
for the communities and give back.
You know, that's what we love to do.
And I love the town that I'm from.
Um, but if I would have, you know, what'sthe word I'm looking for, if I would
have tried to, you know, survive offjust 30 mile race that I'm in, I would,
and I wouldn't have done a 10th of thebusiness that I would have done if I
would have only wanted to stay in my area.
Voice Over (17:24):
Right.
And
Hunter Strong (17:24):
so I went out and found, you know, for me, it was baseball.
You know, I knew a lot ofguys that were just graduating
that I played baseball with.
That we're moving intocommunities and becoming coaches.
That was a, that's a pretty common thingfor my teammates as they became coaches
in high schools, all throughout the state.
Um, and then, you know, it's, you know,going to them and, and calling and
saying, Hey, are you buying a home?
(17:44):
Getting their loans, getting in withthe realtor that they are with, and
then following up with that realtor overand over again, and they're like, well,
you're in Sheridan, I'm in West Memphis,Arkansas, you know, that's three hours
away and I'm like, it doesn't matter.
Here's all the things that I can do.
Are you working with someonethat can do that right now?
They're like, no.
And I said, how was this transaction?
You know, how did it go?
Well, you closed it and you know, 20something days with our, our people
(18:07):
that we're used to working with, they,they can't close this type of deal in
35 days, you know, this was amazing.
Can I introduce you to my broker?
Absolutely.
Let's set up a meeting.
I'll, I'll drive over there tomorrow.
I'll drive two and a half hourstomorrow and meet with you guys.
And I did, I went and met with themand it just took off from there.
Um, so, you know, just.
Geography and distance can't limit you.
(18:28):
Um, and then investorsare a big thing right now.
That's kind of what's taken usfrom the 20th to 40 ish a month.
Um, and as crazy as thissounds, I found that on Tik TOK.
So, um, got on Tik TOK.
I follow a bunch of real estate stuff,Facebook, Instagram, I don't know how that
works, but whatever you're into is what'sgoing to show up on your feed every day.
As everybody knows.
(18:50):
Um, so for me, it's real estateand mortgages and things like that.
And there's this guy that's a, a sellingguru that does section eight investing,
and he gets people in and he keeps saying,I have the best private lenders, have the
best private lenders to get you financing.
And so I just DM him and said,Hey, who's your private lenders?
You know, that are the best.
And he's like, well, do you wantto be a part of the program?
(19:11):
I said, well, I can get on a call.
So we got on a call and I, youknow, zoom just like this, me
and him, he's in California.
Um, told him what we could do and hisentire business models in the midst,
the Mid South Midwest, because theproperties are a little more affordable.
And so for cash flow purposes,it makes the most sense to
be right where I'm sitting.
And so I explained how we haveall of these markets in these, in
(19:33):
these states surrounding this area.
Um, and how we have the relationshipsalready with title companies
and realtors, which is all true.
Um, and he said, man, this is awesome.
I'm adding you right now,adding me to his list.
He's got 2000 students.
And I'm the number one LO on that.
And it's just, I mean, my phone blowsup every day from just investors
wanting to buy into Mid South.
(19:53):
So, um, it's just, it's just findingcreative ways to ask and, and put
yourself out there and I've beentold no way more than I've been told.
Yes, but you don't have to be told yesmore than you're told no to be successful.
Dale Vermillion (20:07):
Kinda like batting averages, right?
If you, if, if you hit that.
I was about to say, yeah.
Yeah.
If you hit three out of 10,you're in the Hall of Fame.
That's all it is.
I mean, you could fail 70% of thetime and make the Hall of Fame.
Hunter Strong (20:17):
Yeah.
It helped coming from baseball,you know, game of failure.
Um, like you said, you fail 70% of thetime and you're considered really good.
I'm like, gosh, you ask a thousandpeople to send you a deal and 20%
of 'em say yes, you had a good year.
You know?
So that's kind of how I took it.
And then obviously I'm notasking quite as much now.
That's our next phase.
Um, we just added another LOAon and she's amazing and really
(20:41):
helped transition from 20 to 40.
