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photo, Jeff Lake; Jon Volpe; Chip Poli
2001 was the best year ever for originations. But even with the volumes at an all-time high, one leading broker is making more time for the other things in life.
Top producer Jeff Lake says, 2001 was a gift from God. As a professional loan originator, you really did not have to do more than sit at a desk and let the phone ring. In terms of volume, Mr. Lake of First Home Mortgage Corp., Mount Prospect, Ill., was last year's star originator with $307 million in originations, $22 million more than the runner-up, according to data gathered by Broker's affiliate Mortgagestats.com.
But in number of loans closed, Jon Volpe of Nova Home Loans, Tucson, Ariz., actually exceeded Mr. Lake's 1,447 loans by 529 mortgages for a total of 1,976, but was second in volume with $285 million. Tom Digan of Mortgage Master, Norwood, Mass., was third with volume of $272 million, followed by fellow Mortgage Master professionals Dave Gibbs, ranked fourth with $177 million and John Kalin in fifth position with $141 million.
As in previous years, Mortgage Master was the firm with the most producers in the Top Ten, five in all, including Gerry McCarthy, ranked eighth with $132 million volume and ninth ranked Louis Ito Rode who produced $116 million. First Home Mortgage Corp. claims top originator Jeff Lake and Greg Frost, ranked sixth with a volume of $140 million. Mr. Frost operates a net branch for First Home, Frost Mortgage located in Albuquerque, N.M.
Volumes Climb
The strength of the mortgage market in year 2001 is evident in the tremendous leap in origination volumes, more than double those of year 2000 and nearly twice the size of those in 1999.
Six of the Top...