Dave Davis and Nancy Blacker work as partners at SunTrust Mortgage Inc. in Orange Park. They’ve been a team for a year and a half.
WHAT MADE YOU TWO DECIDE TO BECOME PARTNERS?
“Primarily that was my decision to bring Nancy on as a partner,” said Davis. “I’ve been doing this almost eight years and my volume that I have built over the years is such that if I didn’t bring on somebody else I was going to have to throttle back on trying to procure new business. The only way I can keep my customer service level up was to have a partner. The other reason is that I am trying to take my business to the next level.”
THE NEXT LEVEL?
“What I am basically doing is building a team that’s underneath me. It’s kind of like what Susan Kennedy (of Re/Max) did by having agents underneath her. I’m just doing it on the mortgage side,” said Davis. Davis said he would like to have no more than two or three loan officers. “I’m not trying to get real big, I’m just trying to get my volume to a certain point,” he said. “Another aspect is that when you get to a certain level, you are pretty much married to the job and you have no breaks where you can get away and have down time. By having two or three partners, we could all have a little bit of time to ourselves and not worry about the shop back here.” Davis said he is setting himself up to be a producing manager over the team. “I just want a team of people that I work well with so I can provide service 24 hours a day and seven days a week, but not have to be here 24 hours a day and seven days a week.”
HOW DID THEY MEET?
Blacker was an agent with Taylor Woodrow and Davis was a loan officer, so he was trying to get business from her. “I had decided to give up onsite sales because I didn’t like working every Saturday and Sunday for family reasons,” said Blacker. “I took a break from it for awhile and I knew I wanted to stay in the same type of business and work with the same people I had built relationships with over the years. I have a background in mortgage banking, so I came to Dave and asked if he needed anyone to help him out because I was interested in getting back into the market, but I didn’t want to do it from the sales side. I wanted more control over my time and my days.”
HER HISTORY?
In Tennessee, she had a general real estate license and worked as a mortgage loan processor. She also worked for a real estate attorney doing loan closings for eight years. Blacker moved to Orange Park from Tennessee in 1995 and had her own vending business. She then went to work at a title company doing loan closings. During that time, she got her Florida real estate license and left the title company to join Taylor Woodrow. “I did onsite sales for them at Deercreek and Julington Creek Plantation for about five years,” said Blacker.
HIS HISTORY?
Davis has a bachelor’s degree in corporate finance and economics from University of North Florida. “I interviewed with SunTrust in 1996 and the bank was just starting a mortgage origination training program,” said Davis. “I had actually went to interview to be a financial analyst, but when the CEO interviewed me, he said he had a better fit for me. Turns out it was in mortgages. So, I just fell into it.” Prior to that he was in the Navy for 11 years. He earned his degree while in the Navy.
BENEFITS FROM THE PARTNERSHIP?
“For me, the benefit of being a partner with Dave is that you have someone else to fall back on as do your customers and Realtor base,” said Blacker. “I think it’s much better to know that there is someone there to help you and help your customers if you are not there. Say I’m out sick for a day; I don’t want to leave my Realtors or customers hanging. It’s so much better for me to know if I need to take a week or a day off, I can. We want our customers to feel like we are interchangeable. We want them to feel that they have more than one person to rely on, keep them informed and that can accomplish whatever they need accomplished at any point and time.”
SUCCESS IN THE MORTGAGE BUSINESS?
“The whole reason for success in this business is communication with your customers and the more that you stay in touch with them the better. We are in a “new society” type mentality. Everyone wants everything now. If you don’t get back to people within an hour or two, they get a little anxious.”
WHAT TYPE OF LOANS DO THEY DO?
Residential mortgage loans.
STRENGTHS EACH OF YOU BRING?
Blacker is more people oriented. She loves going out and talking to the Realtors. “I like doing the breakfasts, lunches, after-hours events and calling on them. I like the one-on-one personal relationship,” said Blacker. “Dave is very sharp with numbers and figures and making loans work. He is good at getting around things to make the loans work for the Realtors and customers. He is very good at customizing the loan to their needs. I can go out and talk with the Realtors and he can do all the technical end of it and we work very well together like that.”
WHAT CAN REALTORS DO TO HELP WITH THE LOAN PROCESS?
“One thing I think is real important that Realtors should do for their customers is to educate themselves about the actual loan process,” said Blacker. “Realtors need to know what happens when you make a loan application, what happens next, how it’s processed and underwritten and it goes to closing. Many people only buy one home in their lifetime and they don’t know how loans work, loan approvals work and closing costs. It’s up to the Realtor and the loan officer to make sure the homebuyer is educated about the process. If you miss a step and they get hit with something they didn’t know was coming, it ruins the whole relationship.”
WHAT IS ONE BEST THING THAT YOU COULD TELL REALTORS?
“The more the Realtor knows about the whole transaction and the process, the better the customer will be served,” said Davis. “They don’t need to know all the technical parts of my job, but they should know what the entire process entails.”
WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT SELLING AS A TEAM INSTEAD OF ALONE?
Davis said the main difference he has found is that he is not used to someone else taking loan applications and him not knowing what is going on with the loan right up front. “We just have to stay in constant communication, which we do,” said Davis.
WHAT IS ONE THING THAT GOT YOU BOTH WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
“I think we are both just hard workers,” said Blacker. “We are both have a real strong work ethic and are dedicated to making it work. We are both pretty tough about being determined that if you want something to happen, we have both been able to make that happen in our lives.”
WHAT DO THEY LIKE TO DO WHEN NOT WORKING?
Davis likes to ride his Harley Davidson motorcycle and play golf. Blacker plays tennis, attends her daughter’s soccer events, visits with friends and going to her second home in Destin, Fla.
FAMILY
Blacker has been married to Jeff, general manager for Champion Brands, for 30 years. They have two children Jamie, 16, and Julie, 22. Dave has been married to Cindy, an independent contractor in the mortgage closing business, for 22 years. They also have two children, Brian, 21 and Jennifer, 19.
RESIDES
Blacker lives in Deercreek on the Southside and Davis lives on Fleming Island.
FAVORITES
Blacker’s favorite book is “Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver. Her favorite movie is “A Christmas Story.” When relaxing at home, she enjoys tuning into “Will and Grace.” When traveling, she likes the mountains in North Carolina and when dining out, she prefers bb’s. Davis enjoys novels by the author Tom Clancy. A movie he saw recently and would recommend was “Bad Boys II.” When relaxing at home he likes to tune into “CSI.” When traveling, he likes to go to the Bahamas and when dining out he likes Bonefish Grill.
- by Michele Newbern Gillis