Patton
Gade,
the
top
producing
loan
officer
for

VA
home
loans
in
the
U.S.
last
year,
has
joined
brokerage
firm UMortgage,
the
company
announced
on
Tuesday. 

Arizona-based
Gade,
a
graduate
of
the
U.S.
Military
Academy
at
West
Point,
will
continue
to
originate
loans
and
hold
the
national
director
of
military
lending
position
at
UMortgage.
He’ll
join
forces
with
fellow
veteran
loan
originator
Jay
Bunte
in
the
brokerage
firm. 

Gade,
50,
was
in
the
Army
for
8.5
years
and
did
some
other
sales
jobs
before
joining
the
mortgage
space
about
a
decade
ago.
He
worked
for
several
mortgage
companies,
including Bridgeview
Bank
Group, Mutual
of
Omaha
Mortgage,
Inc.
and Paramount
Bank.
His
latest
position
was
as
a
branch
manager
at loanDepot, where
he
spent
about
two
years. 

“Joining
UMortgage
is
going
to
be
a
great
thing
for
me
because
they
are
entrepreneurial;
I
have
an
opportunity
to
build
something
from
the
ground
up,”
Gade
said
in
an
interview.
“loanDepot
is
massive;
it’s
like
a
cruise
ship
changing
direction,
difficult
to
do.
But
with
a
speed
boat,
you
can
change
direction
quickly.”

A
spokesperson
for
loanDepot
wrote
to
HousingWire
that
the
company
has
a
tradition
of
attracting
and
developing
‘top-notch
talent.’

“We
thank
Patton
for
his
many
contributions
to
loanDepot
and
wish
him
the
best
in
his
next
chapter,”
the
spokesperson
said.
 

Regarding
his
transition
from
the
retail
to
the
wholesale
channel,
Gade
said
the
broker
channel
doesn’t
have
“different
layers
of
management
and
oversight
between
the
originator
and
the
company,”
which
results
in
savings
passed
on
to
the
buyer. 

In
terms
of
products,
Gade
said
he
will
have
the
opportunity
to
access
VA
construction
loans
at
UMortgage.

Gade
originated
$165.4
million
in
mortgages
in
2022,
with
a
total
of
$135.7
million
in
VA
loans,
enough
to
become
the
top
VA
loan
officer
in
the
country,
according
to
the Scotsman
Guide. 

Mortgage
tech
platform Modex,
however,
shows
that
Gade
originated
$117
million
so
far
this
year,
consisting
of
$90.3
million
in
VA
loans
(77%
of
the
total).
Most
of
his
loans
this
year,
precisely
89%,
were
purchases.

UMortgage,
a
broker
shop
and
non-delegated
correspondent
lender,
reached
$1.23
billion
in
mortgage
production
this
year,
but
VA
loans
represented
only
17.6%
of
the
total,
according
to
Modex.  

UMortgage
has
324
active loan
officers and
40
branches,
per
NMLS.
The
brokerage
firm
claims
it
gains
65
basis
points
from
each
loan,
works
with
20
lenders
and
takes
14
calendar
days
on
average
to
close
a
loan.