Full Transcript is Below:
– Welcome into our Top Producer Series for the month of June 2022. I’m NFM TV’s Greg Sher and so delighted to bring to you someone that has been called “the future” by Mike Farrell, the Division Vice President of Main Street Home Loans. Talking about none other than Hillary Cochin who joins us right now. Hillary, thanks for agreeing to be our top producer for the month of June. How are you?
– I’m doing great, Greg. Thanks so much.
– Well, the accolades do not stop there. So let me continue for a moment. I hope you don’t mind. Darran Anthony, Main Street Division President, calls you “the hardest working student of the game” and Tim Reinhart, Senior Vice President of Main Street Home Loan, says “you’re a natural born leader”. Here are a couple of the ways he describes you. Selfless, innovative, determined, and fiercely detailed. You’ve come a long way since joining the mortgage business as a receptionist. It’s been quite a journey, huh?
– It has been, and I am blushing a little bit. It was so sweet to hear, but it has been a crazy ride. It’s super strange. I can’t envision myself doing anything differently. But yeah, definitely a lot of changes in starting as that receptionist.
– I know, I know. And you didn’t think you would be in the mortgage business. Your mom was a bond trader. Your dad, a dentist. You grew up on the upper east side of Manhattan. And now where are you? In Virginia?
– I’m actually in Maryland.
– You’re in Maryland?
– Hopped around. I started out in Virginia then moved to Maryland. So I feel like I’ve been all over the DMV at this point.
– I can’t keep track. But one thing I do know for sure and I can keep track because we’ve got amazing software at the NFM family of lenders, is that in 2021 you assisted 158 families with getting financing. The majority of them, new homes. 80% of your business last year were purchases, 65 million in production. Those are some astounding figures. What do you attribute to your success?
– I just think that I have a really great team around me and that’s all encompassing, right? So that’s Main Street and the NFM family. That’s also my referral partners. And then also my clients who… You know, they have a tough job of looking for a property especially this past year in this crazy market. They take advice and just everyone has had a hand in where I am today.
– More on that in a moment. But I just wanna mention before I forget ’cause I am very forgetful. You’ve already assisted close to 45 families at the time of taping here in May, so you’re well on your way to another incredible year. But I wanna talk about sort of your philosophy, how you go about being an all encompassing ally in not just the mortgage process but the the consultation process ’cause I know that’s something that Mike Farrell is very good at and very serious about. I can feel the the ear markings of Mike’s influence there. What does that mean? What does it mean to give somebody that kind of experience?
– Yeah. I mean, it’s everything, right? So when I started in the business, I really didn’t even know what a mortgage was, which sounds crazy now. And I kind of go into each of my client relationships and those consultations regardless of the experience that the clients have had in the past, whether they’re a first time home buyer or a repeat buyer. We start from scratch and I kind of force that on people. And the interesting thing is that, you know, the approach with the consultation, the workflow holds true regardless of market conditions, but the advice that we’re giving is always changing, right? So if it’s… The conversations I’m having today are entirely different than the conversations I was having a year ago. So really the philosophy behind that is if I can empower my clients to fully understand the finances behind a home purchase, it kinda takes the anxiety away from this huge financial decision and lets them focus on the fun part, which is where do they see themselves and their families living. So we talk a lot about short term planning, long term planning, how long they think they’re gonna keep the property for, and all of that helps make this really overwhelming process a lot more simple.
– Excellent. Can you tell me about the culture at Main Street Home Loans? I seem to find you on a lot of the social media feeds. I know you’ve been sitting in this very chair that I’m in right now, threatening to take my job, and I’m sure many would like to see you succeed. Talk about that. Talk about Main Street and kind of you being the future as Mike Farrell said in social media and how that kind of plays into everything you’re doing.
– Honestly, it’s everything. Our job as Home Loan consultants is… It’s not easy, right? It’s not super difficult as far as… It’s math, right? It’s guiding clients, but it’s also a lot of roadblocks. We have, you know, sometimes a lot of just pressure on us to deliver something quickly rather than delivering a really good product for the client. So it’s a lot of balancing, a lot of stress, and this is also the most important purchase that most clients are making in their life. So it’s a responsibility that we don’t take lightly. So being in an environment where it’s optimistic and encouraging and you can lean on so many different people is so important. You know, I think about my coworkers as not just people I can go to for work questions, but also like, “Hey, you know, I’ve been working 12 hour days, I’m exhausted. What are you doing to blow off some steam?” or “Let’s go grab lunch outside of the office and hang out.” You know, video communication is huge. And NFM was huge on that when I was interviewing as far as where to go in my next stage in this career. And I love video, it’s so much more personalized and that’s a hurdle that our industry faces too is that we’re driven to say what jobs can we get rid of, have technology take over. But when you connect with people and you can do that using technology such as video, it just humanizes the process. And I think hopefully my clients and realtor partners will agree. It just makes things more rewarding as well.
– Let’s switch over to the lighter side of things for a moment. I understand that you qualified for your first ever V.I.P. producer trip at your previous lender, but you chose to come to NFM and you weren’t able to take that trip. But you’ve also qualified for the Main Street Home Loans trip two consecutive years, but due to COVID you haven’t made those either. So am I right that you’ve qualified for three straight years of trips but have gone on none of them?
– Correct. So, I mean, more time to work. So, that’s okay. No vacations allowed in our industry, but yeah. If you wanna sure bet to have a trip canceled, invite me. I’ve had the same plane ticket for actually three trips, two of those which were Circle of Excellence trips. One of them was a family vacation to celebrate my dad’s 70th birthday and all three canceled due to COVID. But one day I’m confident it’ll happen.
– I’ve been told that you can hit a golf ball 250 yards. Can you please confirm?
– [Hillary] That is correct, and I’m proud of it and hoping to always improve in golf, too. I love it.
– You know, lastly, as someone whose brother lived on the upper east side, a couple blocks from where you grew up, there’s only one kind of pizza. That’s New York pizza. So how do you get around that? You know, you’re in living in Maryland, you spend time in Virginia. Any pizza recommendations? Or does just nothing compare to New York city pizza and you just live with that?
– Honestly, nothing compares. You know, I’ll schedule vacations back home ’cause I still have friends and family there and I’ll say it’s for them to visit but it’s really for the pizza and the bagels.
– I get it. I understand. I like both of those things. Hillary Cochin you are very impressive. Now I see why your colleagues rave about you, and your clients and your referral partners. We have your contact information up on the screen there in bright lights in case anybody wants to work with you, and it is an honor to be able to call you a colleague. Thank you for allowing us to feature you as our top producer for the month of June 2022. Continued success.
– Thank you so much, Greg.
– Really appreciate your time. I’m Greg Sher from NFM TV. We’ll see you again next time.