Welcome to the Lending Thoughts podcast, a Canadian Mortgage Broker’s top source for timely, industry-leading insights to help you become a better mortgage professional.
Join Bekim Merdita, a trusted name in mortgages and the EVP of Rocket Mortgage Canada, as he hosts conversations with industry experts and leaders to keep you informed on the latest and greatest in the Canadian mortgage landscape.
Let the Lending Thoughts podcast be your guide to growing your tactics, expertise, and ultimately, your business, in this highly competitive mortgage market.
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In this episode, Bekim is again joined by Chris Colasanti. Chris is a founding team member of Rocket Mortgage Canada and the VP of Strategy & Analytics and Rocket Pro at Rocket Mortgage Canada from Windsor, Ontario. A graduate of the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, Chris has brought an innovative and energetic demeanor as well as a passion for technology and data driven decision making to Rocket Mortgage Canada since 2020.
Chris is here to discuss:
→ Why it's so hard to start a lender in Canada, including: Canada's oligopolistic banking structure, the "big six", creating barriers for new entrants, slow regulatory changes, and the difficulty of scaling with high capital requirements & tighter margins.
→ The differences between the Canada and US lending industries like technology and unit economics, and how Canada's risk-averse culture is becoming detrimental to innovation and economic growth.
→ The lessons learned from Rocket Mortgage Canada's journey, the enduing spirit of the team and building a strong culture, and the importance of innovators carrying the torch forward.
In this episode, Bekim is joined by Kyle Dionne. Kyle is the Senior Director of Brokerage & Lender Operations at Rocket Mortgage Canada. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, he also attended the University of Windsor, where he achieved an honours degree in Labour Studies & Sociology, and eventually got a Bachelor of Education. Kyle and his family then moved to England, where he spent a decade teaching, before returning home to Windsor in the summer of 2020. Kyle is a dynamic and results-driven senior leader, specializing in process optimization, strategic leadership, and talent development, with a history of success in developing teams and consistently achieving key business results.
Kyle is here to discuss:
→ The need for speed & certainty in the mortgage process, what "blackjack deals" are, and how they're the key to a higher completion rate & funding more files.
→ Building trust & accountability with a new team, creating a culture of continuous incremental improvements, and the lynchpin of communication in bringing teams together.
→ Improving the future of the lending industry, what motivates Kyle, and leaving a legacy & lasting impact.
In this episode, Bekim is joined by Chris Colasanti. Chris is a founding team member of Rocket Mortgage Canada and the VP of Strategy & Analytics and Rocket Pro at Rocket Mortgage Canada from Windsor, Ontario. Rocket Pro is a lending team dedicated to helping broker grow. A graduate of the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, Chris has brought an innovative and energetic demeanor as well as a passion for technology and data driven decision making to Rocket Mortgage Canada since 2020.
Chris is here to discuss:
→ Building your team and making sure you have the right "A" players, hiring slow and firing fast, and aligning the values of team members.
→ Building a values-driven organization, common values needed for business growth, the power of concise communication, and refining company culture.
→ Having the mindset of a Roman Emperor, applying stoic principles to life and business, and how leadership is something you do with your team, not to them.
In this episode, Bekim is joined by Tom Hall. Tom is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO of BluMortgage from Toronto, Ontario, one of the top independent CRMs for mortgage brokers in Canada. Used by 3 of the top 5 brokers in the country and over $11.5B in mortgage volume managed annually, BluMortgage is leading the transition from a historically manual-process to a digital-first experience for agents and their customers, and was named one of the Globe & Mail's Top Growing Companies in 2024. Tom is also the host of the Mortgage Tech Talks podcast, which covers the latest in mortgage technology, and was named one of the CMPs Rising Stars of 2024.
Tom is here to discuss:
→ What led him to BluMortgage, what BluMortgage is and who's their avatar client, and how BluMortgage has evolved from a diagnostic to a prescriptive business.
→ How to implement good CRM habits, separating your customer journey process from a system, and building a good business foundation with data & open source frameworks.
→ Where AI fits in the mortgage industry, predictions on the future of mortgage tech, and what's coming from BluMortgage in 2025.
In this episode, Bekim is joined by Scott Larter. Scott is the VP of Business Development at OPTA Information Intelligence, and is also the VP of Data Solution Sales at FCT (First Canadian Title). OPTA and FCT entered a partnership in 2020 to focus on building data products for the mortgage industry, amassing a database of 18 million residential and 7 million commercial properties across Canada. In 2024, Scott became the Co-Founder and CEO of BrokerBot, a lead conversion and customer engagement solution with monthly real estate market values sent directly to a customer's email, putting a spotlight on the Broker.
Scott is here to discuss:
→ The path he took to get to where he is today, the lessons he learned from bartending and cold-calling, and what keeps him motivated in his career.
