Keller Williams Offloads Mortgage Division To Mutual of Omaha

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Mutual of Omaha Mortgage has acquired Keller Mortgage for an undisclosed quantity, it was introduced Monday throughout Keller Williams’ annual Household Reunion.

With the deal, Keller Mortgage will change into a Mutual of Omaha Mortgage subsidiary and function alongside MOM’s current ahead and reverse mortgage divisions.

Keller Williams will retain an undisclosed possession stake in Keller Mortgage, a KW spokesperson confirmed.

Gary Keller | Credit score: KW

“We’re excited to announce how our two main manufacturers are coming collectively,” Keller Williams co-founder and Government Chairman Gary Keller mentioned in a press release on Monday.  “Our KW prospects can have entry to an much more complete slate of mortgage providers from a trusted model with greater than a century of enterprise expertise. It’s really a win-win for all concerned.”

Keller Williams launched Keller Mortgage in 2005, hiring a small crew of mortgage officers and employees members to function out of its headquarters in Dublin, Ohio.

A historic drop in mortgage charges ushered in a interval of report development for the corporate in 2021, with the corporate doubling its payroll from 530 workers in June 2020 to 1,000 workers in Might 2021.

Nonetheless, the corporate rapidly needed to reverse course because the Federal Reserve started elevating rates of interest to gradual inflation and stave off the chance of a recession. The corporate laid off 150 junior workers in October 2021, with two extra rounds of layoffs in Might and October 2022 because the mortgage business responded to the dovetail in mortgage origination and refinancing demand.

As a privately-owned firm, Keller Williams is just not required to share its income, income or losses in earnings nor particular monetary particulars for its subsidiaries, together with Keller Mortgage.

“In gentle of macroeconomic market situations, on Monday of this week we additional restructured the mortgage operations group inside our Keller Mortgage enterprise,” Keller Williams spokesperson Darryl Frost advised Inman over the last spherical of layoffs in October. “We stay dedicated to helping our impacted workers and to rising our mortgage choices over the long run.”

The lending arm took another hit in November, with kwx’s Keller Residence Monetary Companies (KHFS) President Dave Smith exiting the corporate after lower than two years on the helm.

Keller Williams mentioned Smith “determined to go away the group to pursue different profession alternatives,” and rapidly tapped government Wealthy Miller to change into the interim president of Keller Mortgage.

Terry Connealy | Credit score: LinkedIn

Regardless of the hiccups in Keller Mortgage’s efficiency over the previous 12 months, Mutual of Omaha Mortgage President Terry Connealy mentioned he nonetheless considers Keller Mortgage a frontrunner within the business and believes the businesses have a “robust cultural match.”

“This transaction brings collectively two leaders within the mortgage business, leveraging the strengths of every to offer excellent services to homebuyers from coast to coast,” Connealy mentioned in a press release. “With shared values that emphasize integrity, teamwork, buyer focus, innovation and accountability, Keller Mortgage is a robust cultural match with Mutual of Omaha Mortgage.”

Keller Mortgage has taken heart stage at KW’s Household Reunion this weekend, with the corporate working a big sales space situated within the convention’s exhibit corridor and internet hosting a number of breakout periods about the way forward for the housing market and mortgage hacks for a shifting market.

“We stay dedicated to mortgage and Keller Mortgage will proceed to work to serve the mortgage wants of all Keller Williams actual property brokers and prospects throughout the nation,” Frost mentioned of Keller Mortgage’s place within the KW ecosystem. “Now shoppers can have entry to extra loans, a variety of mortgage merchandise, and best-in-class service.”

E-mail Marian McPherson