Parker Borofsky says she isn’t much of a schmoozer. As a new mortgage originator, however, Borofsky joined the Women’s Council of Realtors in Knoxville, Tennessee. For two years, she received barely any leads. But one day, someone introduced her to a woman who needed help buying a cabin as an investment property.
That introduction changed Borofsky’s career. The lead was Avery Carl, who decided to get into the business of buying and marketing short-term rentals, creating an empire around the concept through The Short Term Shop. Borofsky became Carl’s go-to originator and learned the ins and outs of financing second homes and investment properties.
“Just because you’re not getting a ton of leads or business by doing something like (joining the women’s council), you never know what will come from those relationships,” Borofsky said.
In 2021, Borofsky closed 646 loans for $304 million in total loan volume, much of it via second homes and investment properties. Of that volume, 90% was purchase business. Borofsky, who works for Movement Mortgage, topped all originators in Tennessee in Scotsman Guide’s annual rankings, and she landed at No. 26 for Top Purchase Volume and No. 27 among Top Women Originators.
I was that borrower that challenged everything. Now when some people are challenging, I’m like, ‘Well, OK, I asked that, too.’
After graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2005, she got into the business of marketing timeshares — as opposed to selling timeshares. She and her husband moved around the country frequently for her career during the next decade. When they moved to Knoxville in 2016, Borofsky decided to change careers. When they were buying a home, she was intrigued by the process and decided to either be a real estate agent or a mortgage originator.
“It was just really interesting to me, the loan process,” Borofsky said. “It’s funny because I was that borrower that challenged everything. Now when some people are challenging, I’m like, ‘Well, OK, I asked that, too.’”
She was hired by Mortgage Investors Group, which was serendipitously owned by the father of one of the timeshare executives she knew. She had a knack for mortgage sales, doing $13 million in business that first year. The company had a system that awarded leads to the first originator who responded to emails. Borofsky had set up alerts on her phone and would drop everything, even pulling over on the side of the road, to respond.
Her business really began to grow when she started originating second homes and investment properties. She became an investor herself, which she said her clients appreciate. She is now licensed in 28 states and helps past clients buy investment properties all over the country. Her partnership with Carl ended last year after The Short Term Shop started handling its own financing. Now Borofsky is in a friendly competition. She said there’s a lot of demand for these properties.
She also said she’s closed more than $270 million in loan volume this year, although much of that occurred in the first half of the year. Second homes and investments properties are complicated because of the need to calculate rental income and understand such things as reserves, partnerships and self-employed borrowers.
“I still read guidelines every day to this,” Borofsky said. “I don’t ever assume anything. If there’s anything that comes up, I say, ‘Let me go back and check,’ because you have a lot of complicated borrowers.” ●
Tips of the Trade
Be a problem solver. Don’t just blindly follow the guidelines. Understand what the rules are for and try to learn the reasoning behind the guidelines. Sometimes the borrower has other strengths that will allow them to be accepted even if they don’t meet all the guidelines.
