“Work in the business or work off the business”
Munson said that when building out your team, you need to find other lending professionals who are as dedicated to your brokerage as you are, and that can be a challenge.
“At some point, you have to make a decision as an operator, whether you want to work in the business or off the business,” Munson said. “When you’re wanting to make that decision, if you want to work in the business, I can close 30 or 40 loans every month, make a good living, so can my business partner, not hire anybody, and keep this team small and live the life we want.”
He noted that once you decide you want to go beyond what you can do with your brokerage, it’s about finding, training, and supporting the right people to help them succeed, which in turn helps your company grow.
Private lenders must adapt to an “uncertain market,” says Jonathan Hornik of the NPLA. He notes that escalating construction costs require different underwriting approaches for large commercial projects. https://t.co/kjDvbbASP5
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) June 25, 2025
“It was important as we tried to phase ourselves out, to look at the bigger picture and not be in the trenches as much, was to get somebody in there to shadow initially,” he said. “I think that’s a good process. When we hire, they sit in a classroom for 30 days. They don’t leave that classroom for 30 days. Then they shadow for 30 days, and they’re on their own for 30 days.
“If you’re going to build a company, you’re building it off people. It’s not your product. It’s not a myriad of other things you could bring up. It’s the people within your company. So, you need to bring in high-quality people.”