The Alimond Show
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The Alimond Show
Ashley Smith - Transforming the Mortgage Industry with Dedication and Innovation
Ever wondered what it takes to thrive in the mortgage industry? This episode brings you an exclusive conversation with Ashley Smith from Truist Mortgage, who shares her journey from being an assistant to becoming a seasoned residential mortgage loan officer. Learn how Ashley's dedication and the stability of her team, including her husband and long-time assistant Katie, have contributed to their success. Discover Truist’s unique offerings, like competitive rates and specialized loan programs, designed to help clients secure homes in today’s competitive market. Ashley also busts common myths about bank-associated mortgages and highlights the joy she finds in seeing clients receive the keys to their dream homes.
Mentorship and adaptability are crucial in a career like Ashley's. Listen as she recounts her early days during the 2002 refi boom and the transformation from face-to-face meetings to digital transactions. Hear about her pivotal sales training with Wells Fargo in 2006 and the importance of building personal relationships with real estate agents. This episode also brings light to Ashley's innovative approach as a matchmaker in the real estate industry, leveraging her extensive network and social media to connect home buyers and sellers. Through personal anecdotes, Ashley’s passion and unwavering commitment shine, offering valuable insights into balancing a demanding career with personal life while maintaining a high standard of professional integrity.
My name is Ashley Smith. I'm with Truist Mortgage, I'm a residential mortgage loan officer and I would say I best serve my clients by providing excellent service around the clock. I have a full service team inclusive of my husband, my assistant, katie, who's been with me for 15 years. I have a processor, underwriting team and closer that work directly with me. So underwriting team and closer that work directly with me. So my biggest, biggest attribute, I think, is to best serve my clients through the realtor partnerships I create and just the time and care and attention to detail that I give each and every one of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it sounds like you have a good team.
Speaker 1:I do, I do, I'm very blessed, um, you know, oftentimes in the mortgage business or real estate as a whole, there's a lot of turnover and I've been blessed with, like I said, having my assistant for over 15 years who is like a sister to me and, you know, works, just like I do, very hard after hours. You know when the needs are there, when the needs are there, and we just really care deeply about our clients and making sure that they can put their best foot forward in multiple offer situations and if they love a home, we want them to be able to get it.
Speaker 2:And given the resources and tools to do so.
Speaker 1:Right, correct, yes.
Speaker 2:How did you get into the mortgage industry?
Speaker 1:That's interesting. So I've been doing mortgages for 22 years. I started off as an assistant at Prosperity Mortgage, which is a mortgage company within Long and Foster. I was approached by a loan officer and his assistant when I worked at Morton's in Reston Town Center.
Speaker 2:So I helped open that restaurant.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so I was the head hostess manager 19, 20-year-old and I had a loan officer approach me that had been in for lunch multiple times and saw that spirit in me of just being, you know, very communicative, very personable. And he said you know what You'd be really good at mortgages. I'm like I don't even know what an eighth is a quarter, three eighths. I didn't even know that, but I was going to college at George Mason, for public relations and journalism, and so I segued into and took a leap of faith into interviewing with them and he said you'd be perfect for this. And I hit the ground running. For three years I was an assistant and was promoted by the time I was 24 to have my own real estate office where I was the on-site loan officer. So yeah, everything just kind of spearheaded from there.
Speaker 1:I spent a little bit of time at First Savings, wells Fargo, and then 11 years at Atlantic Coast before I landed at Truist last year in June. So it'll be a year next month. And how is that going? It's fantastic. So there's a lot of stigma surrounding working with a bank that it might be a little bit more red tape, take a little bit longer process. However, I find that we are like a local correspondent lender, but you receive bank rates, bank products and amazing service. So as far as what we have to offer at Truist, I think by far it is the best in the industry. Not only are the rates fantastic, but the programs just are phenomenal and we're able to serve more clientele because of the products that we have. We have jumbo financing to 89.99%, so just a little over 10% down to 1.5 million, which is actually very unique.
Speaker 1:And it carries no PMI. We have grant products for most first-time homebuyers, so there's just a lot to offer and it's actually grown my business exponentially because of the offerings that Truist has and it's like a mom and pop shop for a bank. So I feel like just the synergy of everyone wanting to help each other everyone's in it to get the client across the finish line to the closing table and just the offerings, everything that we have to offer our clientele beyond even just the mortgage side, so the banking side, just relationships with all types of offers that we have at Truist.
Speaker 1:It's just bar none, just one of the best things that I've experienced in my 22 years.
Speaker 2:Why do you think people have that misconception?
Speaker 1:I think because there are.
Speaker 1:You know, I think because there are banks that take a little bit longer, that are larger footprint, no-transcript.
