Name: John Hodgkins
Title: Senior Loan Adviser, Fairway Independent Mortgage
Age: 55
Experience: 11 years
John Hodgkins has worked through some of the best and worst markets in recent memory – but before that, he was a tackle for the University of Maine-Orono Black Bears, and today loves following UConn Huskies with his wife, an alum. The couple also enjoys biking and hiking and spending time with their three children. Hodgkins said he sees the Millennial generation as both the next big wave of homebuyers, and of loan originators.
Q: How did you get into the mortgage business?
A: I started in retail banking and I liked it. I actually have a teaching degree, but I was living in Maine and teaching wasn’t paying well, so I got into a management training program. I did that for three years and wanted to go into commercial lending but I didn’t have the background. So I took a job with a large oil company in Maine as an internal operations auditor to learn from the ground up how business worked. Those two years were my business degree. I carried an accounting book to most of my audits. I met my wife and moved to Connecticut and learned that the lending community had a whole different set of rules. I had learned a lot about underground tank rules and the state of Connecticut had just started an underground cleanup fund. I was an environmental project manager. Those last couple of years I got a chance to do some sales stuff, which was more the way I was wired. I did that for three or four years. I loved the sales aspect. I circled back to lending through some friends of mine. I figured the mortgage business offered the best and quickest payoff, so I started with a local lender.
I started out looking at it like it would be great if I could just replace the income I was making and started every year systematically making improvements and [to] get to another level. I hit a level I was pretty proud of in the first three or four years; now 10 years later I’ve doubled it. Now, I’m looking to build a team to double that again here in Glastonbury.
I got into the business in 2002. Everybody said I was just a little too late. My first year in the business was a big year for refinancing. We saw a good purchase market until 2006. I call it “the cleanse.” The crash really narrowed the field of originators. We looked at that as a positive and we became more valuable as a result of going through it. It’s been hard but to those people who are learning it new, it’s doable. If you know the rules, you can play the game and TRID has some rules that Fairway has made a system out of and that’s track we all run on.
Q: Who are your typical buyers?
A: We watch that pretty closely. I’m meeting a lot more Millennials through portals like Zillow. Connecticut has 30 percent or so first-time homebuyers. About 20 to 25 percent of my leads come through Zillow; 90 percent of those are Millennials. I’ve got to tell you, in this market they’re easier to deal with them than some of the older people. If you give a Millennial a needs list, if they trust you, the docs are liable to be there before you get a return receipt. Millennials want to manage the space between me and them. They want to control that. They do not want me to take them by the hand. Once you’re through some of that stuff, they become like my other customers. They don’t want me to be Dad. They don’t get offended if you stay in touch, but you have to do it in a way that serves them. What I like about them is they go online and research me.
Q: As you implement more technology, do you worry about losing the face-to-face connection with your clients?
A: Some of the biggest changes is the way people are getting information to us. The speed by which we can analyze product for people has changed. Some of the tools we have here at Fairway make it a lot easier. People understand them. I think the loan estimate has really taken a lot of the darkness and craziness out of the process. People are less intimidated than they were in the good faith days. In the last four months, I think I’ve sat with two people signing and dating an application. Maybe I’ve Fed Exed five more. All the rest are done online.
These days, going to a closing is more important. We might not have the same face-to-face time, but I probably have significant amount of telephone and face to face in the pre-approval process. People are able to retain and engage that way. It gives them the chance to trust someone well before they made an offer. A lot of times people meet with me in person to go over their pre-approval. We end up having a longer relationship. The name of the game is setting the stage for when the closing happens. That’s when the real work begins. And staying relevant after the closing. The relationship with the client has to be first, without that there’s no referrals and there’s no fun. You’ve got to make it fun.
Q: What are you seeing in the market right now?
A: One thing I’m seeing is there are some technical jobs in upper middle management here. People in their 30s and 40s are moving to Connecticut for very select jobs, technical jobs. All the people I’m talking to are seeing improvement in their businesses.
Prices are down, but sales volume is up. I’d say that purchase volume have been steadily increasing since 2013. Here’s some general thoughts: You have pockets of West Hartford, Glastonbury, Ellington Farmington, South Windsor, where we have been seeing competitive bids. Throughout the rest of the state, though, there is a lot of deferred maintenance. Also, some of the mess that happened with foreclosure and bad investment loans is working its way through the system and there are a fair number of people who are trapped. But we’re still seeing steady improvement in the good areas.
Five Books Hodgkins Read This Year:
- “All The Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr
- “The Wright Brothers,” by David McCullough
- “Dare to Serve,” by Cheryl A. Bachelder
- “Love Does,” by Bob Goff
- “Grow Rich with Peace of Mind,” by Napoleon Hill
