The founder of goodmortgage.com said its Charlotte, North Carolina, employment is expected to expand as a result of Tysons Corner, Virginia-based First Guaranty Mortgage Corp.’s purchase of the company announced earlier this month.
Keith Luedeman said goodmortgage.com, which will keep its name, is poised to hire upwards of 200 people in Charlotte over the next 12 to 18 months.
The company currently employs about 75 in its offices at 3325 S. Tryon St., he said.
Under the deal, whose terms were not disclosed, goodmortgage.com will operate as a separate division of FGMC.
Luedeman, who served as chief executive officer of the Charlotte-based company, will now take on a managing director role.
A Clemson University graduate and former IBM employee, Luedeman launched the online lender in 1999 during the dot-com boom.
Selling to FGMC gives goodmortgage.com access to more capital to help it expand into additional states, at a time when mortgage lenders are being squeezed by rising regulatory costs, he said.
Plans call for goodmortgage.com to expand from doing business in 18 states and Washington, D.C., to as many as 40 states.
“If you look at the mortgage lending [industry] you need to have a large expansive company with a lot of capital, a lot of compliance resources,” Luedeman said.
“You’re seeing [mortgage companies] get either really big or really small,” he said. “There aren’t as many companies that are in the middle.”
For First Guaranty, the purchase allows it to offer mortgages to consumers online for the first time, Luedeman said.
Employees that are added in Charlotte will work in the one-story building that has served as goodmortgage’s home since 2008. Luedeman said the space, which features a half-court basketball court and gym, has capacity for more than 300 workers.
goodmortgage will hold a job fair to fill the 200 new positions from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. June 9 at its Charlotte offices.
