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In this blog, we will cover and discuss training a new mortgage loan officer without any experience. Gustan Cho Associates has a streamline training program for people who want to expand their careers as a new mortgage loan officer. Training a new mortgage loan officer is one of the most difficult task for both the mentor and the newly licensed rookie.

Gustan Cho Associates has been very successful training a new mortgage loan officer without any experience for over 10 years. Most mortgage companies will not consider hiring a licensed loan officer who have no experience. However, the team at Gustan Cho Associates is always ready to hire a new mortgage loan officer who is committed to learn and work hard to become a successful loan officer.

Studying and Passing the NMLS MLO Exam

Passing The NMLS Exam is an extremely challenging task. This holds true no matter how smart you are, how great of a test taker you are, or how many advanced degrees you have. There is no way you will be able to pass the national NMLS exam without spending countless hours studying for it.

I have hired new loan officer recruits who were attorneys, pharmacists, and doctors who failed the NMLS examination. This is because they did not devote the time and commitment to studying for the NMLS Test. However, once you have passed the NMLS Test, the journey to becoming a loan officer has just begun. The new loan officer needs to not just learn the mortgage lending guidelines for FHA, VA, USDA, and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, but the loan officer also needs to go over case scenarios.

Pre-Licensing Stage of Becoming a New Loan Officer

To become a mortgage loan originator requires commitment, time, and patience. Candidates cannot become expert mortgage loan originators overnight. Training A New Mortgage Loan Officer takes patience and time. To become a mortgage loan originator, you first need to take a 20-hour pre-licensing NMLS-approved mortgage course.

The pre-licensing course can be taken in a live classroom or it can also be completed online. There are many types of 20-hour NMLS-approved pre-licensing courses available. Some are a straight 3 consecutive day course while others are evenings only for those who work full time. There are other courses that are scheduled on weekends and stretched out over a few weekends.

Investing In MLO Training Courses To Pass NMLS Exam

There are many mortgage loan originator training schools and you can search the internet for the best school that suits your schedule and for pricing. Tuition for the 20-hour NMLS pre-licensing course varies. Some schools are under $200 while other schools can surpass the $400 price tag. The 20-hour pre-licensing course is pretty intense and a lot of materials are covered as well as practice tests.

Getting Ready For the National NMLS EXAM

The first step in training a new loan officer to work as realtor and mortgage loan originator simultaneously is to prepare for the national NMLS exam. Once the student completes the 20-hour pre-licensing course, the school will mandate that the student pass an exam. All students will pass because most schools will allow the graduate to take the test multiple times and other schools will allow an open book test. Taking and passing the 20-hour pre-licensing NMLS approved course by no means prepares training a new mortgage loan officer. There is much more to it.

What Is Next After Completing The 20 Hour NMLS Approved Pre-Licensing Class

Most students who passed the 20-hour NMLS pre-licensing class think that they are now ready to take the national NMLS exam. This is not true. The short quizzes that are part of the 20-hour NMLS pre-licensing exam do not even come close to preparing for the national NMLS test. The national NMLS exam is a 3-hour test that consists of 125 questions.

Pass Rate of the National 125 Questions NMLS EXAM

The first-time pass rate is just under 70% for first-time test takers. My recommendation is to read the textbook once and go over as many practices multiple choice questions as possible. I have loan officers who studied for weeks and fail the national test because they did not study the right way.

Those who failed the national NMLS exam multiple times are those who concentrated on the text material portion of the study guide and not the practice test questions. If you go over 2,000 plus practice test questions over and over again, you should be prepared to pass your federal NMLS exam.

After Passing The National NMLS Test

Training A New Mortgage Loan Officer without any experience does not have to be an issue. There are mortgage companies like Gustan Cho Associates that will never refuse a highly motivated goal oriented individual for its mentor mortgage loan originator training program.  After you have passed the National NMLS exam, the next step is to get licensed in the states you want to originate loans in.

