Shant Banosian always thought he’d end up becoming an attorney, but the hot real estate market of the early 2000s enticed him to pursue a career in the mortgage industry as a loan originator.
His first employer, a regional mortgage company, did an excellent job training him, he says, but it became a casualty of the housing-market crash and closed in 2007. Banosian subsequently joined another regional company, Superior Mortgage, which was later acquired by Guaranteed Rate — the banner under which Banosian has worked ever since.
Banosian, who is based in Waltham, Massachusetts, about 11 miles northwest of Boston, says he loves meeting new people and helping them accomplish their housing goals.
“I’m constantly meeting new people from all walks of life, from all different parts of the country, from all over the world, on a daily basis,” he says. “A lot of times you’re dealing with people that are having their first kid or getting married, and that’s the reason they’re buying a home. Or you have other people that are downsizing, and they’re getting ready for retirement. So you never know who you’re going to talk to on any given day.”
Having participated in team sports for most of his life, Banosian says he enjoys working in an environment where he can share his success with the people in his office.
“I’ve always been an athlete my whole life, from when I was a kid all the way up through college, so being in the mortgage world … feeds my competitive side: problem solving, teamwork,” he says. Banosian’s team is a winning one: He ranked No. 4 for Top Dollar Volume in Scotsman Guide’s Top Originator rankings, based on 2016 mortgage loan volume.
Admitting that it may sound a bit trite, Banosian cites hard work as the source of his success.
“I know exactly what I want to accomplish every single day, every single week, every single month,” he says. I know what I’m trying to build. I have goals on an annual basis in terms of what I want to hit, and I want to make sure I’m doing all the activities and planning that are necessary to hit those goals.”
Banosian is aware of potential threats to the mortgage industry, such as rising interest rates and mercurial government tax and regulatory policies. He thinks savvy originators should be able to weather such storms without much trouble, however.
“If I’m doing a good enough job with my Realtors, and I’m doing a good enough job branding myself as the premier mortgage person in my marketplace and am really focused on that, there’s a need for somebody like me,” he says.
Banosian stresses that although the refinance market is more susceptible to changes in interest rates, the purchase market typically holds steady. If it were to dip, however, he says many lower-producing originators are likely to leave the market altogether in search of greener pastures, opening up more space for top producers.
“I think if you’re successful and good at what you do, you’ll always be in demand. … I think if I keep doing the right things, business is going to keep coming in,” he says.
For the eighth year in a row, we compiled the industry’s most comprehensive list of the nation’s top mortgage originators. The rankings include not only the originators who are closing the most dollar volume and the most loans, but also the leaders in niche areas, like Federal Housing Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Agriculture loans as well as home equity lines of credit. View Scotsman Guide’s Top Originators 2016 at ScotsmanGuide.com/Top2016.
