Former Senior Vice President of Rocket Mortgage, Michael Saleh, departs one of the nation’s top retail lenders to debut his own independent mortgage brokerage, Zoom Home Lending, based in Livonia, Michigan. However, Saleh and his three co-founders – two of whom are also former Rocket Mortgage employees – have decided to partner with their old wholesale rival, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM).
Saleh explained he made a strategic decision to transition from retail to wholesale, which has grown in the past year to 26.6% market share.
“This new chapter gives me the freedom and flexibility to run my business without any red tape,” Saleh explained. “The wholesale channel and partners such as United Wholesale Mortgage have embraced us warmly and the support has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Before launching Zoom Home Lending, Saleh spent nearly two decades at Rocket Mortgage where he served in various roles, including director, senior director, regional vice president, and most recently, senior vice president, where he led thousands of mortgage bankers.
Saleh told NMP that UWM CEO Mat Ishbia and Executive Vice President Allen Beydoun were very attentive and helpful to the Zoom Lending Team, knowing that the transition may be contentious considering their old employer is a rival competitor.
"The momentum in the wholesale channel continues to grow. More and more retail loan officers are seeing the benefits of becoming a broker and the ability to offer their clients an unmatched experience" a UWM spokesperson said. "We’re excited to partner with Michael and the Zoom Home Lending team and our other UWM partners as we all make the wholesale channel even stronger.”
Zoom Home Lending’s co-founders, Henri Houmani, and Issa Al-Sheleh, who transitioned to the wholesale channel over two years ago, join Saleh after previously working together at Rocket Mortgage. The other co-founder, Robert Lee Turfe, comes from General Motors and will lead marketing, HR, and DEI efforts across the company.
The four co-founders have ambitious growth plans, aiming to scale their brokerage quickly by recruiting high-producing LOs. The company plans to add 100 team members in its first business year, with each loan officer aiming to close 15-20 loans per month. To date, Saleh reports that the brokerage has already reached one-third of its hiring goal and is on pace to close 12 loans per LO for the month of June.
Saleh said he and his co-founders intend to grow Zoom Home Lending into a nationwide brokerage or "mega brokerage," similar in scale to NEXA Mortgage, E Mortgage Capital, or Loan Factory.
“Our team is growing quickly, and we’ve made it a priority to ensure anyone who joins our team has a seamless onboarding process, regardless of their background,” Saleh said. “We’re excited to continue developing Zoom Home Lending to assist consumers nationwide with their home financing needs.”
Rocket Mortgage did not immediately respond to NMP's request for comment.
