#2: 2011 Most Loans Closed
> Volume Rank: #27
> FHA-Volume Rank: #17
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Despite closing a total volume of more than $137 million this past year, Tucson, Ariz.-based Paul Volpe says business was challenging — as it always is in originations. He is hopeful, however, that this year is unfolding to be better than 2011. “So far this year, we are ahead of the mark where we were at a year ago,” he says.
He is also hopeful that new HUD refinance programs are going to “open some floodgates for borrowers.”
But it is not all about refinancing. “Fortunately, we have a lot of purchase business coming in, too, which is a huge sign for [economic] recovery,” he says. In 2011, he closed a total of 664 loans, which were split almost evenly between purchases and refinances: 52 percent and 48 percent, respectively.
His secret? Being available for clients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Volpe also makes a point of keeping in touch with his client database. “It is a matter of going above and beyond the under-promise and over-deliver aspect of the business,” he says.
Tucson — even though it has access to a million people in Pima County — still has a small-town feel, he says. That means word spreads fast, and referrals are the main source of his business.
In addition, he particularly enjoys how he can help first-time homebuyers through what he calls the “troublesome experience of buying a house.”
—Rania Oteify
