“As most Realtors know, good loan officers drive the mortgage business,” states Barton Pitts, President of Professional Mortgage Partners, Inc. “Good loan officers have the Realtor, the builder and the customer relationships to win the business, and they can bring that business to any mortgage company they want.” With that idea in mind, Pitts set out to create the best possible environment for full-time professional loan officers to clear their business. Professional Mortgage Partners is the result of that effort. “We consider experienced loan officers our customers,” Pitts explains. “Most good loan officers are generally looking for the same things: an efficient back office, great rates, product variety and creative marketing efforts. At PMP, we aim to deliver these four things better than any of our competitors.”
EFFICIENT BACK OFFICE
In 2000, Pitts founded Professional Mortgage Partners along with five other mortgage industry veterans: Mary Glavin (Pitts’ wife), Amy Austin, Scott Mazur, Dan Crum and Dennis Pedote. While the other five professionals focused on bringing in loan volume, Pitts rolled up his sleeves and built the company. Having trained in Chicago’s commercial banking world, he understood the importance of an efficient back office. Developing an efficient back office required PMP to quickly evolve from a mortgage broker to a mortgage banker. Mortgage bankers can process, underwrite, close and fund their loans in-house, facilitating much quicker turnaround times than mortgage
Mary and Bart during PMP’s first month.
 brokers. PMP closes loans with their own funds, so borrowers and Realtors never wait at the closing table for a wire. PMP regularly closes loans in less than a week, and has closed many loans from start to finish in less than 24 hours. That simply wouldn’t be possible at a mortgage broker. “The level of efficiency we achieved early on was only possible because of the quality and experience of loan officers we started the company with,” says Pitts. Those loan officers were able to generate enough loan volume in the first six months to make the transition from broker to banker economically feasible — an advantage that few start-ups enjoy. By maximizing loan volume and minimizing the number of hands that touch each file, PMP quickly established a system of back office accountability that reduced processing errors and increased customer satisfaction. The strategy of only hiring experienced top producing loan officers is one that PMP has stuck to since its early days. “Top producing LOs don’t want a bunch of rookies around asking them questions and getting in their way,” says Pitts. “From our inception, we realized that the additional compensation we pay for
Barton Pitts, PMP’s President.

Vince and Mary discuss a loan scenario.
top-producing loan officers pays off through increased efficiency and low turnover. In six years, no top producer has left us for another company.” By 2005, this “no rookies” policy allowed PMP to close almost $1 billion in loan volume with less than 100 employees.
MORE VOLUME MEANS BETTER RATES — MORE OPTIONS
Being a mortgage banker also gives PMP a huge advantage over mortgage brokers when it comes to rates. “New loan officers are always surprised at how much better our rates are than their former company’s rates,” says Pitts. “As our volume has grown, we have been able to negotiate better volume deals with our lenders to give us better rates.” PMP was Freddie Mac’s largest corporate accounts seller in the nation during 2002 and 2003. In a rising rate environment, the mortgage market is becoming more and more competitive. “It’s important for me to have the best rates on the street,” says Pitts. “Having great rates allows our loan officers to eliminate haggling and negotiating, and focus on great service.” Large volume also gives PMP 		access to lenders that mortgage brokers can’t deal with. “The niche lenders we work with give us the product variety needed to get the tough loans approved at fair rates.”
MARKETING
PMP’s philosophy on marketing is simple: “Promote the loan officer, and word about the company name will spread. Realtors, builders and past customers know their loan officers — not the company they work for. That’s just fine with me,” says Pitts. “We’re not about big egos here; we’re about effective marketing.” PMP’s marketing department offers loan officers professional marketing pieces including mailings to past customers, brochures, flyers, and promotional products such as pens, golf jackets and coffee mugs. Loan officers place orders for these products through an internal company website. PMP loan officers also get a ConnectMLS VSP (value-added service provider) account, which allows them to co-market their services with their Realtor partners online in the Realtor’s ConnectMLS account. “We recognized that PMP has a reputation for being on the cutting
edge within the mortgage industry,” said Tim Ford, President and CEO of dynaConnections Corp. “They became one of the first companies to enroll all of their loan officers in our connectMLS Valued Service Partners (VSP) program as they immediately recognized the positive impact the VSP program could bring to their Realtors and borrowers.” One of the features as a VSP in connectMLS (TMS) allows loan officers to update the status of their borrowers’ loan process, so that Realtors and their clients can log into connectMLS and view in real time the status changes. “PMP has shown to be successful utilizing their status as a VSP in connectMLS from the beginning,” said Ford. PMP also provides each loan officer with a customized, personal website where clients can apply online, check the status of their loan in process or just keep in contact with their loan officer. Once a customer is pre-approved, they can also sign up online for discounts on products and services offered through GE’s Homebuyer’s Privileges program. Realtors can also request marketing pieces for their open houses online though a PMP loan officer’s site. And although PMP’s main website is highly ranked in the search engines, it’s the loan officers’ individual sites that receive the most traffic. Marketing individual sites for individual loan officers helps ensure that leads from one loan officer aren’t mistakenly distributed to another. “So many of our competitors don’t allow their loan officers to have an individual site,” Pitts observes. “I think they’re forgetting that the real relationships are at the loan officer level, not the corporate level.”
WEBSITES FOR REALTORS—WWW.PMPVOWS.COM
Realtors who work with PMP also benefit from the company’s expertise in the field of real estate websites. PMP has a full-time Web developer on staff that works on designing, developing and hosting Realtor websites. PMP’s real estate websites all have a fully functional VOW (Virtual Office Website) built into them that allows a Realtor’s client to search the entire MLS. When a search is complete, the Realtor captures names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the prospective clients. “We provide this technology to our Realtor partners at the lowest cost in the industry. Most Realtors pay just $250 a year for a customized website with a fully integrated VOW,” Pitts declares. “With 80 percent of buyers now using the Internet during their search, Realtors have to be online to compete. We make the set-up process simple so Realtors can focus on doing what they do best — selling homes.” This virtual
Vince Kueffner is congratulated by Mayor Daley on his work with the City of Chicago’s Tax Smart program.

