Homefield Adding Calif Jobs

Homefield Financial has nearly doubled the space of its facility in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The move enables the lender to add about 150 people to its current staff of 400. The positions, expected to be in place within the next 18 months, will fulfill originating, processing, underwriting, support and administrative functions, company president Nick Roumi told MortgageDaily.com.

“While some people see the downturn in our business as a negative trend, we see it as a positive, as an opportunity for us to grow as to add to our top performing employees,” he said.

The lender, founded in 1998 with headquarters in Irvine, said it started out as a California originator, gained licensing in Colorado, Florida, Oregon and Washington and just recently ventured into the Michigan and Minnesota markets.

Homefield was recently named in Inc. Magazine’s list of the “500 Fastest Growing Private Companies” — reportedly growing at an annual rate of over 179% over the last five years.

Roumi attributed Homefield’s ability to grow to its diversity in products, a focus on high standards for performance within its employee base, and its commitment and discipline toward its direct marketing initiatives, which is how the lender gains clients outside of its operations in California.

The call center environment Homefield operates in enables it to “simply market directly to those states and all business is transacted via the phone, fax, e-mail, overnight services. Its kind of a recent trend in our business and…is quite more efficient than a branch operation,” Roumi said.

“We have every intention to grow,” he added. “The market is shifting in our direction.“

Where in the past people would have to go to their local banks or brokers, the newer generation is more comfortable with the idea of getting a mortgage from a company located outside of the state where they reside in, according to Roumi.

“The newer generation are more trustworthy, they’re Internet savvy, they get online and do their homework, they’re all about finding the right products and it doesn’t really matter where that provider is,” he said.

Roumi could not confirm how many more states will be added to Homefield’s roster within the time it plans to hire the new employees, but said it is currently considering Nevada, New York and New Jersey.

Homefield produced $1.9 billion in loans during 2003 and, this year, it is on track for volume of $2.8 billion, according to the executive.