In this Ten Minute Talk, Matt Weaver doesn’t mince words: in 2025, if you're not treating every client and agent meeting like a full-blown performance, you're losing business. In this conversation with Brena Nath, Matt breaks down what it takes to stand out in the modern mortgage game—killer presentation skills, sharp value propositions, and relentless follow-through.
Matt offers actionable strategies to push past stagnation and gain meaningful market share. He emphasizes that success is no longer about who shows up—it’s about who shows up best. This is a must-watch for anyone in mortgage origination looking to stay relevant and competitive in today’s evolving market.
Matt offers actionable strategies to push past stagnation and gain meaningful market share. He emphasizes that success is no longer about who shows up—it’s about who shows up best. This is a must-watch for anyone in mortgage origination looking to stay relevant and competitive in today’s evolving market.
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NewsTranscript
00:00So what we do here is we just remind ourselves that we have to be the antithesis of complacency.
00:05Okay, we have to get out there, make it happen and be more aggressive than we ever have before.
00:10So then here's the question, how do we be more aggressive and what can we do?
00:21We are over one month into the new year of 2025, and I couldn't think of a better person
00:29to join me for this 10-minute talk to talk about not only his rich history in mortgage and growing
00:36market share in the past, but also talk about how he's conquering what the unique characteristics
00:43are of a year like 2025 as we're seeing so far. It's a wildly different year, so he can help
00:49share for our audience why and how do you tap into what's still out there. So I'm Brenna Nath
00:55with Housing Wire and I'm excited to have with me Matt Weaver. He's a mortgage originator at
01:01Cross Country Mortgage. He's ranked the number one mortgage originator in the nation for the
01:06most closed loans in 2023. He also has the most purchase transactions in 2022. And then on top
01:14of all of that, as he'll probably dive into, he's based in Florida. So he's remained the number one
01:19in that state, which we all know is a giant state from 2020 to 2024. We're actively in 2025. So
01:27with that, Matt, welcome to 10-Minute Talks. Thank you so much for the opportunity and hello everyone.
01:32I hope I can add value just a little bit to your origination business here today. So thank you.
01:38Now, as I mentioned, 2025, while it's a new chapter of a year, it's really not shaping up to be
01:46wildly different than what people have experienced in the past. So that doesn't mean that there's not
01:50new things to consider, new risks, new opportunities that loan originators, loan officers should be
01:56looking for. So what would you call out for these people as they're looking to still grow their
02:01business this year? Oh, without a doubt. What I wrote down here was the biggest risk loan officers
02:08have today is complacency. We cannot remain complacent. We can't sit still, hope, wait,
02:16wonder, wait to see what happens. None of that. We have to be more aggressive today than ever before.
02:24No question about it. I mean, it's an interesting side of the business today. I think we can all
02:28agree the last two or three years have been very interesting. So what we do here is we just remind
02:34ourselves that we have to be the antithesis of complacency. We have to get out there, make it
02:39happen and be more aggressive than we ever have before. So then here's the question, how do we
02:44be more aggressive and what can we do? So I wrote down here, truly understanding your customer.
02:51If the agent is your customer, then what we have to always think about is what is and what are
02:56their pain points. Every customer that we serve in any business that we serve, there's a pain point.
03:02So when we understand what their pain point is, we can figure out how to serve them to the
03:06highest level, which in turn will hopefully get us more business. So as an example,
03:12many markets are still in a multiple offer environment, multiple offer situation.
03:17So how are you helping the agent succeed in that scenario? How are you helping them and the buyer
03:23win in a multiple offer? Do you have a step-by-step offer process? What are your timelines?
03:29Are they faster than the competitor that's competing at the same home or on the same home?
03:33That's one example. Watch, many of our markets, Florida, are in a buyer's market. So in a buyer's
03:40market, what we have in front of us is there are simply more sellers than there are buyers.
03:44So I'm working very closely with our agents on how we can help them negotiate to get better price
03:50and better terms on the homes for their buyers. See, we flipped that around because we're now
03:54in a buyer's market, but still you got to have the right offer process. Watch this one.
04:00Interest rates still are a big objection amongst homebuyers. And so agents are on the front lines.
04:08They have to deal with, of course, the buyer objecting to interest rates. So are we helping
04:13them on how to handle that objection? So here at the Matt Weaver team, we give our agents scripts.
04:19Okay. Remember, it's our belief system that an agent's negotiating skills, okay,
04:25can determine and help determine the homebuyer's interest rate. Because when we think about it,
04:30originators, who can pay realistically for a temporary rate buy-down? It's primarily the
04:36seller. So it's an agent's negotiating skills that can help the seller get credits, or I should say,
04:41get credits from the sellers so they can in turn buy down their interest rate. That's where we
04:46step into play. So it's stuff like that. When we understand who our customers and we think about
04:51their pain and what they're dealing with, we can deliver solutions to the pain. So the risk
04:55in the question would be complacency. We got to stay away from it. The opportunity is really
05:00diving into who our customer is, their pain point, and how we can deliver a solution to them.