Speaker 1:We are up against multiple offer situations in real estate where clients are against three or four or five offers and when we can deliver a loan in two weeks, sometimes even less, it gives us a competitive edge. So Truist has really tried to put in an infrastructure to meet the needs of the buyer and the competitive market we're in. So I feel like a lot of those bigger banks like your, wells, your Chase, your I'm trying to think of who else off the top of my head but a lot of like the Bank of Americas, they just take a little bit longer, there's a lot of red tape. They actually don't have on the streets retail loan officers like myself, so local lenders there's someone usually sitting in a bank or 1-800 number, whereas we really have put in an infrastructure, like I said, to have loan officers that are very qualified, top of the line, ethical, just top-notch LOs, loan officers out on the streets to be able to better serve realtor needs and buyer needs.
Speaker 2:What do you find most rewarding about?
Speaker 1:what you do. Oh my gosh, I think going to the closing table, you know, seeing that client get the keys to their dream home and being the person that helped facilitate that, that really just warms my heart. I tend to go to as many closings as I can just to experience the fruits of my labor, so to speak, but to also experience just the love and care and just happiness that everyone experiences when they buy their dream home. So for me that is that finish line?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. What challenges do you have these days, with interest rates and all the things going on? What challenges are you seeing these days and how are you overcoming them?
Speaker 1:So that's a good question. I think an education to the buyer is really paramount, letting them know exactly what the ins and outs are of the loan programs that are best available to them. I spoke with a buyer yesterday who said, honestly, you're the first loan officer I've talked to that's told me about conforming high balance loans. Jumbo loans explained it in precise detail as to why I'd want to go with one option versus another, because I had never heard of jumbo loans. Yeah, so you can do jumbo financing and Truist is, I would say, on the cutting edge, precipice of having the best financing for jumbo because it's our own funds, so it's portfolio money, which I love to explain to buyers that your loan's going to stay with us. We're not going to sell off your mortgage. You're going to be with Truist.
Speaker 1:Any loan amount over $766,550 would qualify for a jumbo mortgage and again, we can do as little as 10% down with no MI. So buyers are just like, wow, that's amazing. I'm saving a good $300, $400, $500 just to loan on the mortgage insurance Plus, I don't have to put a large sum down, not to mention a lot of folks in our area can actually qualify carrying two mortgages. So because we have a lot of dual income earners, high income earners. Loudoun County is the wealthiest county in the nation, so I keep saying 1.4 is the new million.
Speaker 2:Literally every house is 1.4 plus in the area. I've seen the numbers lately being that 1, 1.2, 1.4.
Speaker 1:I'm like wow, it is crazy. But that's why we've gotten so dialed in. And I'm actually on an originations council for Truist, which is a passion of mine to be able to create product nationwide for consumers because of the challenges that we face. Like you said, we don't have a lot of product out there in the mortgage industry to fit the needs of these higher end homes. So Truist has come up with products to expand upon low down payments recasting, which means if you sell your property after you close on the new house, meaning you're departing residence you can take those proceeds and send them directly to the new mortgage and benefit by having that payment come down according to how much you sent in.
Speaker 1:And we offer that after one payment which, because we don't sell our loans, we can pretty much put a stamp on and guarantee, which a lot of people love because they don't want to have to refinance and pay thousands of dollars to lower their payments. This is a $250 nominal charge, taking a lump sum from the sale of their home, being able to go non-contingent, which puts them at a competitive advantage on the purchase, but then also benefiting from taking those proceeds, seeing their payment come down accordingly after they close.
Speaker 2:Yeah, wow, learning so much yeah it's awesome.
Speaker 1:It is awesome yeah.
Speaker 2:What are you doing for marketing and advertising these days? What's working, what's not?
Speaker 1:working. I think for me it's more organic. I've, like I said, I've been doing this 22 years. I have agents that have worked with me for a large majority of that timeframe and just kind of spread the word, so it's word of mouth. Clients, my client databases thousands, and I do a lot of friends and family. I've done transactions for people like six, seven, eight times multiple, you know, second homes, investment properties, move ups, move downs, et cetera, all the things all the things, but you know I'm I'm active on social media.
Speaker 1:I have a lot of people share. You know we have a grant product that's $7,500 for first-time homebuyers that qualify for Home Ready and Home Possible. So I have a lot of. Then I get calls and because I've come over to Truist and I have this product suite, agents are becoming more in tune as to what we offer and spreading the word like wildfire and it's just my phone's ringing off the hook. I don't feel like I have to go out and actively pay for any marketing pieces or do any specific marketing. It's really a lot of word of mouth and just organic stuff that I do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, take me back to when you were 19 and working at Morton's and the loan officer that saw something in you. How he or she did they, or how did he um, what tools did he teach you and how? How was that?
