America’s mortgage lenders are now projected to exceed $2 trillion in origination volume come years end, primarily thanks to the nation’s low-interest-rate environment, which has spurred a significant uptick in purchasing demand.
Movement Mortgage, a company that closed $11 billion in loans in 2018 and is currently on track to close more than $15 billion in 2019, has plans to grow its production volume even larger.
The North Carolina-based lender, which currently operates in 49 states with about 650 branches and 3,500 employees, recently announced the launch of an expansion into the Texas and Oklahoma housing markets.
With strategic recruiting, marketing, and operational alignment, Movement believes the region is on pace to achieve $1.5 billion to $2 billion in annual loan volume by the end of next year.
Leading the effort is Chadwicke Earnest, who has joined the company as the new regional director for those states. Earnest brings 11 years of experience to Movement and previously served as a division president at AmCap Mortgage.
By bringing on Earnest, Movement is planting a flag in the region, which the company projects will be one of their fastest-growing areas in 2020.
To drive this growth, Movement plans to focus its efforts on expanding its underwriting capabilities as well as utilizing Earnest’s hands-on leadership skills.
In an exclusive interview, Earnest, who announced his hire with an MTV Cribs inspired video, explained his motivation for joining the rapidly growing company.
“As you start to grow through a leadership path in this industry, words like vision and mission and most importantly, alignment, become important factors,” Earnest said. “Movement stands for so much of what I stand for, which is servant leadership and giving back to the community.”
Prior to entering the mortgage industry, Earnest worked in critical care for more than a decade. Back in those days, a lot of his time was spent caring for those in need of help.
Although Earnest is no longer apart of the medical field, his mission remains the same – offering a helping hand to those that need it the most.
“Movement Mortgage really cares about their employees, and that was the first thing I saw when I walked the halls of Movement,” Earnest said. “It’s really not an anonymous feeling, there’s a real sense of relevance and connectivity.”
Movement’s connectivity transcends past its halls, as the company has traveled thousands of miles to bring several communities humanitarian aid.
The company’s nonprofit organization, Movement Foundation, is the majority owner of its business. Movement’s profits are paid to the foundation and used to fund investments in the U.S. and around the world.
Since 2012, Movement Foundation has invested more than $40 million in a number of initiatives, including the construction of community centers and churches in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
Notably, the company has also taken its humanitarian work to Uganda, where it worked to construct a commercial farm that now creates jobs for the people of the Gulu region, who are still recovering from a decade of civil war.
The foundation has also invested in two public charter schools in Charlotte, North Carolina, bringing education to areas of the city with high rates of poverty and with large populations of immigrants and refugees.
Movement’s dedication to bettering communities around the world is what initially attracted Earnest to the mortgage lender, as he and his wife, a native of Honduras, have spent many years working to build hope centers for Central America’s underserved communities.
“I was working in Central America, with my wife prior to joining Movement, and during that time, I found out the company was heavily involved with humanitarian work in Central America,” Earnest said. “So, it was just the perfect match.”
Earnest now intends to continue this work in the Lone Star State and beyond.
“Planting a Movement School in Texas would be a dream come true,” Earnest said. “In addition, I am focused on leadership, in partnership with the Movement Foundation and ICM, to build new Hope Centers to Central America and share the love of Christ with more than 200,000 people.”
