One-Stop Shops Are The New Mom-And-Pops

In the past, loan originators and real estate agents operated independently, each with distinct roles in separate companies. Surprise! Loan originators can also be licensed real estate agents, and inversely, pulling double duty in a single deal and earning from both roles.

Those who wear both hats argue that it makes their transaction more seamless when a customer decides to use them as both their LO and real estate agent and opens the doors for new referral relationships if the customer only uses them for one side of the transaction.

Watch it on The Interest: Dually Licensed Dynamos

But, of course, limitations come with the deal. For one, customers aren’t expected to use the same real estate agent for their loans, and vice versa. Monica Stone-Huggins, broker/owner of North Carolina-based Main St. Brokers, is a rule stickler regarding dual capacity. “Some of the remaining allowable states for dual capacity may require the disclosure to be generated in writing, and then there are remaining states where the disclosure is not required,” Stone-Huggins explained. “However, I believe dual capacity should always be disclosed in writing.”

Stone-Huggins, who is also licensed as a broker associate and realtor with California-based Everwise Home Loans & Realty, says that the biggest principle is transparency. “If I was a listing agent and a buyer came in and asked if I could represent them as a buyer, I could, but then I couldn’t finance them for the listing,” she said. “So you can represent both sides if you’re a listing agent, but you cannot have dual capacity as lender and Realtor to finance … As a mortgage broker, I may have some lender options that will have an overlay, that they will not allow for dual capacity. Most companies require that you hang both your lending and real estate licenses under the same umbrella. States may require this also.”

Organic Origins

Stone-Huggins started off in the mortgage industry as a lender in 2004 and worked her way through mortgage banking up until the 2008 recession. When she jumped back in the game in 2016 at loanDepot, she said after having a few situations where an LO “dropped the ball” for her clients, she decided to work as both an LO and a real estate agent. Eventually, she wound up working at Everwise.

Now, she runs a boutique brokerage in North Carolina and still keeps her real estate license. “The position I’m in now is that I’m still a broker associate with my company in California where I cover seven states in lending, but I moved to North Carolina to start the firm,” she said. “I stick to the lending side and try to educate [the Realtors] on the lending side so agents are more familiar with the process or the right approach to whoever the lender is. It gives them an edge.”

Of course, Stone-Huggins hasn’t completely cut out her real estate roots. “There are some clients I work with on the real estate side because it worked out that way, but I mostly do lending and help out the agents on their knowledge to best help their clients, whether I’m their lender or not,” she said.

Jamie K. Adams has been a real estate agent for a decade and currently works for eXp Realty and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Adams started in the corporate banking world in 2001 during her sophomore year of college at California State University, working at the Bank of America call center in Pasadena. After graduating with a business degree and later earning an MBA, Adams stuck with banking, eventually holding positions at several credit unions. To Adams, becoming a real estate agent happened organically.

Up until July 2023, Adams was doing real estate but felt like she was treading water. “The economy was hurting me and I realized I needed multiple streams of income … I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket,” she explained. “After managing the back-end support for mortgages [in previous roles], it was an easy segue into becoming a loan officer to do the front-end side.”

Adams joined NEXA Mortgage shortly after getting her loan officer license. “It was a slow summer because of the high interest rates. In December, I closed two deals and for January I closed three,” she said.

Realistic Referral Expectations

Adams says, right off the bat, that having dual capacity isn’t for everyone. “You’re going to be OK at both. There are not enough hours in the day. You cannot full-on be a buyer’s agent and be out showing homes, going on listing appointments, and realistically getting a lot of loans,” she said. “Realistically, you can’t do 10-14 loans at once while attending listing appointments.

“You can choose one side for a while, … focus on real estate and refer out business for the loan side. But I do recommend this for people whose business isn’t major. It’s impossible to make a million dollars in real estate and loans at the same time. This is best for people who are looking for a different stream of income, and depending on how the market shifts, you can ramp up your loan business and prepare for that or do the same with your real estate business.”

Brandon Metoyer from Zero Point Mortgage says he only got his real estate license to understand more about the loan process. The Colorado-based loan officer has been in the business for about four years. “Prior, I was a network engineer at Charter Spectrum, and I was looking for a career where I could create my hours and income,” he explained. “I joined [the industry] as an assistant first and got my license, but I’m the type of person where if I don’t know both sides and the full picture, I feel lost. While talking to these clients, I felt like I knew nothing. I didn’t know the seller concessions or contracts, and it started affecting my confidence as an LO.”

Metoyer says that he took the real estate course without the intention of actually being an agent; he simply wanted the knowledge. Plus, dual licenseships weren’t legal in Colorado yet. But after the legalization, Metoyer is now a real estate agent through Success Realty Experts and has branded himself as “the face of dual licensing in Colorado” on his social media pages.

When asked if his referral business suffered as a result of him becoming a one-stop-shop for homebuying, Metoyer says that he had been at a previous company that provided leads. “We always had customers,” he said. “But without having leads, my main focus became getting referral partners. My approach now is just focusing on buyers and then, through the buyer, talking to the [real estate] agent they were using. That saved me a lot of time versus trying to show up at open houses with donuts.”

Metoyer says although those referral partners worked out, many have “become scared” of him becoming dually licensed, now viewing him as a threat to their own business. But, that hasn’t stopped the money from rolling in. “I haven’t made less by any means by being dually licensed; I even bought my first house this year,” he said. “As for my referral partners, I find that it’s your friends and family that use you last because some still see you as someone they watched grow up. So it goes beyond advertising on social media and proving to the general public that I’m a professional and not going to step on another loan officer or real estate agent’s business.”

Adams, however, had a more consistent experience with referral partners. “I do have some Realtors who are sending me business. Could I have more? 1000%. I have 10 years of a network built up,” Adams said. “I think there is some hesitation on sending me loan business since I am a direct competition, but to the people that do send me business, I make it very clear that we have our separate roles. I will not step on your toes, and I will stay in my lane. At the end of the day, it’s about helping the customer. A customer may love me doing their loan but may not want to go out and look at houses with me, we might have nothing in common. The point is I don’t like to overstep bounds.”