I wasn't trying to cause a ruckus. I grew up in an old coal company clapboard house with 4 rooms, no running water and an outhouse until I left for WVU in 1976. I know what being really poor looks like up close and personal. I've had a job of some sort every day since I was 11. I've been in the mortgage business for nearly 35 years beginning as a loan officer for CITICORP in 1982. Like you and your wife, I worked my *** off trying to be better than everyone else . Sometimes ,many times, failing. When we started this company in 2009, the business as a whole was falling apart because a few people were crooks and Barney Frank demanded the home ownership percentage had to rise to include people who should have never owned a home. Government mandates plus a few crooks will almost always lead to disaster. Frankly, we got lucky to the surprise of many and our little company caught lightening in a bottle.
Luck never gets the credit it deserves . But long story short, by 2013 we were ranked in the top 50 mortgage companies nationally and the 10 th best company to work for in the industry. I'm more proud of being one of the best to work for than any volume ranking. Sadly, since 2012 our net profit has dropped every year while our loan volume has risen each year. The increases in compliance costs and health care are the primary drivers of the drop in net profit. The government mandating how we can pay people have also hurt profits. My story is not out of the ordinary in today's world. Big companies seem to be thriving pretty well based on stock prices anyway. But small and mid sized companies of all types are struggling to keep their heads above water. Job creation has improved but only to the point of about breaking even with entries into the work force. Hence wages are stagnant and we teeter on deflation in many industries. GDP can barely hit 2 percent. Considering how accommodating the Fed has been the past 7 or 8 years, that is a huge disappointment. Should the coming rise in short term rates spark a huge run up in long term rates, the housing market alone could push the whole country back to negative GDP numbers. It's hard to tell. I've seen higher short term rates actually lead to lower long term rates with people thinking the Fed is fighting future inflation. Unfortunately we have no inflation so I aint sure what the rate increases will bring. I just know that I've never laid off a soul and will work for free for a while before I ever do. But I worry about it every day. That's one thing many people who don't own businesses sometimes forget. I consider every employees family my responsibility. Especially some of the folks who've been with me for 20 yrs or more. I've played Santa every year for their kids and now some grandkids. These folks are family to be honest. The thought or fear of failing them weighs on me as I'm sure it does on everyone in my position. My point in this long *** post was really just to point out that things aren't horrible in America but with just a little relief they could be so much better.
