Never Miss a Deal: Lauren Maxwell’s Mortgage Sales Mindset

Lizy: Hey, guys. Welcome back to another CCM Talks. Lizy Hoeffer here with the amazing executive vice president Lauren Maxwell, who is our top female loan officer at CCM. She’s a social influence powerhouse and honestly, just a legacy loan officer. I’m so grateful to have you here.  

Lauren: Well, thanks for having me. This is fun. Got up early, scarf down my breakfast and I’m here. Ask away, Lizy. Let’s talk.  

Lizy: Okay, so you have been consistently a top producer for as long as I’ve known your name. I mean, literally very, very top. And you’ve worked in many different markets over a 38-year career, which is very impressive. How do you maintain that level of performance? Because that is tough.  

Lauren: I really do love what I do every day. I love going to work. I love helping my clients. I love seeing my staff. I’m a people person, so you just have to put me in front of a crowd in front of my employees. As soon as I walk in the room, I ask for business wherever I am.  

I tell you this and I’m not joking, I don’t care if you’re my Amazon driver or you are a receptionist if I’m walking into a doctor’s office, I asked the person who checked me in. When he asked me for my phone number, I asked him if he owned a house. I bet nobody else did that, but I really love what I do, so it’s easy when you love what you do. It’s not like work. I get excited about it. 

Lizy: I know which is, okay, so personally, I mean, I love this business and I’m so grateful for what it’s done for me. But this level of gratitude that you have and that you exude is magnetic. I mean, I’ve always told people, I’m like, you have to be the injector of energy. And when looking for that, in terms of an example, I’m like, look at Lauren Maxwell. I mean, you enter a room and you automatically lift the vibe. What are you doing that gets you there?  

Lauren: So it’s funny, I had an out of office, which I don’t normally like to do, but because I can’t answer everybody, and I had one last week because I have a best friend, sadly, who’s passing away, so I was in Boston for a few days. My daughter didn’t know I went away and she saw me out of office and she texted me, she goes, you, something’s wrong with you. Like, how do you keep going? Because she saw some social media post. She goes, you should be a top person for Celsius. Because what do you do? Because you know that I don’t drink coffee, but I have one Celsius in the morning. 

 I really I don’t know, you know, everybody has a gift. I have been doing this for so long. I started at the bottom. It was never my objective to be the best. I just loved what I did and then I was through the bottom in 2007-2008 when I lost everything. So really, I’m grateful for every loan and I thought, if I’m going to do it, I’m going to be the best until I’m not, and then I’ll gracefully consult or something like that. But if you love what you do, and you know you can help, people and realtors really do need you.  

So I like to share that with new loan officers or people who are already going to do lunch and learns or breakfast. Your realtors really do need you as much as you need them because unless you’re in a cash market, they have to partner up with a professional, so you might as well be the best at what you do. Learn everything about your field and just set the bar so far higher than everybody else. And if you are positive, then they want to be around you.  

Lizy: So one of the things that I think is also very unique to you, but also it’s a very big reminder to myself to continue to learn, is you started in the business, you know, as a processor, and then you started originating FHA loans in the downturn, which is actually something that I did too. I was a processor and I was like, wait, I know FHA loans. And the thing is, we’ve had multiple different shifts and I was not quick to take up the Non-QM and I actually started because I saw you. Like what makes you start learning all these loan products? I mean you’re like, I mean at least one of the top originators in Non-QM in general here at CCM. 

Lauren: You know Ron actually taught me that because when I first came here, I never even did FHA loans below 640. It was crazy. And I still was a top originator, right, in ‘17 before I came here. So he taught me that I have to open up my horizons, learn new tricks, and I did. I never did jumbo loans until I came here. 

So I never did a jumbo loan. I never did scores below 640. And then of course, the bank statement programs came, the 1099, the P&L. Basically, I’m super competitive and I don’t want to lose. So if you don’t want to lose, you better damn well find those products to make sure that nobody else is going to get them instead of you. 

Lizy: Okay, but how are you finding the time to learn these new loan products, be on social media? I mean, you are very committed mom and grandma.  

Lauren: I’m a la la. 

Lizy: A la la. Excuse me.  

Lauren: Thank you. You know, you just do it. I really don’t sleep that much. I’m not going to lie. I come home around 7:30-8, you know, I have dinner with the kids and my husband talk for an hour, and then, you know, I’m, I am a mom and a wife Friday night through Monday morning. And they’ve allowed me, you know, you have to also be with people who build you up, who want the best for you, who like seeing you grow. And so your partner, whether you’re a man or a woman, whatever it is, your partner has to be lifting you up. 

If they’re wanting you to be home at dinner time or have to, you have to run home and, you know, get cookies for your kids at lunch because there is, you know, an event unless it’s really important. Those are the things I had a sacrifice. And, you know, my kids are in their 30s and they wouldn’t trade it for the world. They love their life. But you just do it.  

You know, our products are right on there. They’re not that hard to read an SOP. I mean, come on, guys, everybody pees and poops. Go bring it to the bathroom. I mean, it’s just not that hard. And I bring a lot of things to the bathroom. I mean, seriously, read it. It’s not that hard. And then when you’re not sure, ask for help. Our support, we didn’t talk about this last night, but our support team here, our operations, is by far the best ever, and I’ve worked for a few companies over 38 years. I’ve gotten people on New Year’s Eve, whether it’s Pete, whether it’s Jasmine, whether it’s Julie. I mean, our Tom’s, our Brian’s, they’re amazing.  

