In this episode of The Same Day Podcast, host Mat Zalk is joined by Aaron McManus, Mortgage Loan Originator at The Mortgage Link, to discuss the realities of today’s home lending process. Together, they explore common financing misconceptions, loan options for first-time buyers, and how experienced lenders help clients overcome unexpected obstacles.
Breaking Down Barriers in the Home Lending Process With Aaron McManus
Aaron McManus is a Mortgage Loan Originator at The Mortgage Link in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he helps clients navigate home financing solutions as part of a company dedicated to making homeownership accessible. With more than 15 years of lending experience, Aaron has built a reputation for solving challenging financing situations while making the mortgage process easier to understand. His client-focused approach emphasizes communication, education, and personalized lending solutions.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [02:59] Aaron McManus shares how his finance and retail banking background led him into mortgage lending
- [05:56] A key car dealership insight buyers should know before accepting a monthly payment
- [06:45] Why getting preapproved helps buyers control the car financing conversation
- [11:49] How USDA loans unlock zero down payment options for many buyers
- [14:12] How credit score changes impact your mortgage rates
- [15:56] Simplifying the mortgage process through clear borrower education
- [19:15] Ways rental income makes investment property purchases possible
- [22:27] Strategies for overcoming roadblocks during home financing
- [27:25] Why great communication sets top lenders apart
In this episode…
Many buyers believe qualifying for a mortgage requires flawless finances, but Aaron says that’s one of the industry’s biggest misconceptions. Numerous loan programs exist specifically to help qualified borrowers purchase a home with more flexibility than they expect. For buyers throughout Northwest Arkansas, the conversation highlights how working with an experienced lender can simplify the process and create opportunities that may otherwise go unnoticed.
As Northwest Arkansas continues experiencing rapid population growth and increased housing demand, many prospective buyers are wondering whether homeownership is within reach. Aaron explains that outdated assumptions about down payments and credit scores often discourage buyers before they even begin the application process.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Yonatan Schmidt on LinkedIn
- Mat Zalk on LinkedIn
- Keyrenter Property Management
- Keyrenter Property Management in Tulsa | Oklahoma City | Arkansas
- Keyrenter Property Management email address: [email protected]
- Aaron McManus: Website | LinkedIn
- The Mortgage Link
- “Exploring New Possibilities in Entrepreneurship” with Chip Gaberino on The Same Day Podcast
- “The Role of Urban and Workforce Development in Community Growth” with Aaron Miller on The Same Day Podcast
- “Successes and Failures in Real Estate” with Deren Huang on The Same Day Podcast
- Business Network International (BNI)
Quotable Moments
- “People get so hung up on the 20% thing, they don’t even begin the financing process.”
- “That’s not necessarily the barrier to homeownership; that’s just the barrier to the best option.”
- “The mortgage process has been overcomplicated since the housing crash in zero eight.”
- “If somebody is willing to explain them on an education level through the process.”
- “I always tell people that we’re going to get you to closing, knock on wood for that.”
Action Steps
- Start the lending conversation early: Beginning discussions before buyers feel ready helps uncover options they didn’t know existed and reduces fear-driven delays.
- Educate clients on loan programs beyond conventional options: Understanding FHA, USDA, and VA loans opens doors for buyers who assume they don’t qualify for a mortgage.
- Set clear expectations about roadblocks upfront: Preparing clients for challenges builds trust and keeps deals moving when obstacles arise.
- Focus on thorough prequalification, not just preapproval: Doing deeper work early minimizes surprises later and creates smoother closings for everyone involved.
- Prioritize consistent communication with all parties: Clear, proactive updates keep clients and partners aligned and prevent minor issues from becoming deal-breakers.
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management.
Keyrenter Property Management is a full-service property management company that helps clients buy, renovate, and operate real estate assets.
The team helps clients build wealth while taking the headache out of property management.
That’s why, no matter what rental you have — single-family homes, condos, townhomes, or apartments — they can give you the management solutions you need.
To learn more about their services, go to https://keyrenterpmc.com/ or send them an email at [email protected].