05:05You laid that out so well. And the theme that I see in a lot of that really points back to
05:12not only does the Matt Weaver team clearly help people, but you also are clearly kind of
05:17stating what your guys' value proposition is in all of it. That feeds into, and you kind of
05:24touched on this already, so I don't know if there's more to add, but then what are the specific
05:28strategies? Like, you know, you give the agent scripts. You're also helping understand and
05:33listen. Listen is a very important word that I heard that you just said. So are there any
05:38other specific strategies that you would call out on how LOs are gaining market share?
05:43Oh, absolutely. We are in a contact sport like never before, okay? I mean, we have to make
05:50contact, ideally face-to-face contact. Listen, I know social media is out there and I know it's
05:57like the hottest craze, but the truth of the matter is that we look at it as a necessary evil.
06:01It is not a scenario where we're actually getting business from. You got to participate,
06:06participate in it, but that's not where we ever come close to resting on. So we are big believers
06:12in contact. Now, what do I mean by that? Okay, so if we think about it face-to-face, are we having
06:17meetings? Are we having lunches? Are we having coffees with our customer, which is the agent?
06:22Here at the Matt Weaver team, I do about 120 to 130 seminars a year, okay? My seminars are riddled
06:30with value that helps the agent sell more real estate. It is not about loan product or what FHA's
06:38loan limit is. That doesn't do anything for the agent. That's our internal process. What we can
06:42do is we can help them succeed by giving them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
06:47So here's what I would say to an agent or to a loan officer, I should say.
06:52Make contact and try to be in front of agents. If it's one-on-one, do you have your value
06:58propositions in order? Ask yourself this question, why would they want to do business with
07:03you? What is the compelling reason? And think about that deeply, okay? I look at that every
07:09single day. I write down, Brenna, almost every single morning, why would an agent want to do
07:15business with me? And I keep adding to my value propositions so I can, of course, be of higher
07:21service to the agent. So for the loan originator that's listening, ask yourself that question,
07:25be real with yourself, and then think about your customer and how you and your process can add
07:31value to their process and enhance them. Not just closing the loan on time. That doesn't mean
07:36anything. We can all do that. Not just answering the phone. We can all do that. That's par for the
07:41course. We got to go above and beyond in order to get extraordinary results. If you are comfortable
07:48with speaking in front of large groups, think about your content. Content and delivery to keep
07:53a room going, make it fun, and make sure that it's real value-driven and do it in a professional
08:00manner. So those are the ways that we're really getting in front of agents. Social media, try not
08:06to spend too much time on it. I got to tell you something, based on my discovery, they yield very
08:11little results. It's very true, but to your point, a necessary evil. But then you point back to,
08:17which is so key, relationship, building that relationship connection in person.
08:22One thing that has changed over the past few years is social media. I'm glad that
08:26you called that out. I wanted to pick your brain on a lot from technology to the world.
08:34The past few years have had many shifts, whether that's pop culturally to the way we do business.
08:41What are the most critical skills that you would call out right now that are key to success
08:47compared to maybe what was there in the past?
08:51What loan originators, I think, need to constantly focus on is strengthening
08:57their presentation skills. I always say to originators that ask me, remember,
09:03every presentation is a performance. We have to take it seriously because the truth of the
09:08matter is that we are performers. I look at loan originators. I look at real estate agents. I look
09:13at anyone in any craft, no different than an NBA player, no different than a football player,
09:19no different than an actor, actress, et cetera. They just happen to choose a different field,
09:23and you can succeed at the highest level in either of them. In loan origination,
09:27when we look at ourselves as performers and we treat our presentations like a performance,
09:33then that means we take it seriously, which automatically separates ourselves from the
09:36competition as a person. Second, when we take it seriously, we understand
09:41what it is that we're saying. You don't have to be scripted like a robot, but you want to be
09:47somewhat scripted because it keeps it more efficient and you know you want to cover the
09:50points that you're going to cover. My value propositions are clear. They're concise,
09:56whether it's in a five-minute meeting, a 15-minute meeting, a room in front of
10:00300 for two hours, whatever it is. I run a very scripted process because I want to make sure that
10:06I cover the points in the most efficient manner possible. Working and strengthening your
10:12presentation is critically important. You'll find this interesting, Brenna. In my discovery
10:19with real estate agents, I've asked them, so what made you change loan originators? A lot of the
10:25times, the answer to that is bedside manner. Think about that, bedside manner. Remember,
10:31you can never go wrong being the ultimate professional, okay? It just wins nine times
10:38of ten. You're never going to lose being too professional, so having a strong presentation
10:42is going to help you do that, okay? That almost reminds me of that saying,
10:47you're never going to regret a workout. You're never going to regret putting your best foot
10:51forward when it comes to being professional. Well, Matt, I am not surprised. You were able to pack
10:55so much knowledge into the last ten minutes of our ten-minute talk from how the markets change
11:02to how can you set yourself up for success in 2025. I think that's maybe the most important
11:06call-out, that there is still business to be won in 2025. It's going to take work. It's going to
11:11take some strategizing, which you have laid out so well in your points. With that, Matt,
11:17thank you so much for joining me and excited to see what unfolds in 2025 for you.
11:22Oh, well, without a doubt, I greatly appreciate the opportunity.