So we can get stuff done. If you don’t know it, learn it. 15 minutes is what it takes to learn a product. This is not brain surgery. So if you don’t do it and you say, oh, I’m so busy or I have to do this, well, that’s just an excuse. So you don’t want to be the best. And that’s, and that’s okay. Not everybody wants to be the best. But you know, if you want to learn, you want to be the best, you want to excel, we have it here.  

Lizy: Oh I’m obsessed. Okay. So you have one of the largest social media followings too. Which I imagine, I mean, I’m, everybody is drawn to you. And so I’m not surprised that they’re also drawn to you online. Okay. Tell me a little bit about what it looks like to grow that following.  

Lauren: Okay. This might be bad, but I don’t really pay attention to that. So I didn’t even know that. Okay. I have a business manager who’s been with me for eight years. She really handles a lot of that. Unless there’s something specific that you know, they want me to talk about, I don’t normally go on it myself, but we use it. We use Sprinklr. She uses that. So I don’t really know. I mean, I just have a lot of friends and, you know, people ask me to be their friend and I smile at people. And so I think it grows from there.  

But, and I then I do their mortgage, I will run into people ten years ago and they’ll say, they’ll call me aside and they’re successful now. They go, hey, you helped me when I was a single mom or a dad will come and go, you know, I just gotten divorced. I lost my help and nobody else would talk to me. And you helped me when I only had a 580 credit score. I mean, so those are the things I never give up on anybody. So I think if you never give up on anybody, you’re nice to people and you treat them the same, whether they make $5, or whether they have $5 in the bank or $5 million, then God is good to you and those things come back.  

Lizy: That’s actually something. I mean, I feel like you just kind of pour into everyone. I mean, I can personally say that I have experienced the Lauren Maxwell like, pour into you, you know, in that. What would you say is the best piece of advice that you have for female loan officers trying to grow up into this business?  

Lauren: Never act like a victim. Always be positive. Show positivity to your kids or to your friends, to your family, especially your teammates. Walk into work with a positive attitude because if you walk in and you’re woe is me, it follows so your whole ops team will feel that way. Oh, it’s only yes. Like there’s, no it’s not an option. Even when my losses come to me like, hey, I don’t think we can do this lone. I’m like, don’t say that to me. Let’s figure out a way. I don’t care if you have a 480 score, show me the plan. Will it take them one year or two year? We’re not going to give up on them. Call them. Go over the plan. Email it to them. Call the realtor. Let them know. So don’t give up on anybody because you wouldn’t want somebody to give up on you. 

We all go through bad times. I remember when I lost everything in 2008. I mean, after all of those years, it was scary. And I was a single mom at the time, but I didn’t give up, you know. For like an hour I was thinking, can this really be happening? I’m busy. How how is nobody lending money? You just keep doing what you’re good at and be positive, and then things will, good things will happen. But also, find a plan for everybody. Because everybody deserves to be a homeowner. And you can always find a way to make it work.  

Lizy: And so when you have these people on these plans, what are you doing to follow up with them? Because I imagine that takes a lot of follow-up. Are you using systems, CRM systems, teammates, process? 

Lauren: If I did, then guess what? I would be beating Matt Weaver. But I’m not great at that. I love you, Matt. We have a tracker system that’s probably my biggest failing is that we don’t follow up like we should, probably every six months or so, or they call us and they’re proud of it. They go, oh, my God, Lauren, guess what? I’ve done this and this. And I looked at Credit Karma and I think I’m up to a 582. So they normally will call us. But I could be better at that. And it’s something, I have new goals for ‘26. I’m going to get better at manning my pipelines. It’s just, it’s hard because our phones are ringing. Thank you God, we’re blessed. Our phones are ringing all day long. People are walking in our office all day long. People want appointments. So we are really busy and that’s how much I can only work so many people.  

Lizy: Okay, so I ask every single person this. You’ve been in the business 38 years, if somebody were to pluck you from out of Florida and put you into, let’s say, Arizona. So some random in the U.S. and you had to start your business all over again. What would be the first couple things you would do?  

Lauren: I would look to see, I would look on the, the tracker, and I would look to see who’s doing business with the top originators and the top realtors. I would look into that. I know the paper, I keep going back to the paper, but I would look to see you as the open houses, and I’d go after the biggest realtors, and I would start with FHA loans. So I would look for your loan limits. What are your loan limits there?  

Lizy: $546,250.  

Lauren: Okay, so I look at every house that’s listed under 600,000 and I go after those agents who market that area. And I’d say, hey, listen, I’m never going to give up on your client. I’m always accessible to you. Call me. Try me. I’ll be your backup lender. At some point, your lender is going to fail. They’re not going to answer your call. Call me, and then I will eventually be your number one.  

Lizy: Love it. Lauren, you are a wealth of knowledge. I just love you to death. Thank you for coming.  

Lauren: You’re welcome. Have fun everyone.  

Lizy: Thank you guys for joining us on CCM Talks. See you next time.