Episode Transcript
Intro 00:04
Welcome to The Same Day Podcast, where we discuss driving incremental business growth and other topics related to real estate, property management and entrepreneurship. Now to the show at hand.
Mat Zalk 00:20
Mat Zalk here. I’m the host of The Same Day Podcast, where I connect with top business experts and real estate leaders. Past guests that we’ve had on the show include Chip Gaberino of Tobacco Coffee, Aaron Miller of inTulsa, and Deren Huang, who’s a local real estate expert, buys industrial properties and single family residential. Today’s episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management. At Keyrenter Property Management, we are a full service property management company helping our clients buy, renovate and operate real estate assets.
We help our clients build wealth while taking the headache out of property management. Go to keyrenterpmc.com or email us at [email protected] to learn more. I met Aaron McManus, our guest for today through BNI. Huge shout out to BNI. He’s not in my chapter, he’s in another chapter.
But it’s a great network. If you don’t know anything about it, you should look into it. Business Network International. Aaron McManus is a Broken Arrow native and dedicated local mortgage lender committed to making homeownership achievable, achievable for his clients with deep roots in the community and a passion for guiding buyers through the lending process, Aaron simplifies what can often feel overwhelming. He’s known for clear communication, efficient solutions, and helping clients reach their home ownership goals faster and with confidence. Aaron, welcome to the show.
Aaron McManus 01:36
Glad to be here.
Mat Zalk 01:37
How you doing?
Aaron McManus 01:38
Good man.
Mat Zalk 01:39
I like that lamp in the back. What’s going. Tell me a little bit about that lamp.
Aaron McManus 01:42
First of all, you can’t point out my salt lamp. That’s. Yeah. No, no voodoo going on over here. But yeah, I do.
I do appreciate a little natural lighting here and there. I have no I have no windows in my office.
Mat Zalk 01:54
I have no windows in my office.
Aaron McManus 01:56
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 01:57
There are four of us in this office and we have no, no natural light.
Aaron McManus 02:00
We gotta get you some, some, some background. More than more than your spiel there.
Mat Zalk 02:05
We’re moving into a new office, I think in April of next year after it finishes construction. And I think for the first time, I’m going to have a window.
Aaron McManus 02:12
Oh, man. Yeah. I’m, I’m way to add to to not have a window. I can sit here for a certain span and then I gotta, I gotta go outside or do something.
Mat Zalk 02:22
You know that Roberts, that Oral Roberts building down at like 15th, 16th in Boston. I mean, the whole thing was built maybe in the 70s when they thought that natural light was, like, not that big of a deal and and incandescent. No. Not incandescent whatever these white lights are. Fluorescent lights were like the wave of the future.
And so they just built the whole thing with no windows. You know, the building I’m talking about?
Aaron McManus 02:43
Yeah, I do, yeah. It also reminds me of middle school in math class, being stuck under fluorescent lights, trying to look at numbers. Not not my thing despite being in finance. It’s. Yeah.
It’s brutal.
Mat Zalk 02:53
Absolutely. Tell me let’s let’s start with a little bit of background. How did you get involved? How did you become a mortgage lender?
Aaron McManus 02:59
Well, I kind of happened overnight. Pretty pretty easy story to explain. So I’ve been in finance for oh my gosh. Well probably 15 years now or so. Started in retail banking.
Yeah. Got into a gig with Tulsa Federal Credit Union which is now WeStreet Credit Union. Yeah. They had a position that was business development for their indirect lending program to car dealers in this part of the state. So basically northeast.
Mat Zalk 03:29
Indirect indirect lending.
Aaron McManus 03:31
So yeah, indirect lending. That’s easy. So basically when you go to the dealership and you get a car loan at the dealership and you don’t have to visit the bank or the branch or loan officer, it’s facilitated indirectly through that lender. And you leave with your car the same day. Super convenient.
Mat Zalk 03:50
I mean, beautiful for the bank to outsource the underwriting with a bunch of criteria, predetermined criteria to third party. That’s a beautiful deal.
