Should you even own a brokerage?

Everybody tells loan officers the same thing.

"Go independent. Open your own brokerage. Build your business. Own something you can sell one day."

And I get it. Ownership sounds sexy.

But let me ask you something.

Have you ever looked at what independent mortgage brokerages actually sell for?

Not what the owner thinks it's worth. Not how much volume it closes. What somebody is actually willing to write a check for.

Because you can build a company doing $400 million a year in mortgage volume, make a pretty good living, and still have a business that sells for a whole lot less than you imagined.

Why?

Because when somebody buys your mortgage company, they don't automatically own your loan officers. They don't own your referral partners. And they sure as hell don't own tomorrow's production.

So maybe we're asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking, "How do I own a mortgage brokerage?"

Maybe we should be asking:

"How do I build the most profitable mortgage business possible, keep the most money, control my future, and create wealth without taking on a bunch of unnecessary expenses and liabilities?"

Sometimes owning the brokerage is the answer.

Sometimes it isn't.

But I think every loan officer deserves to understand the difference before spending years building something they haven't figured out how to value.

That's what we're going to break down. Start with the full essay, What is your brokerage really worth?, and do the napkin math with your own numbers.