Cause obviously that's just double, youknow, and triple the total amount of acid
are coming in versus also what's closing.
So growing that organicallyand then just continue to grow.
So getting it to where I can keepthat quality that we talked about
before I go and try and go get more.
Um, I don't want to go and ask moreif I don't feel like I can give each
(21:03):
borrower the quality they deserve either.
Cause that's still themost important thing to me.
Um, and the realtors as well thatwork with me, you know, when I
send a pre approval, I have tobe able to stand behind them.
Well, I have to have the time to do that.
You know, um, that's, that's so important.
You know, everyone asks me thatif they haven't worked with me,
you know, is this a prequal?
Is this a pre approval?
I'm like, we don't do prequals.
(21:24):
We do pre approvals.
Um, I've verified the income.
I don't, I'm not saying I have anentire file before a pre approval.
Everything's got to be quick.
But I'm not sending a preapproval.
If I haven't at least seen paystubs,I mean, I'm just not doing it.
Um, I don't care how rushed they are.
I said, tell, I'll call them.
I'll tell the realtors,send me the paystubs.
If it all, everything elselines up, I'll send it.
But I have to have that, that confidence,that trust with these people, um, with
(21:50):
the realtors, especially because, youknow, the transact, the borrower is
extremely important, but they're probablyone transaction that realtor is where.
It keeps coming.
So you can't, you know, riskone transaction to, to, to
mess up that reputation.
Um, so that's kind of the nextphase is just making sure we feel
confident and with this big bumpthat we've had to keep that quality.
(22:11):
And then we'll go out and keep findingcreative ways to ask for more business.
Dale Vermillion (22:14):
I love it.
So a couple, a couple of thingsI want to key in on what you said
there that were super powerful again.
Uh, first off, I love the factthat you said, I don't do prequels.
I only do pre approvals,something I've taught forever.
The realtors don't wantprequalifications and the borrower
should never get a prequalificationbecause it, it isn't accurate.
You're, you're, you're settingthem up for failure and you're
setting your partnership up forpotential problems by doing that.
(22:38):
Because if you tell a realtor, thisis what this person can qualify for.
And then you find out when youget the docs, they can't qualify.
You've lost that realtor for life andeverybody they would have referred to you.
So a lot of wisdom in that tomake sure that we're getting docs
and we're not running ahead ofourselves and you do find it.
But I loved your whole statementabout do not let distance in
(22:58):
geography, keep you from succeeding.
The fact that you're working inArkansas with one of the top investor
teachers in the country in California.
And I just love that you just We'rebrave enough to just contact him.
There's so many loan officersacross the nation would be super
intimidated by that and be like,Oh, I can't reach out to that guy.
(23:19):
He just said, he's gotthe best lenders instead.
You're like, well, let me hear who theseare because I think I'm better than them.
We have to have this inherent belief thatwe can bring the best to our clients.
If we don't have that, whyare we in this business?
Why are we doing anything?
So I love how you talked about thosetwo things and the impact of that.
(23:40):
And I agree with you.
Investors are a greatopportunity out there.
I love how you went afterthe baseball community.
You stuck in the community thatyou knew you were in to build
some inroads for opportunities.
These are just brilliant thingsthat bring a lot of business about.
I so appreciate thosethoughts that you brought.
Let's talk a little bit about yourteam because you mentioned your LOA.
(24:01):
Talk about the structure of your teamand how you work with your team to do
the kind of volume you're doing today.
Hunter Strong (24:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, so we, I have had an LOA since 2022.
I got one in the middle of 22 is whenI got one as things were progressing
and building, um, just had one LOA.
And then the way my company is structured,we have a processor and an underwriter.
Um, actually back then we, that thosewould mix a little, um, you generally
(24:30):
have the same ones, but it wouldmix, um, as we grew and grew and
I've gotten my consistent production.
I've now have my own, I actually havetwo processors now that do my team.
So we have two processors.
I have one underwriter for every deal,which is super convenient because
we all know how each other works.
Um, and then I have two LOAs.
(24:51):
So my first LOA is Camden.
She is more of the true, um, sales side.
So she's helping withonly front end stuff.