Aaron McManus 03:58
Yeah, and low overhead. They only have a few people on staff and yeah. Yeah it’s great. It’s a good it’s a good option. So I did basically business development for them, which consisted of just driving around this part of the state trying to get dealers to, to utilize their, their, their loan program, which most people know at a credit union is pretty advantageous good rates.
And they they definitely take care of their, of their member base. So yeah, spent my day doing that. Got exposed to finance managers and the car business. Kind of got a taste of their world, which is most people would would know is a lot of hours, a lot of time spent at work. But a lot of people have success in that field.
So figured I’d take a swing at it. It didn’t really seem like anything that I hadn’t done before as far as loan loan products, contracts and selling protection products. So yeah, Jumped in there. Did that for, gosh, seven years. Last two years I was a store manager.
I worked for Chris Nichol here in town in in Tulsa. Mortgage guys hate this, but it’s the same job. So it’s the same job. You’re just helping people buy something a little bit better financially than, you know, a Dodge Hellcat or something like that. So, sure, I love helping people.
I love helping people get in cars that they were after. And I definitely enjoy making something complicated, easy for the client and accomplishing what they’re trying to purchase, whether that’s through a loan or not.
Mat Zalk 05:35
I’m 41 years old. I’ve never bought a new car. I think I’ve leased cars and I’ve always bought used and I’m happy to buy used. I think it’s it’s just suits me better. But what is one what’s one secret from the car industry that our listeners should know to be smarter if they want to buy a new car from from a dealership.
Any tricks tips of the trade?
Aaron McManus 05:56
We’re going to have to burn this podcast after I say this, but it’s exactly what you would expect if the dealership presents a payment to you. Asks how that payment was determined. Don’t. Don’t take the payment at face value. So and I I’m there’s there’s plenty of consumer awareness especially with YouTube now as far as like how to go buy a car.
Yeah. But that’s the biggest piece of advice I could give somebody outside of that. And again, we’re going to have to burn this after I say it, but getting pre-approved at where you bank at, whether that’s a credit union or a bank going in with a pre-qualification letter, is going to be advantageous to to you.
Mat Zalk 06:36
Because you’ll better generally better have have. If I could just speak because you’re you’ll generally have better terms from your own bank than from what the dealership will give you.
Aaron McManus 06:45
Not necessarily better, but you’ll be aware of what the finance terms would look like prior to going into their process. Oftentimes, the dealer can beat what your bank or credit union has to offer, but it’s a starting place and you created the starting place, not the dealership.
Mat Zalk 07:01
Got it. And then on the first one that you mentioned that like understand what’s behind the the number, what’s there.
Aaron McManus 07:11
So oftentimes people will purchase cars because they like the car. They like the model. They like the color. They’re not necessarily focused on the purchase price. They’re focused on what they can afford.
Monthly budget.
Mat Zalk 07:26
Got it.
Aaron McManus 07:26
So if the dealership can determine what budget you’re looking for, they’ll fit you into whatever fits that budget as opposed to what might not be, you know, the best car for you, or the best term, or the loan finance options, things like that.
Mat Zalk 07:43
So don’t mess with if you have $1,700 to spend. Maybe it’s a lot of money if you have $1,000 to spend, they would have they would, they would get you into a cheaper car. A shorter term and more expensive car, a longer term, whatever it is to make that number fit. And it may not be advantageous to you long term. It’s just that it fits that exact number.
Aaron McManus 08:02
You nailed it. Correct.
Mat Zalk 08:03
Got it. Okay, back to mortgage lending. Yeah. Which is which is the subject of this podcast. There are many mortgage lenders out there.
And realtors today need lending partners that they really feel like they can trust. What do you think sets apart an exceptional lender from an average one?
Aaron McManus 08:26
That’s pretty easy for me. I think, especially being a somewhat new loan officer, I’m in the same position that a real estate agent is in as well, and that is trying to reach goals that their clients have in home ownership. Unfortunately. I mean, as people know, not everybody has an 800 credit score. Not everybody has 20% down.
