Category: Press

MPA Mag’s Kimberly Green recently interviewed Insignia Mortgage co-founder Damon Germanides. Find out all his inside strategies for winning over a mortgage underwriter and his strategies for building a successful niche business in a competitive arena.

Read the full article here.

Once again, Insignia Mortgage has achieved top status as among the nation’s top mortgage producers for 2017, as ranked by The Scotsman Guide, National Mortgage News, and they’ve again cracked the $150 Million Club, as ranked by Mortgage Professional America. Insignia Mortgage consistently has the highest average loan size per borrower in the country at over $1,950,000.

“We continue to focus on the loans that are hard to place due to the borrowers’ profile” said Germanides, adding, “The fact that we’re able to meet our clients’ needs to close transactions very quickly combined with our access to common-sense lenders keeps us very busy in this robust housing market.”

Chris Furie and Damon Germanides were ranked as #11 and #12 Top Producers nationally respectively for this year by The Scotsman Guide, with a total volume of $414 million, a total of 212 closed loans between them and an average loan of $1.95 million, an increase over last year’s average loan size. Chris and Damon ranked #16 and #17 respectively as top national producers by National Mortgage News.

He remarked, “We remain the top jumbo loan broker in the country by loan size. We specialize in packaging non-traditional loans for high net worth borrowers who may be foreign nationals or not using tax returns.”

Chris has been in the mortgage business for 28 years and Damon has been in the business for 14 years.

Insignia Mortgage principal, Damon Germanides, was recently interviewed by Kim Burgess, US news editor for the online journal, Power Originator, specializing in mortgage news. How does Damon start his day? What makes him such a superstar in the world of supersized mortgage origination? Read the full article here to learn all the details!

MPA Mag, the magazine of American mortgage professionals, has just published their e-zine featuring the 46 top grossing mortgage originators nationwide for 2016. These professionals were nominated by their peers and then substantiated by documentation. Insignia principals Chris Furie and Damon Germanides each earned a spot on this prestigious list of highly accomplished originators. Chris is featured on page 8, with over $232 million in total loan volume and Damon is found on page 10 with over $228 million.

Both men cracked the top 5 in average volume, with Damon at #1 with an average loan volume of just over $1.9 million and Chris comes in at #2 this year with an average loan volume of nearly $1.8 million.

View the e-zine here to learn more.

Insignia Mortgage is pleased to announce that its principals, Damon Germanides and Chris Furie, have once again ranked among the very top of all mortgage originators in the country for 2016, according The Scotsman Guide annual reports. The Scotsman Guide has been ranking the nation’s top-producing mortgage brokers, originators, and bankers since 2009. Their list is comprehensive and verified. An estimated $1.9 trillion in residential loans were originated in 2016, a stellar year overall for mortgages, despite a dramatic presidential election. According to the Scotsman Guide, nearly 82% of the 500 top ranked originators reported a higher volume compared to last year.

“Chris (Furie) and I work very hard to stand out as the best in our field,” said Germanides, adding, “In 2016, our average loan size was nearly $1.9 million, which are among the largest average loan sizes in the nation and an industry benchmark.”

Chris Furie ranked #23 for Top Dollar and Purchase volume for this year, with a total volume of $232,500,000, according to the Scotsman Guide, with 130 closed loans. Chris has been in the mortgage business for 27 years.

He remarked, “We are the number one jumbo loan broker in the country by loan size. We specialize in putting together large jumbo loans for our clients, which include foreign nationals and self-employed borrowers who have often been turned down by traditional lenders.”

Insignia co-principal Damon Germanides ranked #25 for Top Dollar, with a total volume for the year of just over $228,776,375 well over last year’s $165 million. Damon has been in the mortgage business for 13 years.

The firm originated $461,290,000 of total loans in 2016. View the press release.

Insignia co-founder Chris Furie was also interviewed recently for The Real Deal, a New York City-based real estate website.

TheRealDeal.com: “The option for a loan gives overseas buyers the chance to spend much more, according to Chris Furie, a partner at Los Angeles-based Insignia Mortgage, whose nonconforming loans are backed mainly by regional banks. “Most [overseas buyers] don’t think they can get a loan, so they pay cash. But they’d much rather take a loan, even if they have to put down 40 percent.”

Insignia Mortgage is building a national reputation as the go-to specialists in complex, non-traditional mortgages. Specialties include all types of unusual scenarios including no tax return loans for foreign nationals, retires, and self employed real estate investor’s, Insignia also specializes in developer and owner occupied construction loans and interest only Jumbo mortgages. Insignia is one of the top originators in the US by loan size with over $365 million in loans originated just in 2015  and over $2B in total volume since 2012. They have closed $80 million in loans to non-resident foreign nationals, just in the last year. They’ve originated over $330 million in 2016. Recently, they closed a $40 million residential-construction loan in Bel Air.

U.S. real estate is an attractive investment to buyers both domestic and international, but non-resident foreign nationals often face challenges purchasing property here, even if they have plenty of assets. Traditional banks and mortgage companies often lack the experience and know-how required to facilitate these often complex transactions.

Recently, The Wall Street Journal’s Jumbo Jungle interviewed Insignia Mortgage co-founders Chris Furie and Damon Germanides, who have considerable expertise and success in this particular arena. Tips shared included advice on how to leverage debt to buy residential property in the U.S.

Wall Street Journal: “In California, Insignia Mortgage closed $80 million in purchase and refinance mortgages to foreign nationals over the past 12 months; the backing comes mostly from regional banks, says Insignia partner Damon Germanides. Available programs require a minimum loan amount of $500,000 up to $7 million for three-, five- or seven-year ARMs with current rates starting in the high 2% to high 3% range for the initial fixed-rate period,” Mr. Germanides says.

View the article as a PDF here.