So apps coming in.
Um, I'll review them, but if, you know,if something comes in, she might get
the file cleaned up and then I'll makethat initial call, something like that.
Um, she also helps with marketing,um, keeping up with numbers as
(25:13):
far as which realtors have sent methis, who do I need to reach out to?
Um, You know, who have we notgotten a deal from in a few
months that sent us 30 last year?
You know what's going on?
Is it because they don't like us anymore?
Is it because they're slow, right?
She's all that son.
She is not as soon as the file is active.
She has no idea what's going onShe's never in the file one time.
She's only on front end marketingthings like that Um, and then
(25:36):
brandy is the newest hire andshe's been she's a rock star.
loa for 20 years I think Couldbe an underwriter, could be a
processor, could be a loan officer.
I mean, she's just, she's, she'sgot that factor and she's been huge.
Um, she takes over thefile when it's active.
So she has no idea what's going on.
She does nothing with preapprovals, nothing with
(25:56):
sales, nothing with marketing.
She takes over the file.
We send it in once weget the contract active.
She's going to get it cleaned upbefore it goes to the processor.
She will reach out to the borrowerat that point, if there's anything
needed or updated, like a new bankstatement, something like that.
And she's trying to get that fileready for underwriting before
it even goes to the processor.
(26:17):
Um, so she gets that superclean, gets it to the processor.
They do their processing things withtitle, you know, whatever's left
and then goes to the underwriter.
And then Brandy helps managethe active pipeline for me.
Um, so she has calls oncea week with the processor.
Helping in, you know, what's neededon these files that are active.
She's taking that role of makingsure everything's online and on time.
(26:39):
And then I step in, obviously, ifthere's ever a major issue with the file.
Um, or, or they can't get adocument from someone and they've
asked three times or something.
So that's the main structure that we have.
Dale Vermillion (26:50):
So two things you said in there that I thought
were critically important.
One was, uh, you said that you initiateevery one of those calls with the
borrowers, which I love because you'rethe guy you're, you know, the mistake
I see a lot of times that more thatloan originators will make is they'll,
they'll go work with the realtors.
Tell them, Hey, I'm Iwant you to work with me.
(27:11):
I want your business.
I want to help you.
And then when they refera customer in, guess what?
They don't even get that person.
They get somebody else and thenthere's a letdown for the realtor.
They're not getting the person theythought they were going to get.
I love the fact that youinitiate those conversations.
But then you talked about specialization,which I preach all the time.
And that is each one of your Peoplehave a completely different and defined
(27:34):
role that complements each other.
They're not overlapping.
They're, they're notgetting in each other's way.
They're, they're not reviewing things thathave already been done that somebody else
did that creates duplication of effort.
That's the way a system should bebuilt for efficiency so that you've
got a process in place where everybodyknows what it is you're supposed to do.
(27:55):
They do it and they move thefile up to the next level.
That's, that's the wayprocess should work.
And clearly based on the numbers you'redoing, those things are happening.
What are some of the.
Uh, in today's marketplace with someof the challenge of things like rates,
let's talk about rate for a minute,because, you know, you've heard me
talk about this a million times.
Our rate doesn't matter.
(28:16):
Everybody makes a big deal about rate.
Clearly it doesn't seem to affect you abit because it's not slowing you down.
You're speeding up, not slowing down.
Tell me why rates not a big dealto you, because I know it's not.
We've, we've, we'vetalked about this before.
Tell me why, tell me how you're movingthrough this rate market and it's not
affecting you one bit in your mindset.
Hunter Strong (28:36):
Yeah.
And I'll say this, um, when Istarted, all it was about was rate.
So it was even, I think abigger transition for me.
When I started the rates were 3%, 2%.
So every time someone called me, thefirst question was, is the rate 2%?
And I'm like, yeah.
And they're like, Oh, this is great.
You know, this is amazing.
Or I'm calling refinancesand, and the rates are good.
(28:57):
So for me, when I started, itwas about when I started my
business, that's all it was.
But then.
When you go from 2% to 6%, you can'ttalk about rate and get a deal , right?