You know, as the as as the stigma is. But the area that I thrive in is those deals that are harder to get done. And agents that I work with, they’re in the same boat. Yeah, they’re trying to get deals done and having somebody in their corner with that same mindset that’s not necessarily looking for the easy deal or shy of doing a little hard work. I think that puts me in a really unique spot.
And and the reason that I feel like I started out in that spot was because of the car business. Car, car loans and financing is not an easy thing to accomplish for a lot of people. It’s debt to income ratios and loan to values, and people are upside down in their trade ins. And, you know, it’s it’s a tough spot that a lot of people are in. So I want to use creative financing, you know, loosely, but it’s it’s advantageous in the mortgage business to have to have that skill set.
And it’s something I came out the gate with, so I’m grateful for it.
Mat Zalk 09:52
What are the options? You said 20% down is a stigma and you mentioned credit scores like what are the if I’m a 620 right now with no money down, what are my thresholds where I realize I’m going to get a break in rate at various steps? And then what are my options for looking forward to save money before I get to 20%? What are my options at one, three, five, ten, 15%?
Aaron McManus 10:21
Yeah. So people get so hung up on the 20% thing, they they don’t even begin the financing process. And that’s like that stinks. That’s just I don’t know where that advice came from, whether, you know, it was our parents or other people in the business. Sure.
Having 20% down, that’s going to be awesome. The reason that that number was developed was because at 20% down, you’re at an 80% loan to value ratio. And on a conventional loan, which has no funding fee, you can avoid paying your mortgage insurance. So it’s it’s saving you an extra level of protection you have to pay for monthly, which could be hundreds of dollars. Yeah.
It’s great advice. That was kind of passed down. But the problem with it is, is most people don’t even start the process because they don’t have 20% down. But that’s not necessarily the barrier to homeownership. That’s just the barrier to the best option.
Got it. And the vast majority of people that I’ve come in contact with, even over the last decade, they don’t have 20% down for no Mater what price range they’re looking for. But that doesn’t exclude you from from home home ownership. So it’s shame that that that’s that’s around to answer your question. Six 620 with with no money down at all.
Is that what you were saying? Yeah.
Mat Zalk 11:44
Let’s talk about let’s talk about where we need to go and what our options are at various steps along the way.
Aaron McManus 11:49
Yeah. So what jumps out to me loan program wise would be a USDA loan. So USDA loan is something that loan officers don’t talk about a whole lot. It’s a it’s a more common product in this part of the country just because we have a lot of rural areas. But loan officers get kind of tied toward doing the basic loans, conventional loan, an FHA loan.
But USDA has a fantastic program. So USDA loans are zero down. They don’t require a down payment. The threshold for credit scores is much lower than it would be on a conventional loan. So it does go down to that 620 range.
It can be more difficult for an approval at that range. But it’s it’s doable. It’s doable. And I and I’ve accomplished it. So for example, like I had a single mom a few months ago.
You know, had been renting for the last ten years. She’s got three kids at home. Her situation wasn’t great. Pretty, pretty rough rental, which, you know, they’re out there. It’s, you know, is what it is.
Homeownership in her mind was unachievable. She had finished school. She had some student loan debt. So she just assumed that there wasn’t any way she was going to get approved. Her score was struggling because of that student loan debt, but she was looking in out in the Tahlequah area.
So that’s USDA. I mean, the whole area is USDA. It’s not a metropolitan area. So property address wise, she qualified for in the area she was looking for. She didn’t have money down for a down payment.
She didn’t have money for closing costs either. So the way that we got her done was we had a seller provide seller paid contributions toward her closing costs, which is just a way that your agent can negotiate the contract or the offer in general. And we got her in that house, and I got her earnest money back at closing. Wow. So, you know, low credit score, lower than a 600.
And it was accomplishable. She’s got her family moved in, and she’s on the way.
Mat Zalk 13:47
Did she find her way to you through the realtor she was using, or did she find you first.
Aaron McManus 13:52
Through the realtor?
