NEXA Lending has added high-producing originator and branch leader Andrew Deyo from Rate, along with a team representing approximately $100 million in annual mortgage production.
Deyo, an Army veteran who spent 13 years in the military before entering mortgage, is expected to personally produce roughly $60 million this year. Modex data reviewed by NMP shows he generated approximately $50.6 million across 121 loans over the past year at Rate.
His business is heavily concentrated in VA lending. Modex attributes $41.5 million of Deyo's trailing production to VA loans, representing about 82% of his total volume. He also generated $39.2 million in purchase volume.
Deyo was a producing partnership branch manager at Rate's Colorado Springs office. That branch generated approximately $100.2 million across 229 loans over the past year, according to Modex, closely tracking the approximately $100 million in team production cited by NEXA.
The branch itself was heavily oriented toward the same markets: $68.8 million of its production came from VA loans, while $76.4 million was purchase volume.
Deyo's arrival adds another sizable production group to a NEXA recruiting run that has increasingly involved established producers and teams rather than individual originators alone.
In September, NEXA landed the Bookspan Baker Team from Guild Mortgage, another group on pace for approximately $100 million in annual production. Model Match data analyzed by NMP at the time showed NEXA had added a net 513 MLOs during the previous 12 months, representing approximately $690 million in production associated with those movements.
From Producer To Builder
At NEXA, Deyo plans to focus not only on his own production but also on expanding the company's Business Development Marketing program, or BDM. NEXA describes the program as a way for qualified participants to develop business relationships and expand their reach within its platform.
“My mission is to blow up the BDM program,” Deyo said. “I've seen what happens when you give the right people the right economics and an opportunity to grow.”
Deyo said he evaluated multiple opportunities before choosing NEXA, going so far as to build out the economics of the different models.
“NEXA's model was just clean,” he said. “I built out the P&Ls. I looked at the economics. I asked a lot of questions.”
He said another opportunity included a sign-on bonus worth more than $750,000, but that wasn't enough to sway his decision.
“I wasn't looking at what I could make on day one,” Deyo said. “I was looking at what I could build over the long term, and for me, NEXA was the clear choice.”
That emphasis on building is notable given Deyo's history at Rate. Modex identifies him as both a branch manager and VA specialist, with licenses across nine states.
Before joining Rate, Deyo's path through the mortgage industry included an earlier stint working with Krystal Stearns, who is now also at NEXA.
Deyo initially entered mortgage as a broker after leaving the Army. He later joined Stearns' high-producing team as a junior loan officer, an experience he credits with helping him learn how to originate at scale.
“I started with Krystal knowing almost nothing,” Deyo said. “I was sitting in her living room asking her a million questions while she was working on loans and taking care of her kids.”
Deyo later returned to individual production, generating approximately $22 million during his first six months and roughly $57 million the following year, according to NEXA. He eventually helped build the Rate branch that generated approximately $100 million in trailing production.
Another Piece Of NEXA's Recruiting Push
Deyo's move also reunites him with Stearns following NEXA's acquisition of UMortgage.
That acquisition was part of a broader expansion strategy that has increasingly positioned NEXA's infrastructure and economics as a platform for established mortgage businesses, not just individual LOs.
Mortgage Nerds subsequently joined NEXA's platform while retaining its existing brand. Then came the roughly $100 million Bookspan Baker Team from Guild. Now Deyo is arriving from Rate with another group NEXA says represents approximately $100 million in annual production.
Deyo's emphasis on BDM could extend that strategy further, turning one of NEXA's newest recruits into another source of growth for the platform.
“Andrew understands that the way you build something big is by creating opportunities for other people to win with you,” NEXA founder and Executive Partner Mike Kortas said. “He has already proven he can produce at a high level, but what gets me excited is that he thinks beyond his own production.”
NEXA CEO Geri Farr similarly pointed to Deyo's interest in expanding BDM.
“He understands how to develop people, he understands how to create growth, and he is already thinking about how he can use BDM to create opportunities we haven't even reached yet,” Farr said.
For NEXA, Deyo brings more than another high-producing originator. His arrival adds another established production team to a recruiting strategy increasingly centered on attracting mortgage professionals who have already built businesses — and want a platform to make them bigger.
