Guaranteed Rate’s Ben Cohen on the path to $1 billion

This week, Ben Cohen, managing director and senior vice president of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss how he became the company’s second loan officer to fund $1 billion in loan volume in 2020.

During the interview, Cohen also discusses how his team has adjusted to support origination volume, as well as what Guaranteed Rate does to prepare its loan officers for success.

Here is a small preview of the interview with Ben Cohen, lightly edited for length and clarity:

HW:  Everyone wants to know the secret of your success. What would you attribute it to?

Ben Cohen:  Hard work, it’s not that that difficult. I feel that with any job, it’s whether or not you can capitalize on the opportunity. Guaranteed Rate gives me all the tools I need to be successful, so without the platform, guidance, leadership, and mentorship, it’s all basically up to me at the end of the day. The old saying, “You get out of it what you put into it” couldn’t be truer. You know, a lot of people want to hear my success stories and I really do attribute them to the fact Guaranteed Rate allows me to work efficiently. I’ve never worked harder in my entire life, and while I do work a lot of hours, at the end of the day, they’re efficient hours. I tell everybody the words inefficiency and inefficient do not register in my vocabulary. I’m just not programmed to think that way. It all boils down to hard work and work ethic. It’s in your DNA, you either have it or you don’t.

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.