So it was a big adaptation,you know, adapt or die.
Um, and that's what it was.
And it was, um, so what I startedlearning what I figured out just by
talking to people and talking to people,they don't care what their rate is.
(29:19):
And, and once I figuredthis out, it was easy.
Um, they just care what,what their payment is, right?
I mean, that's what they're asking you.
What's the rate or what's this?
Or how much can I afford?
They don't care if you tell'em it's 300,000 or 200,000.
It doesn't matter.
It's how much paymentcan you afford a month?
So I just broke it down really simply.
Every time, one of the first questionsI ask when I take an application, no
(29:40):
matter what they tell me, they'll tellme, well, we want a 300, 000 house.
Okay, where do you want your payments?
Oh, we want, if the rate's not, um,below 7%, we're just not going to buy.
Say, okay, well, whatcan you pay per month?
I don't even answer thequestion that they're asking.
I need to know, what are youwilling to pay per month?
And you know what they do?
They answer.
(30:01):
You have to have a housing.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Okay.
We want to pay 1800 a month.
Okay.
So you're going to be at 220, 000.
Can you find a house at 220?
Uh, yeah, we saw one.
Oh, okay.
Well, let's, let's finish the application.
You know, we'll get you, we'll see ifwe can get you pre approved for that.
Um, I had someone last week say if therate's over 7%, we're not going to buy it.
(30:23):
I said, well, what can, whatare you guys paying in rent?
They pay 2000.
I said, well, how muchcould you pay on a mortgage?
And they said 2, 500 is what they'll pay.
And I said, okay, what three, Ithink it was like 300, 000 house.
Your payment's going to be lessthan 2, 500 with their down payment.
They're putting down.
They're like, oh, really?
Okay.
I was like, yeah, so doyou still want to do it?
And they said, yeah, theyforgot about the rate.
(30:44):
So, I mean, it's, it's simplified.
There's always going to be rate shoppers.
There's always going to be people thatsay, I don't care what you tell me.
But 98%, I would say 98 percent ofpeople, if you just steer the conversation
to how much can you pay per month,You're you've, you've, you've fixed it.
(31:05):
You fix the issue of ratebecause that's really the issue.
I've, I've had that conversationwith someone when they said,
well, the rate 7%, I can't do it.
I said, well, if the rate was2%, but the payment was 5, 000,
would you make the payment?
They said, no, I said, okay,
so that was the big shift for me.
You know, 21 to 22, you know, gettinginto straight LO going from it being
(31:29):
easier than anything to say, Oh, you know,your rates 3 percent or your rates 2%.
And they said, okay, great.
You know, I completely that's, Iregurgitated that hundreds of times.
And then I started realizingwhen I said your rates 4%.
4.
5%, 5%, 5.
5%, 6%.
Dale Vermillion (31:46):
They're not so happy.
Hunter Strong (31:48):
That didn't work.
Yeah.
That didn't work.
Um, and that's what's so funny too.
I tell people this, you know, that askedme, you know, what about the rates?
I said, people were mad whenthe rates were three and a half.
They were mad when they were four.
They were mad when they were five.
They're seven now.
They would go back to people thattold it when they did ask what the
rate was and told us we were crazy.
They would love for those rates now.
People are never goingto be happy with rates.
(32:09):
You can't sell on rate or noone's ever going to be happy.
I remember people tellingme when I told them 2.
5 that they heard that they could get 2.
3.
I mean, that's just human nature.
That's just human nature.
So you can't worry about the rate.
You got to figure out, like I said.
Everyone's got a problem.
You have to be thesolution to the problem.
The problem isn't the rate.
The problem is what can they affordand what can their family afford so
(32:30):
they can have the house they want,but also be able to pay for that
house, you know, and have a life.
And if you can just connect those dots,you're going to get a lot of business.
Dale Vermillion (32:39):
Awesome.
Hunter Strong (32:39):
Love it.
Dale Vermillion (32:41):
So if you were to give the audience, uh, your best tip.
The thing that you think is mostimportant from your perspective
to succeed in today's marketplace.
And it may be a couple of things.
What, what would that be?
