Tag: Underwriting

‘Benchmark Magic’ is because of the People

I truly believe the reason we have what many call ‘Benchmark Magic’ is because of the people that work here. There would be no ‘Benchmark Magic’ without Vicki Maley. This lady is a wealth of knowledge – she is a living and breathing All Regs. Obviously she is an amazing person and but she is a gifted underwriter and I am proud she is part of the Martini Mortgage Group. I love the fact that Vicki has a servant heart and for he patience that she demonstrates with me. I have and continue to learn form her every day & everyday I am thankful for her.

Kevin Martini — Branch Manager in Raleigh, NC

This Is A Family We Are Helping

This guy rolls up his sleeves and grinds – who am I talking about? Trevor Ferguson. Trevor understands that this is not just a request for financing but this is a family we are helping. He makes the process very smooth…he has turbo fast turn time & he is very easy to work with. When I say easy, I mean insanely easy.

Now listen…he does not always say yes however I wish he would but, whenever there is a bump in the process he helps by being proactive to find a solution.

Proud that Trevor is my Partner.

Kevin Martini — Branch Manager in Raleigh, NC

Thank you team! Much appreciated!

I just wanted to share an experience I had last night. We had a file which is closing, Friday December 29, between the holidays. The last day to send/sign the CD was last night, Tuesday December 26, and our rate lock also expires the same day. The borrower was looking forward to moving over the holiday weekend, the file also helped the real estate agent hit his “goal” for the year. Therefore, it was very important that it close this year to all parties involved.

We received the CD and noticed that we were not using all the expected seller concessions. This was all happening late in the day and we needed solutions. Jana Spencer and David Garret (underwriters) were both on the phone an hour +, past business hours helping with a solution. Once the situation was resolved, we realized our closer had went home for the evening. In a panic, we sent out an email to all the closers asking for help. We received a response within a few short minutes from Bonnie Carroll at 9:08 PM EST. Regardless of where Bonnie is located – it was after hours, and she could have just as easily ignored the email with no repercussions. Bonnie sent out my CD, borrower signed around 10:00pm. Bonnie, Jana and David saved my closing, and saved me the hassle of all the apologies I would have needed to make. Thank you team! Much appreciated! Best wishes in 2018! #benchmarkdoesitbetter, #sometimesthisbusinessmakesmeold #happy2018

Colin Quiney — Loan Officer in Grand Rapids, MI

An Experience That Truly Is The Benchmark Magic.

Just wanted to share an experience that truly is the Benchmark Magic.

David Zambelas is one of our loan officers here in Greenville, and he does unbelievable work on a regular basis. It is truly a pleasure to work with such a consummate professional day in and day out. He had a past client that was under contract for a condo. After waiting 30 days for FHA approval, they denied the condo submission, devastating his client who was desperate to be in her new home before the holidays.

David received a new contract for a recently built Townhome this Monday 12/11 at 2:43 pm, at which time he and I discussed the potential closing dates. The kicker is, the seller is going to be out of town for a couple weeks through the holidays, which would require us to close no sooner than mid-January, but if we moved extremely fast and accurately we’d have a chance to potentially close the following Friday on 12/22.

What anyone would call a long shot in this business.

Remember, David does unbelievable work, so after getting his team working on their pieces, having his client sign new disclosures just 2 hours after obtaining the new contract, updating all the required documentation, and moving the file in to processing……we had a file complete with Title, Appraisal, New Construction Docs, CO, the whole shooting match…..in less than 3 days.

Since we had a full file to submit, I made a call to Becky Ruiz to see if she would be able to help push this file into Submissions ASAP. As always, Becky’s greatness shined through the phone, and moments after hanging up I received the email from Emilio Santos – “file submitted”.

I then called our Underwriter, Melissa Soliz, to check on the possibility of fitting this into her workload today or Monday, while explaining the situation. Greatness shined through the phone again, and she happily obliged to review the file TODAY.

Long story short, we just got a full CLEAR TO CLOSE on Friday 12/15 11:57 am (3 days, 21 hours, 46 minutes after contract receipt) on an FHA purchase, within 2 hours of submission.

We are closing next Friday 12/22 at 3:00 with time to spare.

David’s client is so happy, she is getting her wish….to move into her new home before the holidays. Talk about a Christmas Miracle.

All Thanks to the combination of hard work from David, Donna, Jeremy, Jared, Emilio, Becky, the lockdesk, and Melissa.

That’s magic. Benchmark Magic.

Steven Gosson — Operations Manager in Greenville, SC

We Continue to be Touched DAILY by the MAGIC.

Tess, I just wanted to pass a little insight along to you. Cristal and I have been at this a long time. We’ve been through some good stuff, and then there was the BAD.