→ The importance of property data in the mortgage and insurance industries, why individual brokers should be investing in data, and how you can leverage it for a better client experience.
→ What automated valuation models (AVMs) are, the difference between an AVM and an appraisal, and how hybrid appraisal solutions can lead to faster approvals.
In this episode, Bekim is joined by Brendan Woodfull. Brendan is the Divisional VP of Sales for Rocket Pro, a Division of Rocket Mortgage Canada. Rocket Pro is a team dedicated to helping broker partners submit deals to the Rocket Mortgage Canada lending channel. A former NCAA athlete who has worked for Rocket Mortgage in both Canada and the US, Brendan uses his experiences to partner with mortgage agents and brokers from across the country.
Brendan is here to discuss:
→ His journey to and within the NCAA playing soccer, the impacts a team's culture has on success, and the skills he's been able to transfer from high-performance sport to a high-performance career.
→ How much every day tasks are actually worth, building error-free and efficient processes, and streamlining tasks for productivity.
→ What Agents actually need from lenders, communication as a necessity for client care, and the generational wealth he wants to leave his future kids.
In this episode, Bekim is joined by Chris Grimes. Chris is the Co-Founder & CEO of FundMore.ai, and has worked in the financial industry for 20 years. Gaining experience in wealth management, credit lending, and mortgage origination, he is passionate about advancing the mortgage industry through technology and forward-thinking initiatives. FundMore.ai is an automated underwriting system that uses machine learning to streamline the pre-funding process for loans. The mission? To make home-ownership more accessible.
Chris is here to discuss:
→ What Fundmore.ai is and the problem it's trying to solve, how Chris got to where he is today, and the legacy he wants to leave.
→ The industry working together for more accessible home ownership, what's frustrating about the current home-buying experience, and the dream of funding a mortgage in less than 24 hours and the challenges in executing that vision.
→ How AI will improve the future of mortgages, consumers' growing comfort with AI, and what's exciting about the industry's future.
In this episode, Bekim is joined by Reuven Gorsht. Reuven is the Founder & CEO of Deeded from Toronto, Ontario, who's an entrepreneur with a passion for solving big, challenging problems. Reuven has helped transform and evolve multi-billion dollar corporations into new business models, products, and paradigms, and also built a very successful startup from the ground up. Deeded is a technology platform that provides a virtual real estate and mortgage closing experience, whose mission it is to make real estate transactions frictionless, affordable, and transparent.
Reuven is here to discuss:
→ His journey from corporate to entrepreneurship, building and exiting his first company, MoveSnap, and what inspired the founding of Deeded and how it took off during the pandemic.
→ AI reducing friction in the mortgage process and what the future holds, modernizing the outdated home closing process, and why the government has backtracked on digital regulations post-pandemic.
→ Streamlining the real estate journey, improving the client experience, and eliminating the emotional rollercoaster of home buying.
In this episode, Bekim is joined by Alex Meloche. Alex is the Divisional VP of Sales at Rocket Mortgage Canada. He has been with the company since May of 2020. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario and coming from a big family, Alex picked up strong communication and story-telling skills from a young age, and has parlayed that into a very successful career in sales. With a professional life spanning the past 2 decades in industries such as debt and legal collections, dental, office & furniture, and now mortgages, Alex has continued to build his sales and leadership skills from amazing mentors, and hopes he can open the doors for the next generation.
Alex is here to discuss:
→ His professional career and why he wanted to join Rocket Mortgage Canada, the legacy he wishes to leave, and staying motivated with 1, 100, and 1000 day goals.
→ What makes a great salesperson, transferable sales skills across all industries, and the building blocks of sales and leadership, effective communication and confidence.
→ The importance of running a professional process/system, using conversion metrics through your process to level up your skills, and why professionalism over politeness is the way to win clients and be a great friend.
In this episode, Bekim is joined by Gary Fooks. Gary is the Co-Founder & CEO of both 8Twelve Mortgage & 8Twelve Financial Technologies from Toronto, Ontario, who stumbled across the mortgage industry at the end of 2014. From working on Wall Street to scaling sales organizations with technology, it only took Gary 3 years to hit $100M in yearly mortgage volume, with 99% of it coming from referrals. Gary parlayed that success into Co-Founding 8Twelve Mortgage in 2018, leveraging technology and automation to implement his proven, proprietary 8-step process, and usher along a new era of mortgage professionals.
Gary is here to discuss:
→ What brought him to mortgages and the founding of 8Twelve, opening their network to and supporting independent Agents, and how he finds the right fits for the brokerage.
→ How to build a referral based business with lifelong relationships, the biggest mistake people make when pitching potential referral partners, and building mutually beneficial Broker and lender partnerships.
→ Tech's purpose in your business, what AI is going to transform in the mortgage industry, and how AI can be used to find holes in your client journey process and lead to improvement.
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