The Mortgage Man

Danny Marogy with his family.

Danny Marogy leads sales at UWM

By Sarah Kittle

“I actually hate mortgages,” says Danny Marogy. “I think it’s the most boring transaction in the history of mankind.”

Yet Marogy, Senior Director of Sales at United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), is known as one of the highest performing account executives across the country for the past 15 years. What motivates him?

“What I love is putting consumers in their dream home,” he clarifies. “That’s the part that gets me out of bed every single day.” It’s what drives Marogy and his team at Pontiac-based UWM, the nation’s number one overall lender and brainchild of Mat Ishbia.

According to his bio, Marogy is credited with being the number one executive, not only at United Wholesale Mortgage, but across the country. He works hand-in-hand with company CEO and president Mat Ishbia; together they created a specialized division focusing on West Coast development. Marogy continues to lead that initiative.

“Mat is involved with everything on the floor,” says Marogy. “He isn’t your typical sit-in-the-office CEO; you see him on the sales floor daily.”

UWM is all about educating the customer. Marogy calls the company “the Amazon of mortgages.” Using technology for ease of use and speed, UWM averages 13 days or fewer until closing. With less paperwork, a streamlined process, and automatic syncing, they are “faster, easier, and cheaper” than retail mortgage companies, which typically run 40-45 days after an offer has been accepted for a closing date.

“Tech definitely makes getting a mortgage easier,” states Marogy. “And virtual closings are getting better.” Processing over 30,000 mortgages a month, the company must embrace technology. And it’s not just mortgages to buy a home, it’s loaning money to pay off debt or do home improvements, too.

Marogy has been in the business a while, over 20 years. Marogy met Ishbia through a friend of a friend, and the rest, as they say, is history. “Mat shared his vision of becoming a top-20 wholesale lender and explained his business model,” says Marogy, “and I thought, ‘we could be a contender.’”

The analogy is apt, as he compares the mortgage company to a team. “We’ve turned it into a sports team, basically,” says Marogy. “It’s very competitive.”

As much as he hates mortgages, Marogy gets excited about explaining the qualification process and teaching clients about financial literacy. “Many are self-employed,” he says, “and they don’t understand that there are tax benefits to showing income.”

Educating clients turns out to be a great business model. While they’re at it, they drive to educate mortgage brokers about different products as well.

“We don’t actually do the lending,” explains Marogy,” That’s what brokers do.” As a wholesale mortgage company, UWM funds home loans originated by independent mortgage brokers across the United States.

A wholesale company offers more choices to the consumer, resulting in an average savings to them of around $9,400, says Marogy. He and the rest of UWM are working to teach the public and change the dynamic. “We have 10,000 brokers in our system,” explains Marogy. “We have almost 40,000 originators nationwide.”

Wholesale makes profits on margins. Currently, wholesale brokerages represent about 24% of the market, something that Marogy would like to see reversed, aiming for 60% within the next five years. It’s been their biggest push for the past five years.

How can that happen? “Hiring great talent,” Marogy says decisively. They aim to recruit 2,000 more employees to work directly for UWM and 20,000 retail agents to come over to wholesale, hundreds per month, says Marogy. “When we recruit retail originators, we put them with wholesale brokers or help them start their own company,” says Marogy. The loan officers are not direct employees of UWM.

Not bad for a company that started in an old Farmer Jack grocery store building in Birmingham with 100 employees. In 2009, they had 200 employees. Their employees now number in the thousands.

Diversity is a big part of the makeup at UWM, and positivity is a must if you wish to work there. Marogy says a great attitude helps develop strong and meaningful relationships with brokers, and that is how the company operates. They have recruited many Chaldeans who share the same mentality.

Having a great spirit also allows UWM to make a difference in their community. They purchased the UWM Sports Complex for all kids in Pontiac to use and gave the tax break to the schools. The company issues “pay it forward” points, where employees earn dollars to donate to the charity of their choice. And of course, they adopt hundreds of families at Christmas.

Family is extremely important to Marogy. When he is not working, he’s with his family. Danny and his wife, a real estate agent who has been in the top 10 performers for her company for the last 5 years, have three sons, aged 7, 5, and 3, who like to run with dad on the soccer field. His oldest plays soccer for Liverpool Academy and his youngest enjoys the sport already. His middle child is more into golf. He is usually home in Rochester with them by 6:30pm every weekday.

Marogy’s advice for young professionals? “Do something you love,” he says, “and compete only with yourself.”