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It was the NFL that prepared a Chase mortgage originator for his career in real estate finance. Bradford Banta said he played professional football for more than a decade before deciding that the mortgage industry is where he would like to spend his time working. Now he runs a satellite office for Chase in Chattanooga, Tenn. “The financial world has always interested me,” Banta told MortgageDaily.com. “I worked at a warehouse when I was younger; but then I decided I would rather use my brain instead of my brawn.” While playing professional football, the NFL offered Banta internships at various financial firms, he said. He earned a degree in communications and interned at two investment firms.
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“I’ve been in the banking world since college and I’ve familiarized myself with the inner workings of banking and finances,” Banta said.
Banta said he approached Chase Mortgage with the idea to open a satellite office in Chattanooga to better serve the community he lives in and noted that with Chase he has an opportunity to originate loans nationwide.
Being new to the Chattanooga area, he said he and his wife are meeting new people everyday getting the word out about the new mortgage office, but it helps that he can originate loans for others who live out of state; such as for a friend in Michigan whose loan just closed.
His loan volume is about $1 million a month, and he is energetically working on increasing his business with the team office, he said.
“It’s been something that has always intrigued me and it’s a challenge,” Banta said. “Because you work together as a team, you can easily transfer that team concept from football to the finance side.
“You work with a group of people and you also try to get the best deal for your customer and it pleases me to make people happy, whether they are getting into their first home” or a more extravagant home.
Playing professional football and originating loans are quite similar he said in the respect that he is continually meeting new people and enjoys being active within the communities he lives.
His professional football career spanned 11 years, and during that time he played both tight-end and long snapper positions for the Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills. He also played in the Rose Bowl with the 1989-90 USC football team.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my careers, with my wife and kids, and the people that I have been able to meet,” Banta said. “The doors that have been opened from being a professional athlete are pretty darn neat; I met Donald Trump and Reagan, just because I played football.”
Banta added that he would apply what he has learned to his mortgage career. “I now know that when you get to the door, instead of just opening it up, you need to swing it wide open.”
