by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Countrywide Home loans is the No. 1 mortgage originator in the country so it would figure that they would post big numbers. But $6.6 billion worth of mortgages in June?
“Those are strictly mortgage originations,” said Rick Brown, vice president and area sales manager for Countrywide locally. “That eclipsed our previous monthly high of $5.5 billion.”
Brown firmly believes the company will capitalize on year-end sales and eclipse the June numbers.
“I would not be surprised if we topped that by the end of the year,” he said. “There are a lot of new homes being built by publicly-traded companies. The end of the year is big for them.”
Brown joined Countrywide a little over a year ago after a 20-year career with what was First Union and is now Wachovia. He was recruited by Countrywide, which is based in Calabasas, Calif., in May of last year. After researching the company, Brown realized he was looking at an opportunity to get back into doing just mortgages.
“I was in mortgage lending in a banking environment and I wanted to get back into purely a mortgage environment,” said Brown, who is from Jacksonville and graduated from Sandalwood High.
Today, Brown oversees six Countrywide offices with 50 employees and plenty of room to grow. The area’s current real estate climate has created a demand for mortgage brokers that is hard to fill. Brown said his daily mission to recruit top-notch brokers with at least a year of two of experience because Countywide puts their recruits through an intensive, one-week training period rather than a six-week program.
“We are looking for the more seasoned broker,” he said. “Someone with a good financial aptitude is a valuable item, but at the end of the day, I am looking for salespeople.”
Twenty years ago, the typical mortgage was either a 15 or 30-year term. Today, the list or mortgages available is longer than the menu at European Street.
“The are hundreds of different types of mortgages,” said Brown. “The list is always growing because there such a broad array of buyers and a broad array of products.”