April Schummer knows all too well what “financial crisis” means and not because she is a mortgage broker but, rather, why she is a mortgage broker.“I got into this business because I needed to provide for my children,” Schummer said. “I had four kids under the age of 10 and so it was most definitely a necessity.”
Schummer began working for direct lenders, which was, at that time a very male driven industry but she never gave into the pressure. “My very first boss, he’d say, ‘How many you gonna give me April.’ It irritated me all the time,” she said. “I’d look at him and say, ‘I will do the best I can do, there is no one that can put anymore pressure on myself than me,’ and I’d never give him a number.”
The more she worked the more she realized that she was never going to be the kind of in-and-out, one right after another kind of broker. She said she cared too much about the people who walked in her door. She believed in taking the time with borrowers, listening to their needs and assessing the reality and then presenting options that were best for them.
“I give them information that I would like to know if I was in their shoes,” she says. After working for direct lenders for seven years, Schummer left to work for a wholesale broker but quickly realized it was not for her. But, instead of going back to where she was, she decided to take the courageous step forward of going to work for herself and Financial Liberty Mortgage was born. Now 10 years later, Schummer looks back without regret, knowing that she has worked passionately and intentionally on one thing – building relationships.
Now that the country finds itself in the mists of economic stress, the relationships she’s built matter more now than ever. “I keep contact with everyone I work with,” she said. “I’ve had so many people call in the past alone asking advice about refinancing.” Schummer says this is not a mortgage crisis; it’s a financial crisis.
“The weakest link was the mortgage industry and when the bottom fell out economically it was the first to fall and the first ones effected were the people,” says Schummer.
In February 2009, Schummer was invited to go to Washington D.C. to participate in a discussion about the state of mortgage industry. She said it was an opportunity to go meet with US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Small Business Association (SBA) to listen and give feedback as a small business owner in the mortgage industry.
“It was kind of like a gathering and information session,” she says. “Your political preference in truth doesn’t matter, we have to come together as a nation.”
To take part in a dialogue like this seems strikingly appropriate for Schummer. She, from day one of her career, has been concerned with the industry as a whole. “Loans have to be good for everybody,” she says. “They have to be good for the lender, they have to be a good product for the consumer and they have to be secure from a government standpoint. It has to come together like a machine and when one of those things are out of balance that is when there begins to be problems.”
As far as the mortgage fallout goes, Schummer said that for a while there has been a lack of communication within the mortgage machine, which caused many problems. “To set the business of homes in a good place, their needs to be relationships; everybody coming together to help each other’s losses,” she says. “We all have to care.”
Caring has become her trademark. It’s what she is known for; it’s why she is trusted and why she is successful. Before Schummer is a mortgage broker, she is wife, a mother and a grandmother. Because she started in the business for her family, her regard for the well being of others has bled into her job.
Schummer has the desire to take her business down a new road – she wants to teach. It has always been important to her to inform her clients and give them realistic options. By teaching groups, she wants to make them more informed and realistic buyers, teaching them to look at things long-term rather than just short-term. Schummer believes that this is a new time for all of us.
“For the next generation, we are looking at a time of readjustment, whether it’s spending or living within our means,” she says. And she adds that for her business, that’s exactly what she’ll do – readjust.
Schummer’s life as a mortgage broker began as a financial necessity but has become some much more than that. Ironically, she says that what she has invested as a whole and what she has gained monetarily doesn’t balance but it is still worth it to her because it matters to her and that means it matters to somebody else.
It’s not about a price for her. It’s about who these people are. It’s about what they need and also what they desire. It’s about what they fear and whom they can trust. And investing in that is priceless.
Now that the country finds itself in the mists of economic stress, the relationships she’s built matter more now than ever. “I keep contact with everyone I work with,” she said. “I’ve had so many people call in the past alone asking advice about refinancing.” Schummer says this is not a mortgage crisis; it’s a financial crisis.
“The weakest link was the mortgage industry and when the bottom fell out economically it was the first to fall and the first ones effected were the people,” says Schummer.
In February 2009, Schummer was invited to go to Washington D.C. to participate in a discussion about the state of mortgage industry. She said it was an opportunity to go meet with US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Small Business Association (SBA) to listen and give feedback as a small business owner in the mortgage industry.
“It was kind of like a gathering and information session,” she says. “Your political preference in truth doesn’t matter, we have to come together as a nation.”
To take part in a dialogue like this seems strikingly appropriate for Schummer. She, from day one of her career, has been concerned with the industry as a whole. “Loans have to be good for everybody,” she says. “They have to be good for the lender, they have to be a good product for the consumer and they have to be secure from a government standpoint. It has to come together like a machine and when one of those things are out of balance that is when there begins to be problems.”
As far as the mortgage fallout goes, Schummer said that for a while there has been a lack of communication within the mortgage machine, which caused many problems. “To set the business of homes in a good place, their needs to be relationships; everybody coming together to help each other’s losses,” she says. “We all have to care.”
Caring has become her trademark. It’s what she is known for; it’s why she is trusted and why she is successful. Before Schummer is a mortgage broker, she is wife, a mother and a grandmother. Because she started in the business for her family, her regard for the well being of others has bled into her job.
Schummer has the desire to take her business down a new road – she wants to teach. It has always been important to her to inform her clients and give them realistic options. By teaching groups, she wants to make them more informed and realistic buyers, teaching them to look at things long-term rather than just short-term. Schummer believes that this is a new time for all of us.
“For the next generation, we are looking at a time of readjustment, whether it’s spending or living within our means,” she says. And she adds that for her business, that’s exactly what she’ll do – readjust.
Schummer’s life as a mortgage broker began as a financial necessity but has become some much more than that. Ironically, she says that what she has invested as a whole and what she has gained monetarily doesn’t balance but it is still worth it to her because it matters to her and that means it matters to somebody else.
It’s not about a price for her. It’s about who these people are. It’s about what they need and also what they desire. It’s about what they fear and whom they can trust. And investing in that is priceless.