Today, I made a call to a crusty old farm and ranch Realtor to tell him his deal was Clear to Close. Granted he is a nice enough guy, but still he’s been in this business a long time and he’s seen a lot. When I told him the news, there was a bit of silence on the other end. I kind of fell out a bit as I waited for him to say something. Then he came back with

“I have NEVER had this happen before…. I have been doing this over 20 years and I have closed several VA deals, NEVER has one gone so smoothly and closed on time before!”

Tess, I know it takes all of us to make things go as we plan. We all have to have the right attitude and keep our train on the tracks. This was one of those deals that on our end wasn’t going smoothly. Great credit file, but wrong title company who didn’t get the last piece of commitment to us until yesterday(37 days into the contract), survey company who promised the survey a couple of weeks ago, and a VA appraiser who forgot that they are supposed to have the appraisal done in less than a month…..when nothing else was going as we planned for it to, you swooped down and said “we will keep this moving forward”. I can’t tell you how deeply things like this are appreciated by Cristal and I. Tess, you need to know the impact words like those have on how everything goes. We continue to be touched DAILY by the MAGIC. David, you continue to amaze me as well, and we know that you and your team believe in how things should go – way deep down. This is evident because we see this in Tess. I just wanted to say a real heart felt “Thank You” to you all, the belief you all have in the way we do things, and in Cristal and I, is very touching.

At this point we cannot imagine being anywhere else, and wonder why we took so long to get here.

Tessa Easley — Branch Manager in San Angelo, TX

The True Grit Of Being An Underwriter

One of the definitions for the word ‘grit’ in the dictionary is; ‘courage and resolve’…I believe that Vicki Maley displays the true grit of being an underwriter. She has the courage to push and pull the guidelines to limits and resolve to find a solution. I must also share she has a ton of patience as anyone that knows me, I require a ton of patience.

Every day I am thankful that Vicki is part of our Branch 1859 (Raleigh) …could not imagine doing what I do without her.

Kevin Martini — Branch Manager in Raleigh, NC

Talk About Benchmark Magic!!

Talk about Benchmark Magic!! This was Houdini-like!

This past Friday while in the meeting in Key Biscayne[ on the Benchmark Production Trip for 2017], my Loan Manager Tim let me know the desk review on the loan for my personal Financial Planner came in quite a bit lower. A field review was now needed, and those can take 3-4 days. Of course closing was the following Thursday, (back to back closing and moving trucks lined up et al) so with TRID we needed to get the field review back on Monday, clear to close through Vicki in underwriting, lockdesk cleared and closing docs out to the attorney by end of biz on Monday. And this was Friday late morning… Ummm. Good luck with that…!!

I got with Poulin, who had us circle the wagons with Debbie Neill for a super-rush appraisal request for the field review.

We received the field review Monday early afternoon, value was confirmed, and within an hour we had Clear to Close, and closing department was getting docs out.

I have been in this biz for 27+yrs, and even when I owned my own company, I would not have thought it possible for this to happen in our crazy industry.

THANK YOU to Tim Jones, Jim Poulin, Vicki Maley, Debbie Neill, lockdesk, and our amazing closing department.
It is an honor to work with all of you; the focus is always on the client, and THAT is what makes the Benchmark Magic so powerful!!

Great job all! Happy Client Out of the Hat trick a success!

Chris Young — Greensboro NC Branch Manager

Indicative Of Who We Are At Benchmark!

I wanted to reach out and recognize a few awesome team members!

First of all, Debi and Candy on the appraisal team recently did a tremendous job hosting a Panel Q/A focused on appraisal training for approximately 20 of our age. The reviews were so good we are doing it again!

Also, huge shout out to processing, underwriting and docs for working tirelessly to get a challenging deal done. Robyn lead our ops team, Raina and Shellie on our team stepped it up getting conditions and processing completed, and Doreen Braun and Gina in doc drawing worked after hours to get things done!! Very nice and indicative of who we are at Benchmark!

Just sharing! Thanks!

Tom Sherman — Branch Manager in Plano, TX

Exceeded Expectations and Performed Exceptionally

I wanted to give notoriety to the team that has helped me through onboarding and my first file.

Simply put I submitted my first file last Tuesday and got clear to close today.

The impact to be able to transition companies whilst getting a clear to close in under 2 weeks is unheard of and a super recruiting tool.

There have been so many people that have helped, I will not name them all, but EVERY team member I have worked with has exceeded expectations and performed exceptionally.

Please pass my thanks and praise to everyone, blessed to be part of such a great tactical team.

Thank you and cheers!

Nathaniel Merrick, Branch Manager in Tampa, FL

I Would Not Have Gotten this Done this Quick at Any Other Mortgage Company

Our fabulous underwriter Delisha, at 6 am Pacific and now by 7:15, completed our resub, and Brandon got us an exception to draw the CD. All before I am even at the office. I now have no stress today, can call my client and agent, and tell them that we completed. I would not have gotten this done this quick at any other mortgage company. I am glad I called Ryan back in July, life is good.

Bobby Campos | Branch Partner in Clovis, CA