There are many different strategies when it comes to succeeding in the mortgage business, but Luisa Bedoya of MSA Mortgage has built her career on focusing on Latino homebuyers, and now her strategy is beginning to pay dividends. 

“I’ve witnessed an enormous increase in the Hispanic population in Massachusetts since 2010,” she said. “I am committed to cultural diversity and I’m authentic in my desire to help Latinos achieve the dream of homeownership.” 

The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, has compiled from its proprietary loan originators module the top loan originators of calendar year 2018. The originators are ranked by number of loans, loan volume statewide, by region and by the institution with which they are most closely affiliated. 

Bedoya was one of the top originators from a mortgage company last year, with close to $90 million in total loan volume. 

Her average loan amount was $400,146 and three–quarters of her business was purchase mortgages. More than half of Bedoya’s business was for multifamily properties and more than 40 percent of originations were FHA loans. 

Due to her dedication to the Hispanic community, Bedoya said she got most of her business from referrals in 2018 and thrived in areas with large Hispanic populations such as Chelsea, Lynn, Revere and East Boston. 

State Has Rapidly Diversified 

Bedoya’s strategy of marketing her services to a specific minority demographic could be a smart one moving forward. 

According to a report issued earlier this year from the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at UMass Boston, the Latino population in the Bay State increased by 28 percent between 2010 and 2017.  

Massachusetts currently has far fewer Latino homeowners than the country as a whole – only 25.39 percent of Massachusetts Latinos own homes compared to 47.1 percent nationwide, according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals’ 2018 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report. However, the Latino population is projected to grow to over 1.15 million by 2035 and represent nearly 15.3 percent of the state’s population, according to the UMass Boston report. 

t’s not just the Latino population that has been on the rise. 

A new report released last week called the Changing Faces of Greater Boston shows that between 1990 to 2017, the state’s Asian–American population grew from just over 2 to 6.6 percent, while the black population grew from 4.6 to 7 percent.  

Much of this increasing diversity has been concentrated in Greater Boston. Massachusetts had no cities or towns where the majority of residents were people of color in 1990. Twelve communities in Massachusetts were majority-minority by 2012, according to the report.  

Bedoya also credits her company’s support for  keeping her customers happy and helping them work through what is often viewed as a daunting process. 

“There is nothing more painful than loan delays when closing on the purchase of your home. The back-office support I receive at MSA Mortgage is incredible,” she said. “Their dedication results in not only knowing upfront if the loan can be funded but also how it should be processed so that it is underwritten and eventually funded at closing.” 

Support from Back Office Key 

Ana Makos of the Newburyport-based Institution for Savings agreed with Bedoya, saying she appreciates the support her bank provides her with. 

Makos was one of the top loan originators in Massachusetts from a bank, originating about $90.8 million in 2018, according to The Warren Group. 

Bram Berkowitz

“The success is thanks to [Institution for Savings] President Michael Jones, who provides us with the resources and support and the great rates and products we work with,” she said. “We do advertising and word-of-mouth, but I have a great team of hard workers committed to detail and long hours.”  

Makos said last year was a little bit slow due to higher mortgage interest rates, but now that the Federal Reserve has paused interest rate hikes, business has significantly picked up in 2019. Still, she said the state is still experiencing the same shortage of inventory that has plagued the housing market for years. 

“There need to be more homes on the market,” said Makos. “What is out there goes very quickly. In our area near Newburyport and the surrounding towns, the higher–end of homes sit longer. But in the Boston area, people don’t think twice.”