Not many people would think of opening a mortgage brokerage in this financial climate, but David Maundrell, president of aptsandlofts.com, and his long-time friend and banker, Ross Weinstein, just started up Union Square Mortgage Group.
“Mortgage broker companies have made millions of dollars off my company, and all I asked of them were referrals,” Maundrell said. “Introduce me to a seller or a developer. I never got anything out of these guys. I felt my brand was strong enough to start to diversify, and branch off into other product lines.”
Maundrell and Weinstein are building on the reputation of aptsandlofts.com to attract clients and help spread the word.
“That’s the key to building a business,” Maundrell said. “It doesn’t matter how many ads you place; it goes back to referral-based business. You have to give the customer the best product.”
Although Union Square Mortgage Group will be the preferred lender for aptsandlofts.com, they are completely separate companies. Maundrell said Union Square Mortgage Group will be working with all brokerages, even aptsandlofts.com’s competitors.
Maundrell said they were trying to reflect their openness and familiarity with places outside of the city in their company name.
“We want to do business everywhere, and there has to be a Union Square in every county, statewide,” Maundrell said.
He admits the market “is rough.”
“It’s a long-term growth strategy,” Maundrell said. “In a challenging market, we are able to have relationships and put a foundation in place so when we get to the point when [the market] makes a swing, we will be well positioned to succeed.”