Hunter Strong (32:57):
I think for me, what has worked for me the most
is I'll answer this kind of thesame way, but first be yourself.
Um, I think people can tell if you're notyourself, if you are not a sales, like
me, I'm not going to come in and, youknow, sell someone a pin like the wolf of
wall street, that's not my personality.
Right.
I'm a genuine person.
(33:18):
I like to help.
So I go and tell peoplethat's what I like to do.
I'm not saying thatsalesy people are wrong.
Some people have amazingsalesy personality.
Well, then play off that strength.
I think you have to be who you are,play to your strengths, and then figure
out the people in the marketplace thatthat fits with, you know, my personality
and my strengths might not fit up with.
(33:39):
Certain, you know, realtorsand certain business, you know,
portfolios that they work with, butfor others, it works wonderfully.
So I'm not going for thepeople that I know my strengths
aren't going to fit with.
I think that's the case.
And then just treat every singleperson in the transaction.
Like you treat your family.
Um, I think if you treat people withrespect and just be kind and be patient,
(34:05):
if it's the third time they've askedthe dumbest question, you answer it
with the happiest smile on your face andsay, this is, this is a great question.
Um, this is the answer.
If you have any more, please, please ask.
Please call me and ask, you know,I think being truly genuine to your
clients, they relay that to yourrealtors in the same way with realtors.
You know, I have a lot of realtors.
And ask me questions because they knowI'm not going to make them feel dumb.
Voice Over (34:27):
They
Hunter Strong (34:28):
know I'm not going to talk down to them.
You know, you can't talk down to people.
You can't act like you're smarterthan anyone, whether you are or not.
It's irrelevant.
Um, so those are the two biggest things Ithink play to your strengths, be yourself,
and then treat every single person.
Like it's your mom, you know, and, uh,and if they're asking you questions, you
treat them like it was your family member.
(34:49):
And I think if you do those twothings, that's what I've done.
And, you know, you do that every singleday, you play a day by day and you look
up in a year or two years, two months.
Um, you will build somethingthat's pretty cool.
Dale Vermillion (35:00):
I love it.
And I will tell you just fromexperience, having trained millions
of originators around the country,the salesy kind of approach doesn't
work in today's marketplace.
I see very few loan officerswho succeed doing that.
And the ones that do succeedfor very short periods of time.
And it catches up to them when you'resincere, when you've got that other's
(35:22):
first mindset, which we teach all thetime, which you just basically said, treat
them like they're part of your family.
I mean, I love that.
And having been down now withyour team yesterday, that truly is
the culture within your company.
And, you know, I know your momand dad, not now I know your mom
too, but known your dad for years.
And.
Clearly your wholefamily is wired that way.
(35:44):
It's about really honoring people.
It's being kind to people.
Um, that makes all thedifference in the world.
I just, I gotta say it again.
You're, you're wise beyondyour years, my friend.
Um, you, you've done a great job and.
Great information to provide today.
All right.
Let me ask you the same questionthat I ask every one of my
(36:05):
guests as the last question.
Um, I'm a firm believer that one ofthe keys to success for every human
being is you got to have mentors.
You got to have people who teach you,train you, guide you, and encourage
you Uh, through your life and, andI've asked every one of my guests to
share, you know, a mentor or the mentoror a couple of mentors that have been
(36:26):
super meaningful in their life and,and how that meant, uh, and made a
difference for them in their life.
Share with the audience who that wouldbe for you and, and, and why that's been
important and powerful to have somebodyto help you learn and grow and get better.
Hunter Strong (36:44):
Yeah.
Um, I think this answer isprobably pretty obvious.
Um, but that would be my dad.
Dale Vermillion (36:48):
I figured,
Hunter Strong (36:49):
um, so, um, from day one, you know, baseball
sports was my upbringing.
He was the coach of every team.
He was, he was at every single event.
Um, and if there's something that heis, his gift, I think is bringing out
the best in you, whether that's me oranybody else, that is, that is, is, is.
(37:10):
His true gift is whatever yourpotential is, he's going to get
you to a hundred percent of it.
Um, and I think that's whathe's done for me my whole life.
