08/10/2026
I recently hit my 10-year anniversary of returning to the Mortgage Broker world — and I'm coming up on about 21 years total in mortgage lending.
It's been quite a ride.
I think I've aged more in the last 10 years than a President. 😂
I've witnessed plenty of egos, bragging, self-congratulating and behavior in this industry that I could have done without. But I've also had the privilege of working with some truly amazing, humble, kind and caring people. I'm grateful for those people because they're a big part of what has kept me going.
But ultimately, what keeps me going is helping families with one of, if not THE biggest financial decisions of their lives.
I take that responsibility very seriously. It's also a huge privilege.
Ten years ago, I was working for a local mortgage bank in Penn Valley. I had already been in mortgage lending since 2005, but looking back, I still had a lot to learn.
Because mortgage lending isn't just about interest rates.
It's experience. Knowledge. Problem solving. Knowing loan guidelines. Knowing what to do when something goes wrong.
But it's also about ethics, morality, greed — or the lack thereof — and deciding what kind of Loan Officer you want to be.
At the time, I realized the interest rates I was able to offer weren't as competitive as I wanted them to be. That bothered me.
A lot of my clients were family, friends and referrals from people who trusted me to take care of them. I couldn't just tell myself, "Well, this is the rate we have."
Half a percent matters.
If I can save a family $200 a month, that's $2,400 a year staying in their pocket. That matters to me.
I've always wanted to make my living by helping more people — not by making as much as possible on every person who walks through the door.
So I started looking for another path.
That's when I found Edge Home Finance, which at the time was an up-and-coming Mortgage Brokerage. I'm grateful to Chris Hacker for the opportunity. It gave me access to much better pricing, more loan programs, more flexibility and lenders that could get things done much faster.
Leaving my previous company turned into quite an experience. I had worked my way up to being the #1 Loan Officer in the branch, but when I privately shared my plans to leave, I was congratulated and told how happy they were for me.
About 45 minutes later, I was terminated and locked out of everything.
What followed wasn't pretty. There was bad-mouthing, attempts to take over relationships with my clients and eventually attorneys got involved.
I learned a lot from that experience.
Mostly: **Take care of people. Treat people right. DO THE RIGHT THING.**
That lesson has stayed with me.
In 2019, I started Golden State Home Loans.
That gave me even more freedom — better control over pricing, access to more options for my clients, and most importantly, the autonomy to make decisions based on what I believed was right.
We grew quickly. I hired employees, including some really great people who I will always be grateful for.
Then the mortgage industry changed.
Rates went up. Business slowed dramatically across the industry.
And that's when one of the decisions I made years earlier really started costing me.
I had spent years trying to get my clients the lowest rates I reasonably could. When rates increased, many of those clients simply couldn't benefit from refinancing again.
Financially, that hurts when you're in the mortgage business.
But I've never regretted it.
If I got someone a great loan and they don't need me again for 10 years because their interest rate is fantastic, **GOOD.**
That's what I was supposed to do.
Then in 2023, I was presented with probably the biggest test of that philosophy.
A large national mortgage bank recruited me and offered me a **$250,000 signing bonus**, in writing and signed by the president, if I agreed to stay with them for at least 2½ years.
A quarter of a million dollars.
And this came while the mortgage industry was in a major downturn and my own business had slowed considerably.
It was VERY difficult to turn down.
But ultimately, I did.
Why?
Because I knew the interest rates I would have to offer my clients would be higher.
I couldn't reconcile taking $250,000 for myself while knowing the people who trusted me would potentially be paying for that decision through higher rates.
So I stayed independent.
I don't share that because I think I'm some great or virtuous person. I've made plenty of mistakes over 21 years.
I share it because this 10-year anniversary has made me reflect on what kind of business I wanted to build — and what kind of Loan Officer I wanted to be.
This industry has changed enormously since I started in 2005. Technology has changed. Loan programs have changed. Guidelines have changed over and over again.
That's why I believe experience matters so much.
But experience alone isn't enough.
Knowledge matters.
Integrity matters.
Rates matter.
Communication matters.
Actually caring about the person on the other side of the transaction matters.
Mortgage lending can sometimes feel like a popularity contest. The person with the most confidence, charisma or biggest marketing presence often wins.
I've never been the most charismatic guy in the room. And I've certainly never been the best at bragging about myself.
But I've learned that even a guy like me can carve out a place in this business by being genuine, honest, knowledgeable, caring and working really hard to give people a great deal.
So after 21 years in mortgage lending and 10 years since making that leap back into the broker world, I'm mostly just grateful.
Grateful for the clients who have trusted me.
Grateful for the Realtors and referral partners who have put their reputations on the line by sending people to me.
Grateful for the people I've worked alongside who have made me better.
And grateful that after all these years, I still get to do this.
Here's to the next 10.
— Jared
Golden State Home Loans
