Phil Shoemaker

Most mortgage lenders, from execs to originators, still treat LinkedIn like its 2015. They post when they switch companies. Maybe they share a press release. Some will even drop the occasional "Rates are low! Call me!" post that gets no engagement. Meanwhile, top producers and modern lenders are building massive visibility, relationships, and pipelines because they actually show up consistently on LinkedIn. Here’s What Most Lenders Are Getting Wrong 🚫 They think LinkedIn is just for job seekers. It is not. It is a sales and branding goldmine. 🚫 They post only about themselves. Nobody cares about your five-star review if you never engage with anyone else. 🚫 They don’t interact with referral partners. You cannot just collect connections. You have to engage with them. 🚫 They assume clients aren’t on LinkedIn. Your clients might not be, but their realtors, financial planners, and builders definitely are. 🚫 They quit after two weeks. Brand-building is a marathon, not a sprint. Stop expecting instant leads. What The Best Lenders Are Doing Instead ✅ They show up consistently. Posting two to three times a week keeps them top of mind. ✅ They add value before asking for business. Market insights, homebuying tips, and economic takes drive real engagement. ✅ They interact daily. Commenting on referral partners’ posts is better than cold DMs that get ignored. ✅ They make their content human. Stories and personal experiences outperform generic industry posts every time. ✅ They treat LinkedIn as a long-term play. The business comes, but only if you stick with it. If you are in mortgage lending and still ignoring LinkedIn, you are losing business to people who aren’t. If you are a leader, your loan officers follow your lead. If you are an originator, your competition is winning deals by being visible. #truth Onward & Upward Consulting

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Hey Mortgage Industry, Owen Lee here, CEO of Success Mortgage Partners, Inc. & chair-elect of the Mortgage Bankers Association 📊 New insights just dropped! A recent TransUnion study reveals how switching to a single-file pool could shape up today’s mortgage and credit landscape. I’d love to hear from other industry pros — how are you interpreting these trends in your business? Drop your take below. ⬇️ #MBA #mortgagenews #MortgageBankersAssociation #mortgageindustry #MBAAnnual25

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Build a Business, Not a Branch Most mortgage professionals think they’re building something big. But are you building a business—or just a branch for someone else? There’s a difference. A branch has your name on it. A business has your freedom attached to it. A branch pays you today. A business pays you for life. A branch is dependent on your production. A business runs without you. Yet too many mortgage pros stay stuck in the 1003 hamster wheel, believing the lie: “I just need to close more loans.” But more production isn’t the answer. More leverage is. We tell ourselves stories: “I don’t have time to build a team.” “I’m not a leader.” “My market is too tough.” “I just need one more good year before I shift.” Here’s what they don’t tell you about scaling: → The discomfort is temporary. → The control is an illusion. → The opportunity is bigger than you think. But you have to make a choice: Stay in production forever. Or step up and start leading. Your future is waiting on the other side of this decision. Which one will you make? #leadership #sales #mortgage

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As we prepared and planned for this year, we had been meeting long before this year started. In our meetings where we discuss 2025 and what challenges we foresee for Churchill Mortgage, based on everything we see and read, we don’t think 2025 for the mortgage industry is going to be materially different than 2024. For the mortgage industry to flourish again, we need to see rates go down or home sales pick up. Many people do not want to move right now. The desire may be there to move but they are looking at their current interest rates which may be in the 3-4% range, and If they go out and buy a new home today, it's going to be more in the 6.5-7.5% range. This tells me that there probably is a massive pent-up demand from older people who want to downsize, as well as younger people wanting to buy a home with an extra bedroom because they just had another child or possibly are planning to have more children. We believe there is potential massive pent-up demand for home sales. But right now, two things are primarily influencing these two different types of people. Number one, most people aren't putting their houses on the market because so many people have already gotten interest rates of 3-4% or lower over the past 3-5 years. Understandably they are not willing to give that up. Secondly, a lot of people who don't own a home can't qualify at a 7% rate for the home they need. So, if and when rates might drop, there's a pent-up demand for home buyers and home sellers who would be ready. But when are rates going to come down to 5.5% or lower? Probably not this year. I wish they would. I would be thrilled if I'm wrong, but we don't think this will happen. We foresee that rates this year will go up a little and down a little, and up a little and down a little. They are basically going to stay in that 6% to 7.5% range, which is not going to spur existing home sales. It is going to keep a lot of people who can qualify at 5% from qualifying for what they need. If some new policies that are being implemented work. Then, over the next 12 to 18 months, the prices of everything will stop increasing dramatically AND may even go down a little. As a response, I believe the rates will come down and housing will be more affordable sometime in 2026 or later. In the meantime, I don’t see our industry changing much in 2025, so we have to be more focused than ever on cost containment. We are focused on hiring loan originators because that brings business to our company. Our teams need to be focused on building relationships and generating loans in this season. #Churchillleadership #Churchillmortgage #mortgages #mortgageindustry #2025

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