National mortgage company UMortgage announced the team's expansion to include Matt The Mortgage Guy to its corporate portfolio — a full-service mortgage brokerage based in Sacramento and operated by YouTube influencer Matt Gougé.
Gougé is an eight-year mortgage veteran who has built a strong social media presence educating consumers on housing-related finance literacy. As United Wholesale Mortgage's Top 1% California broker, ranked among the top 150 mortgage brokers nationwide by Scotsman Guide, Gougé has the expertise to guide clients to their best personalized solution.
When most people think of YouTube influencers, like Mr. Beast or David Dobrik, they think of big, comedic personalities. They think of clickbait titles, like “You’ll Never Believe What I Got” and a thumbnail of someone pulling a snake out of an Amazon shipment box, causing the viewer to impulsively click the link, thinking "I need to know what happens next." Some of these marketing tactics are ridiculed for being exaggeratory and dramatic, but if any of you ever had to sit through a presentation at a mortgage conference, then you might agree these professionals could use a little more of the dramatics.
"We're excited to serve California by supporting the pursuit of homeownership through a personalized and educational approach to getting a mortgage," Gougé said. "Mortgages are not a one-size-fits-all product. We'll make sure that our clients obtain their best solution, and truly understand the nuts and bolts behind why that solution makes sense."
Perhaps even more interesting is who is spearheading support for this new mortgage influencer. Anthony Casa, former AIME chairman who was likened to a cult leader that would strike viciously against his competitors and — if it meant getting ahead — their spouses as well.
In 2020, Casa was sued for defamation by Theresa Niemec, the wife of Quicken Loans’ Mortgage Services Executive Vice President Austin Niemec, for posting lewd and sexist videos to his Facebook page. Although many men and women in the industry were outraged at his behavior, it wasn’t enough to dissolve the cult of brokers that supported him. Even after the incident was reported by multiple media outlets, brokers flooded his Facebook page with well wishes, apparently seeing no foul when the former CEO asserted a woman — who he did not even know — of having sexual relations with her spouses’ chief rival at United Wholesale Mortgage.
Apparently, Casa is attempting to turn a new page in his career as president and CEO of UMortgage by applying his unique brand of energy towards educating professionals across the industry.
"At UMortgage, we're committed to providing accessible financial literacy as it pertains to homeownership, especially for underserved communities," Casa said. "Matt Gougé has built a reputation as a trusted mortgage advisor and his YouTube platform will be valuable in sharing financial literacy to a broader audience."
