John Paasonen on empowering small to mid-size lenders

This week, HousingWire’s Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler interviews John Paasonen, the co-founder and CEO of Maxwell. In this episode, Paasonen discusses the pivotal role of small and mid-size lenders in the mortgage landscape and Maxwell’s rapid growth over the last three years.

Paasonen also discusses some of the challenges of growing a company fast as well as what excites him about the future of mortgage lending.

Here is a small preview of the interview, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Sarah Wheeler: Let’s talk about community banks for a second and the role they play right now in the mortgage business. How have they carved out a place at the table when they’re competing against giants like Rocket or other well-known brands? And why did you choose to focus on serving them?

John Paasonen: We love the small and midsize guys; I think they’re the ones that have a presence in their communities. They’re involved in neighborhood associations. They coach soccer and work with their neighbors. We want to support them in being successful. Particularly, if you look at rural communities, about a quarter of the US or roughly 74 million people live in these areas and community banks in many of these locations are the only banking presence. In fact, I think for one in every five counties in the US, the only banking presence is the community bank. These are the folks that deeply understand their local market…And so to summarize, I think small and midsize lenders are in an amazing position to win business. I think with the right tools to serve their clients, they’re going to be incredibly successful over the next decade.

The Housing News podcast explores the most important topics happening in mortgage, real estate, and fintech. Each week a new mortgage or real estate executive joins the show to add perspective to the top stories crossing HousingWire’s news desk. Hosted by Sarah Wheeler and produced by Alcynna Lloyd.