Wednesday's episode of Mortgage Leadership Outlook featured Nomi Smith, co-founder of PMI Rate Pro. Smith and series' host Andrew Berman, head of engagement and outreach for National Mortgage Professional magazine, discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the mortgage industry to enter the world of digital lending faster and how she started PMI Rate Pro.
Smith's experience as an originator was helpful in crafting technology that originators can us to create a better customer experience for borrowers. She has also been working as a mortgage banker for Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.
Growing up around self-made parents, Smith always wanted to be an entrepreneur. She took note of their work ethic, from working multiple jobs to finally creating their own businesses.
Entering the mortgage business wasn’t easy for Smith. Her first client meeting didn’t go well but she didn’t let that discourage her. She took it as a learning experience and soon realized that some folks will work with her and some won’t - that’s just the nature of the job.
Highlights From The Interview:
Smith went through her own mortgage experience before entering the business. After three years in the mortgage industry, she soon realized that there is a better way to structure private mortgage insurances. She then analyzed the process of finding all of the PMI rates to ensure the customer receives the best one possible and teamed up with a partner to create PMI Rate Pro, a tool that shops rates through all six companies and provides results within 10 seconds.
“Our goal when we started the company was going after lenders and brokers individually. Very quickly we figured out we could be a part of a loan origination system, so, fintech partnerships are really important for us. Also going after wholesalers too, the conversations that we’re having, we’re looking at it from a different perspective,” said Smith when speaking about the customization her company can provide to clients.
She thinks she spent too many years stressing out over closing deals and negative interactions but realized that it was impacting her life more than it should. Smith realized that she really didn’t need to stress because things always worked out.
Previously her company focused on in-person meetings but once COVID-19 hit, she realized that you can be just as effective via Zoom. “We have all the tools needed to assist the homebuyer.”
“I think the world was heading this way anyway and COVID just kind of made it happen faster. Even buyers are forced to trust you more because there is no option to meet in person anymore.”
Check out the full interview between Smith and Berman below.
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