Mat Zalk 13:53
Got it.
Aaron McManus 13:54
Through realtor. And that I would say, you know, and a loan officer would agree with me. It’s probably 90% of your client base is is going to be referral business. So yeah. Yeah for sure.
Mat Zalk 14:03
And then so when you go from 620 to 640 to 700 to 720, what changes. Just the rate that a bank’s going to give you ultimately.
Aaron McManus 14:12
Yeah. The rate doesn’t necessarily change to the level that most people think it does. I mean, we’re I mean, at the max, maybe half a percent round in there. Okay. And the reason for that is these are government subsidized programs.
So FHA, USDA, VA loans like there there is an incentive there provided from the backside so that the rate doesn’t fluctuate to an extreme. Now, a conventional loan, you will see a pretty large swing based on your credit score and debt to income ratio and things like that. But the vast majority of, you know, consumers, they’re not getting conventional loans. They’re they’re using these government programs and have for a long time, a long.
Mat Zalk 14:50
Time. You distinguish government programs, USDA, FHA from conventional, which is Fannie and Freddie loans, which are also government backed at some level because they on.
Aaron McManus 15:01
The secondary market.
Mat Zalk 15:02
The secondary market. Yeah. Yeah. So those are those are essentially packaged up as CMBS and, and sold into the as collateralized debt obligations and sold into the CMBS market. Yeah, I guess so.
You don’t call that government. You call those conventional. Okay.
Aaron McManus 15:17
Yeah. Conventional loan. Yeah. The dead giveaway that I tell people, you know, whether you’re looking or comparing loan programs, if there’s a funding fee, it’s a government subsidized program. So they all have funding fees.
They’re all different amounts. But they’re, they’re they’re that’s the first dead giveaway that you’re that you’re in what I would consider, you know, an incentivized program.
Mat Zalk 15:35
Yeah. Interesting. I’ve known you for a while, Aaron, and I’ve heard about your reputation. And what I’ve heard is that you’ve you are known for simplifying complex financing situations and getting buyers to the closing table quickly. Can you just help us understand how you’ve built that reputation, how you do that?
Aaron McManus 15:56
Yeah. So I think looking back at my career, I think the success that I’ve achieved has been from educating the client during the process. It and I won’t sugarcoat it. I mean, like the mortgage process has been overcomplicated since the housing crash in zero eight. Yeah, there are lots of regulations.
There’s guidelines to follow. We have a lot of stuff that we have to know on the backside. The client doesn’t need to know that. They need the basics. And if somebody is willing to explain them on an education level through the process, they come out the other side and they’re helping their friends, their family get into loans at the same, at the same pace.
But when you first enter the process, it’s daunting, like it’s overwhelming for people. And having somebody who can break it down in the simplest of terms and then educate them through the process, you’re making them a pro by the time they come out of it, and oftentimes they’re buying a second home, they’re buying an investment property within a few years of that, if they’re well educated, by the time the process is completed, it’s just not as complicated as as people make it. Yeah, it’s it’s scarier than it looks.
Mat Zalk 17:05
I remember buying our first house in Tulsa, and my wife was like, I mean, she signed all these loan documents. It was conventional. She signed all these loan documents. And we walked out of that closing room and she was like, I never could have done that without you. Like, yeah, I just never would have.
Yeah.
Aaron McManus 17:22
And to keep it all straight. Yeah, it’s.
Mat Zalk 17:25
It’s a lot. I mean, even a conventional loan maybe is slightly less complicated than FHA or USDA zero down payment. I’m sure there’s more stuff you got to sign for those, but like, it’s there’s a lot of mortgage, a full mortgage packet and a and a closing document is a lot of paper and a lot of signature.
Aaron McManus 17:44
Yeah. And from my I mean my exposure to it, I feel like that post oh eight era, the the level of disclosure up until closing, like for example, a 30 day closing time frame. It’s tedious. It’s a lot. There are changes that occurs.