partnership has been so successful that Pitts could hardly keep up with its maintenance. Besides a full-time Web developer, PMP added a technology support professional last year to handle the growing list of website clients, now reaching 200. In addition, the PMP state-of-the-art technology has kept a multitude of mortgage originators with PMP including Joe Phalen, who developed Phalen Mortgage Group, which is comprised of four loan officers that closed a total of $134 million of loans in 2005. Flourishing teams like this are common at PMP because these mortgage gurus have the flexibility to market themselves and build their own relationships while utilizing PMP website technology to generate more business. “Barton has given us the freedom to create our own culture and trusts that we are capable of selling at a very high capacity,” Phalen declares. Phalen also feels very secure working for Pitts, an entrepreneur he admires because he does not sell mortgages — he runs the business. “Barton is a very bright, competitive and compassionate person with a keen sense for business.”
Anne Dill, one of PMP’s top producers.

Joe Phalen: leader of a team that closed $134 million in 2005.
A SUCCESSFUL TEAM IS BORN
Regardless of his exponential success, PMP professionals concur that Pitts’ entrepreneurial strength lies in making sure he is constantly offering his team a win-win situation. “PMP has grown organically through grassroots, word-of-mouth recruiting. Our strategy is to focus on what good loan officers want in a mortgage company.” PMP team members know Pitts is committed to making the underwriting, closing and post-closing processes the most efficient they possibly can be. “If loan officers have a hard time getting their loans processed and closed, they will move their business elsewhere,” Pitts relays. PMP’s system ensures that loan officers have the best technology at their fingertips with an in-house intranet system where loan officers can view daily rate sheets, lender underwriting guides and loan application documents. Pitts’ wife and one of PMP’s top producers, Mary Glavin, has witnessed Barton’s persistence firsthand. “Most other mortgage company owners work as loan officers and try to run the company at the same time,” she states. “Since Barton doesn’t originate, he can

Realtors celebrate their success with PMP at New Leaf – 1820 North Wells.
dedicate 110 percent of his efforts to perfecting our company in this ever-changing industry.” PMP loan officer Vince Kueffner never questions Pitts’ commitment to his team members or his customers. “Barton truly feels like he is working for us. I am committed to PMP because we have credibility in the marketplace and the capability to perform at the last minute regardless of the circumstance.” Vince Kueffner joined Professional Mortgage Partners in 2005 and immediately flourished in the entrepreneurial spirit. Vince was responsible for PMP’s participation in the City of Chicago’s Tax Smart program and was recognized by Mayor Daley recently for originating more Tax Smart loans than any other loan officer. The Tax Smart program provides incentives to lower income buyers and is only available through designated lenders like Professional Mortgage Partners. In addition, mortgage originator Anne Dill is proud to be part of the PMP team and to work for Barton, who she refers to as “the most down-to-earth and real professional I have met in the mortgage industry.” Dill states, “At Pro Mortgage, there are ethical professionals who understand that if you go above and beyond for the customer and build a relationship with the customer, you will keep the customer for life.”
SERVICE YOU CAN COUNT ON
  When I work with PMP, I am 100 percent confident that the mortgage will be processed properly and on time,” declares John Veneris, Realty Executive Pro/Team owner and former president of the Illinois Association of Realtors. If the mortgage industry had more companies like PMP, the industry would sparkle.” Veneris is confident that PMP mortgage bankers will always recommend the program that is best for the client. “PMP loan officers always ensure my clients understand all of their loan options and can make an informed decision that is best for them. If this is not the right time for the customer to buy a house, the PMP team will recommend they wait. PMP always puts the client first,” Veneris relays. Because he has spent nearly two decades in the business, he knows that without a mortgage company you can count on, the closing will not happen. “If the loan is closed quickly without problems, it is a good reflection on my services as well, Veneris states. “Hands down, Pro Mortgage is the best lender I have worked with in 15 years.” That is service you can count on.
  For more information on Professional Mortgage Partners, you may call (630) 598-2315, or you may visit us on the Web at www.ProMortgagePartners.com.