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The mortgage and real estate business has been very, very good to me! Back in 1972, I took a job as a closing agent at mortgage company located in South Bend, Indiana--without even knowing what a "closing" was all about. Within a few years, I made the move to loan originating and becoming the first woman loan officer in my town. I took the "road" that most originators take--becoming a top producer, a branch manager and then regional VP. Then, something else happened. I was asked to turn around a regional office in Houston that was going down the tubes due to mismanagement, high default, and practically no name recognition at all. When I arrived, the mortgage company was listed at number 298 out of 302 companies in closed-loan volume. After 4 years, we were listed at number 8. Moving back to Indiana, my sister Becky and I started a mortgage company called Cornerstone Mortgage and specialized in A-paper, conventional loans with new construction as our niche. I also had my real estate broker's license and formed a real estate company called "Buyers Agent" and an appraisal company. It was the first one-stop shopping company in South Bend. With new construction as our niche--we created a controlled business arrangement (CBA) with Weiss Homes, one of the largest builders in Northern Indiana and formed a mortgage company called Foundation Mortgage--capturing almost 60 per cent of their new construction deals. Then my sister and my business partner was diagnosed with cancer. We sold the businesses in 2002. While she fought a brave fight, she passed away in 2002 and I'm sure she is in heaven watching over us. In 2000 my husband was asked to move to the Minneapolis area to run a company who specializes in equipment for the printing industry. At the same time, Mortgage Originator Magazine asked me to run their SuperStars Seminars and help train loan officers online. That's how I got my start in helping loan officers and real estate agents duplicate what I did to generate leads, close more loans and get to the top of the transaction heap. As the proverbial "older, experience woman" who's been there and done that, I consider myself as your CONCIERGE. I only recommend seminars, sales tools and speakers that I would have wanted for my businesses. I don't try to sell you stuff for the sake of making sales. In fact, I consider myself successful--only if my clients are successful. Check out my other websites: |
 Karen Deis |