Firm Touts Growth

Advantix Lending originated $320 million in loans last year, owner Miles Masters told MortgageDaily.com. While fundings fell from more than $500 million during 2006, they have jumped over the past several months are expected to increase to around $400 million for all of 2008.

The reversal is due largely in part to the heavy focus the Irvine, Calif.-based company has on customer service, he said.

“In this environment where you’re in an extremely competitive market and volume has decreased, customer service is really paramount to our business success,” Masters said in a phone interview. “Personalizing the experience for the consumer and realizing that this is one of the most important transactions they may enter into and taking it from that perspective seriously is key — and infusing that to the agents we hire.”

Advantix, a retail lender, currently has about 60 employees originating in six states: Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, with branch offices in Nevada and Arizona, he said.

The company, founded in March 2004, has been hiring over the last couple months and remains optimistic for 2008, Masters said.

“In reference to some of the upcoming changes that will occur as far as FHA loan amount increase, Fannie Mae increases, and things of that nature, we expect the changes are going to be favorable to the industry and result in higher loan volume and thus hiring,” he said.

They are in the process of getting FHA-approved, another arrow in their arsenal to increase volume, he said.

For now, he said the company is handling mostly A to C paper residential loans and offering the usual Fannie and Freddie programs, jumbo loans and tailored adjustable-rate mortgages.

The company Web site touts a 40-year fixed rate loan, Interest Only products and hybrid ARM products including Option ARMs.

Automated underwriting and a proprietary loan processing platform allows Advantix to close loans in as little as seven days, Masters said.

“We have a whole system of state of the art custom applications software that allows us to function very efficiently,” Advantix marketing manager John Mazzaferro explained. “We’ve also put some tools on the Web site so prospective borrowers can see what they can borrow.”

Masters said he and co-owners, Joseph Sesso and Sonny Reynolds feel exceptionally fortunate at this time in the industry when so many respected companies have had to close their doors.

“We remain humbled by that reality.“