You have a new loan estimate, you’ve got new disclosures going out. And at some point, most of the time the the client or consumer just ends up signing it, not even knowing because they get something new, you know, every week. So I think my other advantage that I have is, is my, my level of pre-qualification is typically a little stricter than I think a lot of like internet lenders and things like that would be. So what that results in is once they’re under contract and they’re on their way to buy a home After selecting the property. I don’t have to ask them for as much as you know you would have on, like if you’re doing rocket or something like that.
So I prepped them upfront. They’re well aware of the process. Once they’re in the process, they don’t really see a transition. So it’s just kind of par for the course at that point. Up until up until closing, which hopefully is fast.
Mat Zalk 18:48
Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. For those of us that own real estate and we’ve traditionally bought through commercial loans that are local banks, is there a path for us to buy to use our ten golden tickets as we talk about it in, in, in the industry like to use our conventional mortgages and continue to buy houses. I mean, is that.
Yeah. You do. I just bring up a deal to you and say, here are my W-2 stubs. Can I, can I do this?
Aaron McManus 19:15
Yeah. And that’s I mean, I got a great example of that. You actually helped me out with the deal a few months ago, a client that I had been reaching out to for well over a year after she had closed her first loan. You know, she was very interested post that first process in buying another home and renting out the current home that she had just bought. She lived in Midtown.
Pretty conducive to renting, you know, in that area, especially in the Brookside area. But just telling her, yeah, you can do this and you can use people, you know, you can use your realtor again, you can use your loan officer again and you can buy an investment property. So what most people don’t know, especially for a conventional loan, is during that process, you not only have to do an appraisal on the property that you picked up, but you also do a 1007. So the 1007 is like an additional side appraisal. And that is the appraiser determining the potential rental income that you could get from that property.
Interesting people don’t know is that potential rental income offsets the new payment.
Mat Zalk 20:22
So let’s run through a simple scenario. My new house. I have a house. I’m going to move out. I’m going to buy a new house.
The old house is going to rent for a thousand bucks. The new house cost me $2,000. Now I only have to get approved for $1,000 of of kind of ongoing expense.
Aaron McManus 20:37
Yeah. You’re, you’re you’re even not even the, the existing rental income, but the potential rental income helps you purchase that investment property if you’re leaving a property behind. We like to see, you know, a tenant moved in and a rental agreement, you know, to offset that existing payment. But on a on a new purchase for specifically an investment, it can be offset by that rental income. And okay.
And depending on if you can afford, you know, to pay the payment, that’s one thing. But having an additional 1000 bucks in rental income to offset that, whether it’s a 15, you know, $2,000 payment, that’s night and day. Yeah. Like that’s it makes it extremely, extremely doable. So people forget that, you know, you can utilize your circle and you can keep moving.
You can build an empire from from where you start at. So, yeah.
Mat Zalk 21:22
It’s cool. I gotta get back to my to my golden tickets. Yeah, I haven’t, I haven’t used them all.
Aaron McManus 21:27
Cash them in, Mat. Yeah. That’s good.
Mat Zalk 21:31
Aaron, you strike me as a kind of person. That’s that’s calm and calm in the storm. Yeah, but there are. It doesn’t stop. Or it doesn’t mean that there aren’t tons of hiccups and things that can go wrong in, in the average real estate transaction.
There’s, you know, title work can get screwy. There are down payment issues. And one that comes to mind is like, you know, you get an influx of money from somewhere, or you spend a bunch of money and all of a sudden the money, you know, your bank account statement doesn’t look as clean as it needs to be for a conventional or for an FHA or USDA loan. Yeah. There are rate changes that can happen that affect the monthly payments and qualify you or disqualify you.
And there’s a bunch of other things that I’m sure I haven’t thought of. But how do you work with realtors and their clients to remove obstacles and keep transactions moving smoothly. When some of these things when when a sharp left turn hits you.
Aaron McManus 22:27
Yeah, the the thing I always tell clients headed into the process. Things can seem, you know, bright and shiny and everything’s great. But I tell them we’re going to hit a roadblock. Sure. The mortgage process, the real estate process, is inevitable.
