Jeff Howard is creating something different with Loan Depot. And people are taking notice. While many loan officers (and real estate agents) are running for the hills, scared of our current market, Jeff is growing Loan Depot, changing the game and having fun doing it. 

 

“We have mastered the art of legal co-branding and marketing with our REALTOR® partners, and we create social media content that really the other guys just don’t have the ability to do.  We also are known to throw some of the best real estate industry parties in Hawaii, and we have more coming soon. We celebrate all of our loan closings, do live seminars, and webinars and are always looking to do more,” Jeff said.

 

Jeff has always approached the mortgage business as a marketer. It is partly why he is the Hawaii Area Manager for Loan Depot today. Well, that and his 18+ years’ experience in the industry, being the #1 overall producer in the country for his company from 2013 to 2015, and the 2017 Scotsman Guide #3 loan officer for total volume and highest-ranking loan officer in Hawaii in the VA Home Loan Volume category. 

 

“I have always felt that nobody in the industry does anything different, so I have had a lot of success in effective branding and marketing both as a loan officer and as a manager,” he said.

 

Before entering the mortgage industry, Jeff sold advertising media for local radio stations, and local print, and was a nightclub promoter. It was when he was selling print advertising that he was first introduced to the world of lending. One of his clients was a loan officer and he had to ask him how much he made monthly so that he could figure out his ROI for the advertising. 

 

“I was blown away when he told me,” Jeff said. “Since I was already developing advertising for the mortgage business, I thought I could make the transition.” 

 

Making that transition and combining components of both industries was the best thing Jeff could have done. While his marketing and advertising have always helped set him apart, he also has a genuine passion for helping veterans into homes – a passion that is rooted in his childhood, growing up in Oceanside, California, near Camp Pendleton.

 

“My father was a Marine,” Jeff said. “He had PTSD before they knew what it was. That situation drove me to, unfortunately, become homeless at age 13. When I was 17, I was lucky enough to have an older brother graduate college, move to Hawaii and meet my sister-in-law, who is a local girl. They moved me out here and gave me a new shot at life. My sister-in-law’s family took me in and taught me a lot about life, responsibility, and Aloha.”

 

Jeff went on to graduate from the University of Hawaii with a degree in political science before embarking on his career. His passion for helping veterans led to him creating The Veteran’s Mortgage Source, an educational company that provides VA home Loan benefit education.   

 

“I love to educate Veterans about their VA Home Loan Benefit so that some 5-year-old kid today can look back 30 years from now, proud of what their Veteran parent(s) did by purchasing a home and transforming their long-term wealth outlook,” he said. 

 

Jeff is also passionate about helping his Loan Depot officers in Hawaii build successful businesses by helping others into homes. “For me, it’s about the people here in our locations on Hawaii. We love what we do. We love helping people in our community and we love each other. You can see it every day in our branches and in the smiles of our customers,” he said.  

 

“I really feel we are creating something very special here. We have an awesome office vibe, our REALTOR® partners love what we do, and they love participating in our community events.  We are making Loan Depot the place to be if you are a professional loan officer that wants to be noticed in this market. We do more for our loan officers from marketing to leads than any other loan company in Hawaii. We are creating a safe place to grow and be noticed in a crazy mortgage market.”

 

For more information about Loan Depot, visit www.loandepothawaii.com, or better yet, follow them on social media: @loandepothawaii; @mortgage.disruptor and see what Jeff is talking about.