| Our Business Philosophy
A Blank Sheet of Paper
Over 15 years ago we sat down at a table in front of a blank sheet of paper. Our goal was to create the blue print for the Ideal Mortgage Company. One by one we filled the page with the ideas we felt the Ideal Mortgage Company would incorporate. There were no rules or financial restrictions to these ideas. We quickly realized the more impossible the idea seemed, the more perfect it was for the blueprint. The Ideal Mortgage Company would be designed to take care of its greatest asset…The Loan Officer.
The entire framework had to be pure, and true, serving only the concept of creating the Ideal Mortgage Company. There was no detail too small or concept too grand for this design. It had to be perfect.
When we finished on the table before us the blank page had become the blueprint for the company we knew had to be built. It was a moment of mixed emotions. On one hand the excitement of seeing what could be, and on the other the vivid realization of the daunting task we’d just created. To say it wasn’t going to be easy would’ve been a massive understatement. Some of the concepts, such as paying our Loan Officers 100% on their loans, didn’t make financial sense in any way, but were critical components to the fabric of the Ideal Mortgage Company. We had only one choice……roll up our sleeves and start building brick by brick.
We knew we had serious obstacles to overcome in constructing the company that lay in that blueprint, but we also knew there could be “No Compromise”. We couldn’t cut corners or accept approximations. Accepting less would pollute the purity of our idea, and we believed (and still believe) the Ideal Mortgage Company would never allow for anything short of perfection.
And so over the last 10 years we’ve built the company we believe is second to none. The name of the company was to be Ascent, and we chose Ascent for its definition:
Ascent: The act or process of rising or going upward.
This word was a concise summation of the direction our course had been set 10 years ago……rising upward without compromise. We also found that the word Ascent had no implied ending to the process of rising upward. This matched perfectly with our never ending pursuit to create the Ideal Mortgage Company. The simple truth we discovered is the Ideal Mortgage Company would need to encompass different traits as the market fluctuated. The Ideal Mortgage Company would adapt to these changes and as a result would forever need to strive for perfection in all areas. It would forever be rising upward.
A Foundation Built on a Single Statement
As the mortgage industry continues to shift and divide one simple truth has become evident. There is nothing as important as the relationship with the client. It sounds over simplified, but believe me it’s not. In designing the Ideal Mortgage Company we had to closely examine who are Loan Officers would be competing with, and how we could give them the advantage.
So, who is your competition, not just now, but in the future as well?
The fact is it isn’t the other Loan Officers in the industry that threaten our livelihood. It’s the giant institutions we send our loans to every day. These giant lending institutions believe the mortgage is simply an introduction into the clients entire financial need base. They want to be there to help with auto loans, credit cards, personal loans, checking and savings, direct deposit and payment, student loans, and yes the mortgage as well. They want it all, and they’ll give away the mortgage to get this relationship started.
It isn’t just the Giant Lending Institutions that want to be our client’s one stop financial resource. Within a year Wal-Mart and Cost Co will offer mortgages out of every one of their retail stores. Microsoft and Better Homes and Garden are also perched to begin their versions of the “One Stop Wholesale Mortgage Service”. The fact is they have the money and technology to do some ground breaking things.
This should be scary…..but it’s not. They have an Achilles Heel.
In their grand design they overlooked one critical piece; the relationship with the Client. They plan to wow them with technology, a simple process, and zero closing costs…..but that won’t be enough. The flaw in the design is that they won’t have the margin built into their budget to afford someone like YOU.
They’ll have a $6 p/hr employee, but they won’t have someone to sit with a Client (possibly several times, over several weeks) and help them find the right program for their needs. They won’t have someone with the experience to overcome credit or value issues. They won’t have someone to help them find the loan that puts them into that first home, or consolidates debt so they have the money to send their child to college. Chances are they won’t even have the same employee working their Loan Service desk for two consecutive months. They certainly won’t have someone like you who’ll be there for them year after year. They won’t have these and so many other things because they won’t have you…the Loan Officer. Without the Loan Officer they won’t have the relationship, and without the relationship they won’t have the Client.
The Loan Officer like never before has control of their destiny. We know and believe this to be true. It’s for this reason ten years ago we sat down to create the Ideal Mortgage Company for a Loan Officer. YOU are our Client. It is our sole mission to be your biggest ally in the industry. Everything we do is in an effort to make you more successful. In short, everything we do is to provide you with ….
The Best Mortgage Experience
That little statement is the foundation our company was built upon. We want every contact with us to have been the Best Mortgage Experience you’ve had. We know this is a tall order, and it’s for this reason we have the words “The Best Mortgage Experience” written in 15” letters across every wall of our Corporate Headquarters. It serves as a reminder as to how important our relationship is with you, our Client, the Loan Officer.
We believe by providing the Ideal Mortgage Company that our Loan Officers will be equipped to continue giving their Clients the Best Mortgage Experience. It’s through providing the Best Mortgage Experience that we will all ensure our success.
Ascent Home Loans
We appreciate you taking the time to learn about us, and hope that your future holds nothing but success and happiness.
Best of luck on what ever road you choose….
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