Whether you’re you do an inspection and you come up with issues on the home sourcing funds for the down payment, there is going to be a roadblock. Underwriting is going to have a question for you. Despite, you know, best efforts. But it does fall back on what I said earlier. If if I’ve done the level of work I needed to do to provide that pre-qualification letter, there shouldn’t be issues.
And a lot of that falls back on the consumer because they have to be willing to dig for the documents that are needed to actually close, not just to go shopping, but to actually close on the loan. And that’s a source of tension between loan officers and in in the consumer out there trying to buy a house. Yeah. Most people want to do the fun part, which is go shopping. And, you know, that’s for an agent.
That’s the fun part too, is to go find a property and meet with them and do showings. But the pre-qualification for financing for that purchase, that’s really, really important. And whether or not they relay the importance of that upfront can determine how smooth the process is. Once a property’s, you know, been identified. But to answer your question, yeah, roadblocks are coming.
I tell clients that it’s going to get a little bumpy at some point. If it doesn’t, fantastic. We’ll we’ll sling on into the closing and we’ll cross the finish line and be happy. But the roadblocks are are more than likely coming. We’ll cross them as they come across the, the game.
So I always tell people to that you we’re going to get you to closing knock on wood for that. Well, we’ll get you to closing. If I have to drag you there, I’ll drag you there. And I can’t tell you how many clients got to that closing day at the title company and said you were right. You had to drag me a few times because the client wants to give up.
Because people don’t like, you know, digging into their finances and pulling bank statements and calling their 401 K provider, and they don’t want to do that. And there’s only so much I can do for them. Yeah. But that’s also what separates me is I, I am willing to go into that next level to get them across the finish line.
Mat Zalk 24:51
Have you come across any challenges lately that you had not previously seen that you’re like, whoa, I didn’t, that’s a new one.
Aaron McManus 25:01
I think I think that the the level of minute details in the guidelines for underwriting, I knew there was a lot of rules. I knew there was going to be a lot of hoops to jump through. But, I mean, I came from the car business, so there’s a lot of creative financing going on along that side of things. But this is this is complicated. And it’s not just providing one thing because that providing one document requested can open the door to ten other questions.
So knowing, you know, the next step ahead puts you in a way better place makes it easier experience for the client. But it’s it’s definitely tougher on that part. But to be completely honest, getting the business and prospecting has been the hardest part. And that’s I mean everybody experiences that and it’s, you know, in a way I started my own business. And when you start a business, nobody knows who you are.
Sure. So in the world I came from as a finance manager, you’re sitting in an office, the clients are coming to you. Yeah, it’s the sales staff that’s your team that are bringing the clients in off the street. Highly competitive, but they’re bringing them in. So I hadn’t been on the street level in well over a decade.
So I think the learning curve, you know, I’m used to the finance portion, but getting.
Mat Zalk 26:20
The hunting is.
Aaron McManus 26:21
Yeah. Hunting and prospecting and building your business and being in the right place at the right time. And other loan officers will agree with me. There’s a certain amount of luck that comes into this, into this job, and that luck is being in the right place at the right time, saying the right thing in front of the right person. And there yeah, it’s that’s been the hardest part for me for sure.
Yeah. It’ll make or break you. Chris.
Mat Zalk 26:46
Chris got me a framed image. Yeah. Because I told him I loved it. And it says opportunity is missed by most people because it looks just. It’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.
Nice. Reminds me of that. Like. Yeah, just love it. Make your own opportunity with a bunch of hard work.
And there’s a good amount of luck in any of our successes for sure. Yeah. Speaking to the realtors that may be listening to this podcast. What’s one thing that they often mention that they wished a mortgage lender would do better? And how do you try to deliver on that?
Aaron McManus 27:25
Oh that’s easy. It’s just communication. It’s communication.
Mat Zalk 27:30
Some mortgage lenders have a tendency to just just to go dark.
Aaron McManus 27:32
Oh yeah, they go dark. And and the reason for that is a lot of loan officers view the relationship between them and agents as like, lanes on a highway. Yeah. And each of them need to stay in their lane kind of thing. The problem with that is is it literally is team effort.
