This may or may not be related to the company, but the mortgage business is really tanking right now. This isn't due to the loans, as much as it is to declining markets and declining home values. It is extremely frustrating to have a loan in process that fails to close, when the appraisal comes in lower than expected. You only get paid your commission, after the loan closes. You feel like you put in a lot of work and effort and have nothing to show for it.
Another major downside to working here is the work/life balance. They mention this during the interview process, but if you work here, expect to work at least 12-hour days Monday - Friday and some Saturdays. On some teams, weekends are almost mandatory. I routinely worked six days a week, while I was there. Although I seemed to be able to manage it at the time, it is also very easy to get burned out working so many hours.
Another downside is compensation. I went to a local brokerage for a few days, to see if there was a major difference. If you write a loan at Quicken, you get on average $250 per loan. At many brokerages the minimum you get per loan is around $1,000. I won't go into the Quicken's compensation structure here - it's way to complicated, and I still don't understand it - but you are required to write way more loans to earn a decent commission check than you would at a local brokerage. The one difference is here you get a base salary and benefits. Still, if you are skilled and know how to write loans, you would stand to make a lot more money working elsewhere.
Finally, it is important to make sure that your team leader has a history of developing successful mortgage bankers. This is key, because after your initial training, their ongoing mentoring can be what determines whether you are successful at this job or not.
You'll know whether this job will work out for you or not within the second month. If you haven't closed any loans by that point, make plans to leave immediately. This is a great job for the person who will be successful at it, but it can quickly become a nightmare.
