Matt Oliver is a loan consultant with Glendale, Ariz.-based Lund Mortgage Team Inc. and president of the Arizona Association of Mortgage Professionals (AzAMP). National Mortgage Professional Magazine recently spoke with Oliver regarding his work in his state’s trade group.
How and why did you get involved in the Arizona Association of Mortgage Professionals? Can you share the track within your association that led to the leadership role?
My father-in-law, Stan Lund, was heavily involved when I moved over to Lund Mortgage. He was the statewide president of the Arizona Association of Mortgage Brokers, the forerunner of AzAMP. He strongly encouraged my wife, Lisa Lund, and myself to get involved. Lisa actually started taking on leadership roles within the association first, and I was serving as Government Affairs Committee chair. That’s always been my favorite role within the organization. When she was president, she “volunteered” me to be president-elect and it took off from there.
Why do you feel members of the mortgage profession in your state join AzAMP?
Right now, we have a really solid group of professionals who want to lead. They really strive to gain more members and try to make Arizona one of the stronger states for leadership. So we go out and seek individuals who aren’t currently members and try to show them the value that AzAMP and NAMB bring their business.
We want to show them the organization is out fighting for their small business. On a state level also, I would say we all share our best practices at our luncheons and meetings. We talk about what lenders are working the best for us, who offers the best pricing, fastest closings, etc.
What role does your association play in the state legislative and regulatory environment?
We seem to have a pretty decent presence every year at the Legislative Conference. That’s always been my favorite conference to attend and our association does well, fundraising every year, so we can send a good group of individuals to D.C. for that. We’ve organized meetings locally with our congressional representatives and try to keep our names in front of them so if they ever do have anything to bring to up to us, we’re always available.
What do you see as your most significant accomplishments with the association?
I guess you could say there isn’t a higher position within the state than my current role, but as I always enjoyed the government affairs position, as I feel like that’s where my strengths and knowledge are at.
In your opinion, what can be done to bring more young people into mortgage careers?
I think more young people will come to this profession from the big banks, working mortgages on the phones, or as an assistant role with a good mortgage professional. I am not sure a 22-year-old out of college could come and be ready to be a productive mortgage professional. Some experience, either as an assistant or working at a larger institution, is where they will come from. So, in young people in essence, to get more to this profession, it’s going to have to come from recruiting the talent from the big banks. Though, personally, I am not sure how much respect or trust I would’ve gotten from a potential homebuyer as a 22- or 23- year-old fresh out of college telling someone how to finance the biggest purchase of their life.
How would you define your state's housing market?
I think Arizona is actually really strong right now. As everyone knows, we were one of the big four states that got crushed on home values. Most of those values are back to normal over to the past five to seven, and I would say we’re now getting back to a modest gain of three to six percent every year.
Phil Hall is managing editor of National Mortgage Professional Magazine. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