It takes two people to get that client to the closing table. And those people have to work together, whether that’s daily or weekly. It’s it’s necessary. And I think the biggest mistake that a lot of agents and loan officers make is having that relationship with their with their loan officer, in the sense that they can call them and they want to call them.
Mat Zalk 28:15
Yeah.
Aaron McManus 28:17
You’d be shocked at how many times I hear from agents that, you know, and I don’t I don’t want to speak badly about anybody, but answering the phone is is a huge predictor of your success.
Mat Zalk 28:27
Yeah.
Aaron McManus 28:28
And and on both sides. So having that accessibility. And I’m not married. I don’t have kids. So it’s not rocket science for me.
When the phone rings to, you know, pick it up or call people back or whatever. That puts me in a unique spot too. But yeah, you’d be shocked how many agents complain about just not getting their their their mortgage guys or girls to answer the phone.
Mat Zalk 28:49
So that’s that’s a great little segue. If a realtor is looking for a lender who really supports their clients, what’s the best way for them to connect with you?
Aaron McManus 28:58
So obviously the easiest way is to just give me a shout. I’m I’m on social media. I’m easy to find. My website, Approved With Aaron, super easy to find, super easy to remember. I think that after that first connection is made and I’m open to meeting with literally anybody, but after that first connection is made, I have a lot of processes in place that I think most agents right out the gate, they’re going to appreciate.
And it’s a it’s a pretty, pretty easy pitch at that point to maybe provide value to them in their business to to grow.
Mat Zalk 29:31
Cool. Yeah. And what’s one thing agents can do right now to get more buyers qualified or better prepared for the time that they need to chat with you?
Aaron McManus 29:40
Yeah, I would say there’s not necessarily something they could do to help them prepare. I think the biggest step and and most people would agree the biggest step is just an application, a huge advantage that I have to working here at The Mortgage Link is I can get an automated underwriting approval, which is, you know, in a way, AI and AI underwriter, but I can achieve that level of approval with a soft inquiry on their credit. Nice. So I mean, that’s becoming less rare. But for the last 5 or 10 years that’s been hard to get.
Most lenders want to do a hard inquiry off the bat, and that’s going to lower your score. That’s going to tip the rest of the country off that you’re shopping for financing for not only a loan, but for a home, too. The spam calls, the junk mail. It all just starts flowing at that point. So the fact that I.
Mat Zalk 30:28
Can say all those little spam bots can track that you’ve. Oh yeah. Been shopping for your home. Yeah.
Aaron McManus 30:34
So they’re trying to pass a basically a law or, or regulation against that. But what those are called, they’re called trigger leads. So that that hard inquiry on your credit, other lenders in the country have access to those trigger leads. Right. So and you know I don’t want to bad mouth Rocket Mortgage.
It’s pretty easy. I don’t know anybody that works there. But they track those trigger leads and they’ll call within minutes of me doing a hard inquiry on a client. Yeah. So I, I tell people it’s like flying under the radar with me.
We can do a soft pull. I can get an approval. I can get you far into the process. And then you can go shopping. And then I don’t have to do a hard inquiry until we’re under contract and we’re headed to closing.
So big, big perk on that, for sure. Yeah.
Mat Zalk 31:18
Love it. Aaron McManus is a Broken Arrow native and a local mortgage lender with The Mortgage Link. He’s committed to making homeowner homeownership achievable for his clients. With deep roots in the community and a passion for guiding buyers through the lending process, Aaron simplifies what can often feel overwhelming. He’s known for clear communication, efficient solutions, and helping clients reach their homeownership goals faster and with confidence.
Aaron, we appreciate you being on the show.
Aaron McManus 31:47
Yeah. Love it. Thanks, Mat.
Mat Zalk 31:49
Take care. You too.
Outro 31:54
Thanks for listening to The Same Day Podcast. Tune in to a new show each week and be sure to subscribe to get future episodes.