Speaker 1:mentorship. You know actually I think it was more that he threw me to the wolves when I started in 2002, it was relatively slow. Then all of a sudden there was this massive refi boom. The rates dropped a little bit and everybody was taking arms. There was just this stir crazy, you know run up on housing because deregulation happened, so there was a lot of restrictions that were lifted and so more buyer pool came into the market and he was just like hey, you got to learn this. I can. You can listen to me, sit across from me and absorb like a sponge everything I'm saying.
Speaker 1:But now that we're so busy, you just got to go at it, and no mistake that you make is a dumb mistake because you'll learn from it. But at the same token, I just really loved listening and being in those meetings. Back then it wasn't as digital as it is now. We had to get paper signatures. There was no e-signing, so we had a lot of people come into our office and meet with us face-to-face, and that kind of was basically the baseline from 2002 to 2006, is, you had everyone come into the office so you got to sit down and actually hear the needs and wants in person, person.
Speaker 1:I think that that really helped me go from being someone that didn't really know anything about the mortgage industry to really understanding what it's like to go through the process of buying a home. And then I was sent on a sales trip in 2006. Wells Fargo had sent me out to Colorado for a one-week sales trip and they were basically dialing in on here's how you manage objections, here's how you best work with a real estate agent, a tax advisor, et cetera, to gain business and here's what you can do to better educate your clients. And it just sparked something in me that made me think I really could do this for a career. And I came back, told my boss I'm like next promotion that I can get, please put me on the list to have my own office.
Speaker 1:So by the time I was, I think, 24, I was in a long and foster office in Centerville as the on-site loan officer and just really hit the ground running and I treated and I've always done this all the relationships that I have with real estate agents are more formed in a friendship basis. So they're really somebody that I know, their kids, I know the details about you know their life and where they live and I really get to know them and who they are, because it's an easier process for me to work with somebody that I feel aligns with my beliefs and also is somebody that I know personally. So I really got to know the agents in the office. They consider me because I was so young at the time. They considered me kind of their daughter and I still, to this day, work with many of them. Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when you made that transition you said you're in school, right? Did you continue going to school or did you kind of just take off with the work?
Speaker 1:I just took off with the work honestly.
Speaker 2:Because I kind of did the same thing.
Speaker 1:I mean, when people ask me they go, where did you go to school, I say George Mason University, you know. But at the same token, I knew, by the time that I was two years into this career, that it was going to be sustainable. It was going to be something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life and I literally live, breathe this job. I love it. I always tell my realtor partners if you're working, I'm working, so I'm around the clock and I always preface that with you're out taking your clients out in their, in your car, in a business suit. I'm at home with my laptop, feet up, pajamas and a glass of wine, like if I can't answer the phone on a Saturday night at nine o'clock at night, then you're. You know something's wrong. So if you're a realtor out there and you want someone that's 24-7, I'm your girl.
Speaker 1:She will answer yes, yes, and if you can't get me, you can get my husband, who's on my team, mike and Katie, my assistant. We're just all accessible because we know that this business happens after hours. A large majority of people that are buying homes are doing so when they get off work. So how do you find that balance? It's nice in the sense that our business is such that a lot of the business goes on nights, weekends, et cetera. So during the week, you know I run errands or I'll work out, I'll do the things that I need to do for myself and basically time block that you know slower time of the day during the week to get the things that I need to done.
Speaker 1:My children I have a 13-year-old and a 10-year-old, two girls, and they are very attuned to the schedule and they know that mom might be on the phone at Friday night at 7 o'clock at a restaurant and have to walk out and take a call, and they know exactly why. And you know I was in a parent teacher conference last week and the teacher mentioned that my daughter put on her list of what she wants to do later in life. I want to work as hard as my mom. I see how she works and I understand the importance of her job and that just really warmed my heart because it made me think like she's actually watching and yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I mean I get that it's hard at times because you really don't get a vacation. Like my husband and I just celebrated our 15-year anniversary. We went to Las Vegas not this past weekend, the weekend before, and I had my computer with me and it was just, you know it's the nature of the business.
Speaker 1:And you know at the times like I can, like I said, type out a pre-approval letter, do an estimate relatively quickly, but it's the realtors out there that are actually doing the work. They're out showing the homes, they're sitting in front of their computer for hours, they're making the phone calls to the listing agent, they're setting up home inspections, et cetera, et cetera. If I can't take a few minutes out of my day to go to a computer, print out a pre-approval letter, have a quick conversation with the buyer, then you know what's my worth. So I do take that time and kind of parse it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how's it working with your husband? How do you guys find out?
Speaker 1:That's a good question, are you guys both?
Speaker 2:in the same industry or are there challenges with that?
Speaker 1:So that's a good question. During COVID, he's actually been with Truist for five, six years. During COVID, he's actually been with Truist for five, six years. So during COVID I had an intimate insight as to what Truist was like, because we would have our laptops up, you know, side by side, and I would hear his team's meetings and I would say this is again like a mom and pop shop. They really get it For a bank, they are doing all the right things, they're constantly innovating, you know, trying to find new product, et cetera. So we used to tag team for years.
