Early in his career, John Habeeb took a boat on his commute to an office on High Street, but his business has long since moved out of town to Hingham. Now, though, he’s taking that same boat again and reminiscing about his early days in the mortgage business.
Cambridge Mortgage Group, of which Habeeb is regional sales manager, recently opened a new location in the Federal Reserve building at 600 Atlantic Ave. The mortgage company, which is a subsidiary of South Shore Bank, partnered with 600 Atlantic Federal Credit Union, which is headquartered in the fourth floor of the Federal Reserve building, to offer a wider line of mortgage products to the credit union’s members.
“The credit union’s charter limits the size and duration of loans they can write,” Habeeb said. “So there’s a big gap in their product mix, which we are well-suited to fill.”
Jumbo loans are one example, and non-QM loans are another. Because Cambridge Mortgage Group is a subsidiary of South Shore Bank, the company can hold loans on its own portfolio, which has made it easier for the group to lend to high net-worth borrowers who might not fit into a QM loan.
The credit union has just over 1,600 members, many of them Federal Reserve employees, according to President and CEO Ralph Moore.
Besides credit union members and Federal Reserve employees, the new location also gives Cambridge Mortgage Group access to the 800 or so other people who work in other companies in the Federal Reserve building, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that the new office is down the hall from a cafeteria.
“From what I’ve seen, the caliber of borrower is premium: good credit, good employment, good income. It’s a nice profile, and it seems like the loan amount requests are higher than conforming,” Habeeb said.
Habeeb won’t be taking that boat every day, though. Two other loan officers will divide up the week to staff the Federal Reserve office, and Habeeb will fill in where needed.
The company moved into its new office on Aug. 1 and just closed its first loan to a credit union member last week.
“Over the years, I think mortgage companies have looked toward strategic alliances with colleges and hospitals and some corporations, to provide mortgage services in a more convenient way,” Habeeb said. “I think it’ll be a good match of capabilities, I think it’ll be good for us and good for them. They’ll get good service and we’re right here, so it can’t be more convenient.”
Email: lalix@thewarrengroup.com