Some states will let you get licensed without getting sponsored by a mortgage company while other states require that you get sponsored and hired by a mortgage company first. Once you have passed your NMLS Test you should start looking for a mortgage company to work for. There are hundreds of mortgage companies to choose from, Unfortunately, most mortgage companies will not hire a brand new loan officer.

How To Get Started As A New Mortgage Loan Officer

Most mortgage companies want a loan officer to have at least two or more years of experience originating loans. Many mortgage companies will require a minimum monthly production for the past 12 months. Some mortgage companies will take on a brand new licensed mortgage loan originator. But will only take them on as a Loan Officer Assistant (LOA).

Loan Officer Assistants get paid a nominal salary and/or minimum wage and a small amount of commission per file. The reason most mortgage companies will not hire brand new loan officers is that training a new loan officer takes time. New loan officers cannot be trained overnight. Training a new loan officer is like training a new trial attorney.

Training a New Mortgage Loan Officer Who Are Experienced Real Estate Agents

Gustan Cho Associates has the Verified Preferred Realtor Partner Network (PRPN) program headed by Director of PRPN Ronda Butts. We will also discuss the complexity of training a new loan officer and the challenges they will face. Training a new loan officer who is a licensed producing real estate agent is streamlined and easy compared to training a

Can You Hold a Loan Officer and a Real Estate License at The Same Time?

Gustan Cho Associates’ training a realtor become a loan officer at the same time program is for experienced real estate agents who want to become loan officers at the same time. This guide on training a realtor become a loan officer at the same time has been published for real estate agents who want to become dually licensed realtor/loan officer professionals. In the following paragraph, we will be covering and discussing training a realtor become a loan officer at the same time.

Realtor Loan Officer Conflict Interest

There is no realtor conflict interest for a real estate agent to be a loan officer at the same time on the same transaction. Most homebuyers rather deal with one professional for both the home purchase and mortgage origination sides than two different people. Most real estate agents quarterback the entire home purchase transaction from the time the homebuyer signs the real estate contract to closing.

Why not have the real estate become in charge of the home loan process and get paid by doing so? How about the time it takes away from the real estate agent? Not too much time will be taken up from the realtor and we will explain why.

How Does The Gustan Cho Associates Dually Licensed Realtor/MLO Program Work?

Once the real estate agent become licensed as a mortgage loan originator, the agent will be sponsored by NEXA Mortgage dba Gustan Cho Associates and will be an employee of Gustan Cho Associates. Frequently asked questions include doesn’t it take time to become an experienced loan officer? Answer is training a realtor become a loan officer does take a lot of time.

How Long Does It Take For Training a Realtor Become a Loan Officer?

Takes many years to become an expert loan officers. The team at Gustan Cho Associates has a national reputation for being able to do loans other loan officers cannot do at Gustan Cho Associates. We will go over why the team at Gustan Cho Associates is able to do mortgage loans that other lenders cannot do. We will go into detail why 75% of our borrowers are folks are borrowers who could not qualify at other lenders.

When Can The Realtor/Loan Officer Start Originating Their First Loan?

The realtor/loan officer BDM can start originating their first loan the minute they are licensed and onboarded at NEXA Mortgage dba Gustan Cho Associates. The real estate agent can start start by working as a dually licensed realtor and loan officer at the same time with their home purchase buyer.

The newly licensed loan officer/real estate agent will be paired up with a veteran experienced loan officer at Gustan Cho Associates. The real estate agent/loan officer will be the assigned loan officer for the home buyer. The experienced veteran loan officer partner of the realtor/loan officer will be assigned as the loan officer assistant.

Co-Partnership With Realtor/Loan Officer and LOA

The loan officer assistant will do most of the work and take the loan from the minute the home purchase contract is turned in until the loan closes. The assigned loan officer/realtor will get copied on all emails and will know every step of the mortgage process until the loan closes.

