TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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18 | TH E M R EP O RT FEATURE I nspiring an effective team of 600 Bank of America employees comes with a motto: Success doesn't have an endpoint. Rather, it's a starting point to creating new standards and approaches to the jobs mort - gage professionals do every day. At the Bank of America Northern California Division for Consumer Lending, business leaders have the privilege of serving 18,000 house- holds with their home financing needs. But how is this achieved? The answer is simple—push- ing past limitations and stepping outside of comfort zones, although this comes with developing sever- al habits to continually create new standards in personal and profes- sional advancement, especially for women in the industry. Taking that step outside of one's comfort zone is very much in line with the recent and dy- namic trends that women in the industry are continually making to carve out a space for them- selves in the workforce, as well as empower fellow women. Studies from the National Association of Realtors that range from revealing how single women are outpacing single men in homeownership to one on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlighting the business advantages of diversity in the mort- gage industry confirm that women assert a major influence on all sides of the transaction, as homebuy- ers and as real estate and finance professionals. Considering the growing prom- inence of women in pivotal roles across the nation today, how can women in the industry channel this momentum and nudge out - side of professional comfort zones to further advance the progress of women in the workforce? Clients' Needs Know No Bounds A s real estate and banking professionals, it is important to adapt to the needs and desires of clients during their homebuying experience. The aim of every suc - cessful lender is to fulfill homebuy- ers' dreams. However, the ways in which these ambitions are reached have evolved over the years through new technology, laws and regulations, and demographics. As previously addressed, women are a growing force as single buyers, and are also the primary decision makers in many homebuying scenarios. To be a successful lender means taking Pushing Past Limitations Take a step outside of professional comfort zones by leveraging technology and collaboration, and channeling the energy of female empowerment. By Ann Thompson