He has pushed me in everything, whetherit was school, I never made a B because
I thought there wasn't an option.
You know, I, I didn't thinkthere was another option.
I, you know, it's like, you don'tmake an a, I don't, I don't know.
(37:32):
You know, and it's simple as that.
So he created that mindset of me thatfailures, you know, it's, it's not an
option, so you better figure out how tosucceed, you know, you better figure out
how to go get this done, you know, ifyou're going to play baseball, you better
figure out how to be one of the bestplayers out there, it doesn't matter.
I mean, naturally gifted, none ofit was not, not a natural athlete.
I mean, I was athletic, but fifth,sixth best person on my team.
(37:55):
And every, every team I started, whetherit was little league, freshman team,
senior year, I was not the best team, butby year I was the best player on the team.
And it was pure, pure hard work anddetermination and, uh, and that was
instilled because that's how he is.
And that he taught that to me, I mean,if he wouldn't have taught me that
I wouldn't have been anywhere that Iwas, I would have never gotten, I would
(38:18):
have never, you know, gone throughcollege and had the GPA that I had, not
that that really matters, but, or theGPA in high school, but all of these
things that I can attribute to success.
Would be the mentality that he hasinstilled in me as far as just hard work
and, and refusing to fail and refusing tosee that as an option, um, just finding
a way, and there's something to that, youknow, people will ask, like on the panel,
(38:41):
they're like, well, what are you doing?
I said, well, I didn't know therewas another option, but to do
this, I mean, that's just howthat's, that's just how it was.
Everything I do, it's 120%.
And if you're not the best, you better bethe best you could possibly be, because
if you're not, you're just lettingyourself and everyone that counts on you.
Um, and so I would say thatobviously he has done that with
(39:03):
this company and building it.
Um, he's done that with me personally,um, and that consistency and everything
that he does is what's taught meto be that way and everything I do.
Same thing with my family, you know,with my wife and my, you know, family.
My daughter, who's now one, um, tome, there's nothing more important
than being the best husbandand the best dad you can be.
I'm not saying I'm the best husbandin the world, but I'm going to be the
(39:25):
best husband that I can be, right?
Because that's my responsibility.
Um, and so I think that mentalityand everything you do is what
he's taught me and what I stilllean on today and everything.
So,
Dale Vermillion (39:36):
well, I know your dad's awfully proud of you and, and you're
going to laugh at this, but this is true.
Both my team and several people that Italked to over the last several weeks.
I mentioned, yeah, I've got aguest coming on batting a thousand,
just kickoff season three.
Loan officer did 50.
About 50 loans last month.
And everybody said,how do you do 50 loans?
I said, well, no one is dad.
He probably didn't knowhe wasn't supposed to.
(39:58):
That's probably what it comes down to.
I think you just
Hunter Strong (40:02):
hit the nail on the head.
Dale Vermillion (40:05):
Hunter, this has been awesome.
You have done an incredible job today.
You have provided so many great, justgolden nuggets for people to just
see what it takes to be successful.
I think the biggest thing that you didtoday that I really appreciate about you.
As you just showed people, it'snot, it's not rocket science.
It's not hard.
You don't have to do anything butwork hard, be creative, and just put
(40:30):
your 1000 percent into what you do.
And you can do well in this marketplace.
I am really grateful foryou being on the show today.
Uh, I know that the listeners aregoing to get a ton out of this.
You bring your family down to Destin.
We would love to, Laurel and I wouldlove to take you guys out to dinner.
Um, on our treat and spend some timewith you guys and get to know you better.
(40:50):
But I want to thank you, uh,for really being here today and
for having such a huge impact.
Hunter Strong (40:55):
Absolutely.
It's an honor.
I appreciate you asking me to be on here.
I really appreciate it.
Dale Vermillion (40:59):
All right, my friend.
Well, we will look forward toseeing you soon for the rest of you.
Thank you for being on batting a thousand.
This is just the first ofthe series for season three.
We'll see on the next batting athousand where the heavy hitters
in the mortgage industry show up.
Thanks so much for being here.
God bless y'all.
See you next time.
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