The realtor/loan officer gets trained by observing and participating  with the assigned loan officer assistant through the entire mortgage loan process. After several loans, the realtor/loan officer will be able to take a loan of others from start to finish. The realtor/loan officer will have full ongoing support of Gustan Cho Associates and the staff at corporate headquarters if they have any questions or have a case scenario.

Can The Realtor/MLO Originate Own Loans Independently Without LOA Partner?

The real estate agent can eventually originate their own loans, get leads assigned from the branch, and/or run their own team, and/or branch. NEXA Mortgage dba Gustan Cho Associates is licensed in 48 states, including Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is a unique program because you can earn income the minute you are licensed with no experience in loan origination.

The team at Gustan Cho Associates are experts in training a realtor become a loan officer at the same time. Training a realtor become a loan officer at the same time will not affect the real estate agent’s time away from their homebuyer for loan origination activities. We will detail training a realtor become a loan officer at the same and how easy it is. Most homebuyers prefer dually licensed realtor/loan officer professionals versus having two different people handle their home purchase transaction.

Earn Income From Both Sides

Gustan Cho Associates are experts in training a new mortgage loan officer who are experienced real estate agents. A veteran loan officer teams up with the newly licensed loan officer/realtor and works as a team together. The newly licensed REALTOR/MLO is the assigned loan officer and the experienced loan officer will be the loan officer assistant (LOA). The loan officer assistant (LOA) will be a seasoned licensed loan officer who will take charge and work on the file from start to finish.

The REALTOR/MLO will be part of the mortgage loan process but does need to get involved unless they want to. The loan will close under the REALTOR/MLO as the loan officer of record. This program will be available in 48 states. You can visit Dino Hasapis at dino@gustancho.com for more information.

Training a New Mortgage Loan Officer Who Is Licensed Realtor

Not every loan application is the same. There are hundreds if not thousands of different types of case scenarios a loan officer will run into throughout their careers. There is no shortcut to training a new loan officer. Candidates can memorize all of the mortgage guidelines inside and out. That will not prepare them in being an experienced loan officer.

Candidates need to go over dozens if not hundreds of loan case scenarios. They need to actually take a mortgage application from qualifying the borrower. Need to know in preparing the mortgage documents, submit it for processing, clearing the conditions after the mortgage underwriter issues a conditional loan approval. To know about getting a clear to close, to closing the loan.

Learning Mortgage Guidelines and Programs

New loan officers need to not just know the minimum lending guidelines by FHA, VA, USDA, and Fannie/Freddie. They also need to familiarize themselves with their employer’s lending overlay requirements. Lender overlays are the individual mortgage company’s lending requirements that are in addition to the minimum federal lending guidelines. For example, under HUD 4000.1 FHA Handbook the minimum credit score required for a 3.5% down payment home purchase FHA Loan is 580 FICO.

Not All Lenders Have Same Guidelines on The Same Loan Program

Most mortgage companies will not accept borrowers who do not have at least a 620 or 640 credit score. These higher requirements on credit scores to qualify for an FHA loan are called a lender overlay on credit scores. Just because a borrower meets the minimum FHA, VA, USDA, or Conventional Loan Lending Guidelines does not mean the lender cans approve and fund the mortgage borrower. Always check the company’s overlays

New Loan Officer Opportunities for Experienced Real Estate Agents

Gustan Cho Associates will accept individuals who are eager and willing to train as a loan officer. New loan officer recruits need to be full-time. This is because training to be a new loan officer cannot be done part-time. New loan officer recruits will be assigned to an Area Sales Manager and Area Operations Manager and work closely one on one.

The first dozen mortgage loan files will be worked together with a senior loan officer from the pre-approval stage to closing. If you are a career-minded, goal-oriented, hard-working motivated individual who would like to start a new career as a loan officer, contact Gustan Cho Associates at gcho@gustancho.com or call and/or text us at 262-627-1965.

This Article on Training a New Mortgage Loan Officer Without Any Experience Was UPDATED On August 15th, 2022.

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