On Monday, Forbes released their list of the world's billionaires. Coming in at No. 384, Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans, was reported to have a net worth of $3.5 billion, and it's not surprising. Quicken Loans is one of the largest online home lenders and retail lenders in America.
I chose to do a little research on a company in the limelight lately. Quicken recently moved to Detroit and has pushed a couple of major campaigns to put them further in front of the public eye.
To start, I simply went on the company's website and clicked on the link to apply for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. The first page asks the basic details of when you are planning to buy a home.
The second page gauges how much money you have and could receive. However, the last page is the key factor, and you are forced to enter an email address and a valid phone number to submit. Following instructions, I entered my work email and phone number and clicked submit.
One...Two...Three... seconds and my phone starts to ring. About as fast as I could hit submit, Quicken Loans already had my number in the system and was calling me, and it was not an automated call. I answered and admitted I was a reporter doing research on mortgage originations, to which he replied, "Even a reporter needs a mortgage."
I told him twice I was solely doing research, but he still persistently interrogated me for information about when I would be interested in purchasing a house.
In the meantime, if not just as fast as my call, I received an email from Quicken Loans saying an agent would contact me shortly— emphasis on the shortly.
Fair enough, I did reach out to them.
According to the Quicken Loans website, the company employs more than 6,000 people nationally. Gilbert started the company in 1985, and since then, he has made sure his company and employees would persevere.
To top it all off, amid filling out the application online, a phone call and an email, a Quicken Loans commercial happened to play on the television in the newsroom.
So for that moment, Quicken Loans seemed everywhere. And based on the speed response, the company is aptly named.
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