Over the past few years, Grand Rapids-based
VanDyk Mortgage Co. has nearly quadrupled in size, says Chief Financial Officer Justin McDowell. Licensed in over 36 states, VanDyk Mortgage has approximately 400 employees nationwide, but nearly 75 of are local, and McDowell says the growing company has plans to hire anywhere between 10-15 more employees in the Grand Rapids area to accommodate its expanding market over the next year or two.
McDowell says over the past two to three years of growth, VanDyk Mortgage has created approximately 20 full-time positions in the Grand Rapids area already, many of those new positions residing in the company’s 15,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Grand Rapids.
“We’re always recruiting for loan originators and as our sales staff grows, they’re going to need those team members behind them,” McDowell says, adding that as production grows and each new loan officer is recruited, they come with another handful of hires that will build the supporting team around them. “Once you hire one, you will hire additional people to assist them.”
McDowell attributes some of this impressive growth to a business predicated by the market, but also to VanDyk Mortgage’s focus on the purchase business and service.
“Our lifeline is not refinance,” McDowell says, adding that the purchase-focused business practices allow VanDyk Mortgage to maintain stability in a market with fluctuating interest rates.
He says 80-90 percent of VanDyk Mortgage’s business is in the purchase business, and because of close relationships with area realtors, its staff knows how to close deals in a timely manner - an average of less than 18 business days or less for a process that can take around 30 for most banks.
Most recently, VanDyk Mortgage released its first mobile application for customers, available for iPhone and Android devices, that provides updated statuses as they hit each milestone in the loan process, complete with contact information and GPS navigation for title companies, information on appraisals and access to supporting documents like pay statements and W-2 forms that can be scanned in using a device’s built-in camera.
Though the current Grand Rapids headquarters at 2449 Camelot Court SE has enough room to accommodate some growth, he says room to expand VanDyk Mortgage’s staff is one of the many things they’ll be re-evaluating in 2015.
“We’re going to continue to expand, and try to look within the company and continually improve in all aspects, continue to re-evaluate and improve in all areas,” McDowell says. “With rates being so low, it’s going to be a good year with a lot of opportunity out there to continue growth.”
Written by Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of VanDyk Mortgage Co.
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