Shant Banosian
Title: Senior Vice President, Guaranteed Rate
Age: 35
Experience: 14 years
Shant Banosian thought he’d get into the mortgage business part-time to earn money while he was in law school. He wound up liking the business so much, he never went to law school and he never looked back. He went to college, works and lives about a mile or so from where he grew up and when he’s not busy closing on the hundred or so loans his office handles each month, he’s spending time with family and friends, often at a Celtics game at this time of year.
Q: What did you study at Bentley?
A: My degree is in computer information systems, but I never worked in the field. I went to Bentley when the whole IT/dotcom thing was happening and everyone told me IT was the place to make money. I went to study that in school, but I never really liked it. Because Bentley is a business school, half my classes were in finance and economics, which I really enjoyed. I probably should have switched my major when I realized that, but I also played football there and I was having fun.
After school I got into property management and decided I wanted to become an attorney, so I quit my job and applied to law school. While I was studying to go to law school, I ran into a friend of mine who had just gotten into the mortgage business and was really passionate about it. I thought I’d get into the mortgage business and do it part-time. At the time, it was 2002, it was like the Wild West and you could make decent money without working full time. I started doing it, fell in love with it, and never went to law school.
I rose through the ranks and became a manager at a small regional mortgage company, which I really enjoyed and when the market went through some major changes in 2007 and 2008, the company went out of business and there wasn’t a lot of mortgage manager positions open at the time. I was 25 years old and the company shut down overnight so I got myself down to the grassroots level of being a loan officer and tried to build my brand. It was a good lesson to learn: You should never take anything for granted. It taught me to save and always be smart with my money. Everyone told me I was crazy and should get out of the mortgage business, but I really enjoyed it.
Q: Was that a steep learning curve?
A: When I started originating loans in 2008, I needed customers, so I immersed myself in the community. I joined the chamber of commerce, the Rotary club, some networking groups and met with every single Realtor and real estate attorney that would meet with me, every CPA and financial advisor, really anyone who wanted to talk about mortgages. That’s where the leads would come from. Then, I focused on delivering unbelievable customer service to these people, making sure my clients had a great experience.
I find that referrers appreciate that and will send you more business because it ultimately reflects well on them. The clients refer us just as much. Clients who have had a great experience are happy to refer you to their friends and family. I went from no business to doubling it year-over-year, almost every year since. Half of my business is referred to me by past clients, the other half comes from referral partners like realtors. It’s a great mix.
We have spent a lot of time developing our brand, our reputation, so we don’t have to spend a lot of time selling ourselves. We can focus on setting client’s expectations, educating them about the process, what their finances will look like after they buy, how it works. Our business is 60 percent purchases, 40 percent refinances. It’s really cool when you can help someone buy a house and they have a great experience and then you call them a couple of years later and tell them you can save them even more money. We want to become people’s mortgage planner for life. You just have to do right by people and do a good job all around.
The best part about our job is that you really get to help people with the biggest purchase they’ll ever make in their lives. A lot of times, they’re really nervous. Even the most successful people, even finance people, doctors or lawyers, most people aren’t very educated about this process. Helping them through it and helping them buy property is just generally fun. It’s usually a positive experience in their lives.
Q: How do you use social media?
A: We still do a lot of networking, but social media has been great. The important thing is that it keeps you top of mind. One of my pet peeves when I was growing up in the business is when a friend or family member would tell me they just bought a house and didn’t ask me about a mortgage. They just forget. It’s nothing personal. People just forget what you do and you can constantly remind them through social media. People I barely know follow me through Twitter or LinkedIn or Facebook and the next thing you know, they reach out to you for help with a refi or a purchase. It happens all the time, almost every day.
We could improve our presence, too. We post a lot of content, but now everyone’s doing video. People love short powerful, informative videos. It’s a free marketing platform.
Q: What do you do when you’re not working?
A: I need to get better with my time. Growing the business is obviously important, but I want to be better about being home at night and on weekends. It’s a service business. I have to schedule my time a little better and be even more protective of my family time. My daughters are 3 and 1. Being successful is very important, but being successful at home is even more important. I don’t want to be one of those super successful people who doesn’t know their kids. We make a lot of family time. I love taking the kids to school in the morning, that’s my thing. I love spending time with my family.
Since I grew up in this area, a lot of my friends are still here. Going out for dinner and drinks with them. You can also find me at a lot of Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox games. We’re big into working out and spend a lot of time at the Cape. In the summer, we’re at the Oakley Country Club pool a lot. But we love going to the beach in Falmouth. We’re never short on things to do. It’s awesome. It’s so much fun.
Banosian’s Five Favorite Films:
- “Good Will Hunting”
- “Rocky 4”
- “Home Alone”
- “Braveheart”
- “Goodfellas”