Speaker 1:I got him in the business. He was doing marketing for a defense contractor and I said look, because of the flexibility of being a loan officer, we were able to travel with our laptop, or I was. However, he had a two week vacation and I'm like this isn't going to work because I want to be out and about during the summer, especially when the kids were younger and were in daycare, not in school, not in sports, like they are now. But we talked and I said, hey, get into the business, started a company that's more of a startup, that I had a friend that owned the company and get your feet wet because you can learn this business and do the items or the type of loans that I don't do, because I was doing more a paper. You know your higher credit score, down payment etc. Borrowers and there was a need or a niche for the lower credit score borrowers with lower down payments. So the company he went to work for offered that and I would send him that business. And then he eventually made it to Wells Fargo and he was doing builder business while I was doing again most of the cookie cutter vanilla stuff at Atlantic Coast. And then he came over to Truist because he saw the writing on the wall at Wells that things were going to a position of just banking versus on the street loan officers and Truist really wants to keep loan officers out there on the street locally. So he came over to Truist. Like I said, I watched everything go on with how he interacted with management, how his loans went through at record speed for what I thought was going to take a little bit longer, and just the product offering.
Speaker 1:So to answer your question about us working together, we do a very good job of staying in each other and staying in our own lanes and working well with each other in terms of setting the right expectations to buyers. As to, you know, mike can handle this, I will handle this. And then we work cohesively with Katie, our assistant, to make sure that our client's needs are best met. He's an extension of me, so if a client calls and says I need this answered and I'm not available, I can certainly rely on him to take that phone call and he has fantastic bedside manner. So, like for a loan officer in this business, I mean, you can get burned out pretty easily, sure, and he doesn't. He just takes every single call with stride and works like I do. I mean, he's seen me because I've done it a decade longer.
Speaker 2:It sounds like you don't get burned out.
Speaker 1:Oh no, because I love it so much, but I think because he's seen me do it a decade longer than himself, he's seen you know what it takes to be successful and what clients are looking for, what buyers are looking for in their loan officer relationship. So I feel because we have just a good marriage and a good working relationship, I think our clients feel it and I think that they feel they're getting the best possible service.
Speaker 2:Because they can gain your trust yeah absolutely yeah. You say when you're first starting out that it was helpful to have so much in-person time with the clients and so much of that has changed now with technology. How are you overcoming those and how do you get time with your clients?
Speaker 1:You know that's a good question. I do some Zoom calls. I actually had a client that has Microsoft Teams and said, hey, can we do a Teams meeting? And then you're on camera and you're talking to them and then they get to know you. You know, I had a client I was talking to yesterday that had a one and a two year old in the background. I'm like, look, I've been there, I get it. I could hear the kids and then my dog started barking. I go, you have the kids, I have the dog. You know we're making a great duo here, but I really try to, if I can, do a either three-way call with the real estate agent and the client via Zoom or a Teams meeting in Microsoft.
Speaker 1:As I mentioned before, I go to closings. So I have a closing at 2 o'clock this afternoon that I'll be attending. It's actually in the house that they're purchasing. Closing at two o'clock this afternoon that I'll be attending. It's actually in the house that they're purchasing. We have not met in person. However, I want to see them, so I want to go there. I want to be there for the celebration and put a face with a name and get that face to face.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are there any last parting words you'd like to leave us with it can? Be life advice, a mantra that you live by, or business advice?
Speaker 1:No, I just think and this is from my mom I mean treat everybody with the golden rule. You know, if you give out that great energy and you'll receive it back. I mean treat people how you want to be treated, and that's how I do my business and conduct my business, and that goes with the real estate agent, the title company, the insurance agent, everybody involved in the transaction. We're all working for the common goal of getting the buyer across the finish line. And there's some times where I'm working I actually consider myself the matchmaker loan officer, because I'm working with people that are selling homes and also purchasing simultaneously. So I take it a step further, I think, than most loan officers, because I really think outside the box.
Speaker 1:As far as, if you are selling a home, where is your house located? Do I have a buyer in my database that might be a match for your house? And then I connect those two realtors. I sent out Facebook posts stating hey, I have a buyer looking in this zip code, do you have anything coming on? Because I have over. I have, I think, 3,800 friends on Facebook but a large majority a large majority are real estate related.
Speaker 1:So I think as big as this real estate industry is, as big as Northern Virginia is, it's very small. When it comes to just reputation and you know being there for your clients and being the best you know real estate professional, you can be Reputation's everything and I really take pride in keeping that intact and doing the best I possibly can.
Speaker 2:Well, it sounds like you're doing a great job, thank you, I appreciate that. Thank you for coming in today it was a pleasure to have you and thank you for sharing your story with us.
Speaker 1:Of course, my pleasure, Donna. Thank you.