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HousingWire contacted 2019 HW Insiders honoree Gemma Paciano, Chief Operating Officer of Mid America Mortgage. We talked to her about what she’s been up to since her nomination nearly four years ago. Paciano shared an update on his career, industry insights on digitization, and advice for anyone entering the mortgage industry.
HousingWire: You were the director of national support and training at Mid America Mortgage when you were selected for HW Insiders in 2019. How has your career been going since then?
Gemma Paciano: I feel honored to say that my career trajectory since 2019 has been beyond rewarding. In January of 2021 I would like to visit Mid America Mortgage, Inc. was promoted to Chief Operating Officer. I grew my operations team to fund 10,500 units during 2021, which was a 300% increase in originations year-over-year. My amazing team and I have achieved this tremendous growth while maintaining high service level standards. In April 2022, Mid America Mortgage, Inc. The retail division was acquired by Legend Lending Corporation. Then I was promoted to Chief Innovation Officer of Legend Lending Corporation. This new role challenges me to learn the other side of mortgage retail origination. In this role I have focused on re-engineering our risk management, quality control and written policies and procedures to prepare for our strong future.
HW: What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into the mortgage industry?
JP: The mortgage industry can provide tremendous rewards, but you will only get what you invest in. I would not call the mortgage profession a nine to five job. The process of buying a home is one of the biggest events in one’s life. You are essentially on call for quick and accurate responses to so many different scenarios. The lifecycle of a mortgage process evolves very quickly and you must be open to continuous learning and adoption of new methodologies and technologies. You end up being a part of one of the most powerful financial decisions most people make in their lives.
HW: The industry – and the whole world! A lot has happened since 2019. What is the most notable difference between housing in 2023 compared to 2019?
JP: Many things come to mind with this question. Like most things in our lives, digitization is a hot topic. How we meet our customers How we support our referral partners How we select our vendors How we qualify our borrowers How we meet compliance and QC requirements How we service mortgages underwrite, close, and deliver may involve a partially or fully digital process. Additionally, the mortgage industry has experienced extreme volatility in both company growth and funding as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic factors; Because of this mortgage companies have to be more deliberate in their decision making and borrowers have become more cautious in their decision making.
HW: What do you see as the future of housing?
JP: One thing will never change, and that is that mortgage lending provides the path to home ownership. There is no doubt that the future will bring more and more digitization. This would include rapid advancements in methods for determining borrowers’ ability to repay, sanctioning and closing loans. But even with rapid advances in technology, the mortgage buying process has so many life-defining emotions for borrowers that there will always be a human element that cannot be replaced by technology. Let’s embrace technology but never forget our cause, an opportunity to guide our borrowers towards the dream of home ownership.
