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Privately held lender First Community Mortgage (FCM) has completed its acquisition of A Mortgage Boutique (AMB).

As part of the deal, FCM has rebranded its wholesale unit as AMB Wholesale. First Community has tapped Retta Gardner, co-founder of AMB, to lead the division as executive vice president. Gardner said that the combined departments will enable AMB to continue serving its clients as part of a bigger organization, “but one with the same people-focused roots.”

“Retta’s leadership and the combined teams enable strategic growth of our wholesale division while also leveraging many synergies across other FCM divisions,” said First Community Mortgage CEO Keith Canter. “Our clients and business partners will immediately see the benefits of these additional strengths and marketplace momentum and will have an even better experience.”

In addition to Gardner, AMB President Nancy Skinner and KJ Harden, a partner in AMB, will join FCM.

“We are excited to partner with the team at AMB,” Canter said. “We welcome the clients and team members of AMB and are already finding that we are better together, as we anticipated when we announced this opportunity.”

View original release here: https://www.mpamag.com/news/first-community-mortgage-secures-major-acquisition-248223.aspx

“We are excited to partner with the team at AMB,” says Keith Canter, CEO of First Community Mortgage, and one of the 18-year-old organization’s founders. “There is strong alignment between our two organizations, particularly in the value we place on people – employees, clients, and business partners – and the communities we serve. These strong FCM-AMB synergies will especially enhance our ability to serve additional clients.”

Canter notes that, upon completion and regulatory approval of the acquisition, FCM’s Wholesale Division will rebrand as a Mortgage Boutique. In addition to an enhanced local presence, Canter says adding AMB’s people and processes to FCM will strengthen the organization across the 46 states in which it originates mortgages.

“We are pleased to join with our friends at First Community Mortgage,” says Retta Gardner, Co-Founder of AMB, who will become Executive Vice President of the a Mortgage Boutique Division at FCM, “knowing our combined organizations are truly better together. This merger will enable us to continue to serve our clients, while also enhancing the service experience by leveraging a deeper set of resources. As we begin working together, we’ll focus the strengths of our remarkable alignment on continued growth and leadership in the mortgage industry.”

Founded in August 2019, a Mortgage Boutique was able to leverage previous experience to grow quickly into a multi-state lender serving Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, and Ohio. In addition to Gardner, partners in AMB are Co-Founder and President Nancy Skinner and KJ Harden, who leads Retail Sales. All three have extensive banking, financial and mortgage experience and will join FCM.

“The combined capabilities of our teams are exceptional,” Canter says, “so much so that we have been saying the merger math for this is 1 + 1 = 3. What matters most is that clients and business partners of FCM and AMB will have an even better experience. Our evolution and growth continues, and we will be excited to welcome the AMB family to ours.”

View original press release here https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-community-mortgage-announces-pending-acquisition-of-a-mortgage-boutique-301208038.html

We are happy and proud that so many First Community Mortgage customers have either become homeowners or have saved money on their monthly payments with our help. And we pride ourselves at helping clients even after the loan funds, either through accepting referrals, answering servicing questions, or continuing to educate them about market conditions. With that in mind, we answer the question: Why are house prices going up in 2020? There are three basic reasons.

The first reason is the demand for housing. Few don’t want to own their own home, regardless of age. Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) are the key buyer group, representing about 40% of all home sales. There’s still more potential in this group, however, given that the homeownership rate for those under 35 years old is roughly 40% compared with 64% for adults aged 35 to 44 years old. As younger folks marry and start families, the demand for homes will continue to grow, and we have some great first-time home buyer programs.

FCM is always helping Gen Xers (those born between 1960 and 1980) and Baby Boomers (1940 to 1960) who are facing life stage and lifestyle changes related to COVID-19, retirement, and age that also bode well for future housing demand.

The second key reason for the increase is because the very low mortgage rates. With rates so low at FCM, many consumers are enjoying the affordability of a mortgage. Our 30-year fixed rates have remained near or below 3% for some months now. Unfortunately, this is due to the hard times that the economy is experiencing due to the pandemic. The Federal Reserve have expressed the desire to keep the federal funds rate near zero through 2023. The federal funds rate is not equal to mortgage rates because of credit risk, but they do move in tandem. This continues to be a boost for the market.

As builders serving in our communities see high demand, many have raised the price of newly constructed homes. Lower mortgage rates help offset home price growth for now, but that may not last forever.

Lastly, people are using their home like never before. It’s not uncommon for families who now use their homes as their office, gym, school, bar, and restaurant! And for many, a one or two-bedroom home is not enough. Many of our clients have moved to the suburbs, a trend that is expected to continue as buyers continue looking for homes that meet their evolving needs.

In addition to demographics, low mortgage rates, and an increased reliance on our homes, the increase in prices is also helped by a decent stock market and healthy home equity are among the other positives fueling demand. There’s no shortage of economic risks today, however, including a slowing or backsliding economy with accompanying job losses, a continued delay in getting more stimulus passed, or the impact of winter on COVID-19 cases and business profitability.

On a global scale, however, these demographics are not going away and will drive the housing market for the next 10 years, and First Community Mortgage is here to help you.

First Community Mortgage, a Murfreesboro, TN-based home lender that now originates mortgages in 44 states, yesterday announced a major rebranding to reflect the breadth and growth of the nearly two-decade-old organization.

“With 18 years of expansion and diversification, we wanted to ensure our brand identity continues to best articulate who we are and the work we do with our business partners and on behalf of our customers,” says Keith Canter, CEO of First Community Mortgage, and one of the organization’s founders. “After all, we are simultaneously a financial organization, as well as a people organization, and it’s vital that we reflect both well.”

Canter notes that FCM team members introduced the brand refresh to existing customers and business partners as a first step before the public rollout began in earnest.

“As we continue to evolve, succeed and grow, a logical facet of our business planning and processes was to take as deliberative approach to our client and partner communication as we do to all elements of the organization,” says Dan Smith, President of First Community Mortgage. “A stronger brand presence and even clearer messaging fosters growth in both new and existing markets, which helps our originators assist even more homeowners.”

While the top-to-bottom brand identity update cascades across all aspects of the organization, from email signatures and the website to external signage, Smith notes the process was specifically designed to be seamless for customers. For instance, customers will notice an update to the Go FCM app (available in Android’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store), but that such changes will happen automatically and with no interruption to borrowers.

Smith served as the executive lead on the re-brand, working closely with Canter and communications lead Megan Chastain, FCM’s Vice President of Marketing.

First Community Mortgage, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Community Bank of Tennessee, and includes Wholesale, Correspondent and Retail divisions. FCM is a FNMA, FHLMC, and GNMA seller/servicer and offers mortgage solutions to consumers and financial institutions. It is on track to fund over $3 billion in home loans in 2020. First Community Mortgage is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS ID 629700. www.FirstCommunityMortgage.com

MURFREESBORO, TN (JUNE 2019) – First Community Mortgage (FCM) is pleased to announce that Samantha Meyer, Chief Risk Officer has been elected to its Board of Directors, effective April 23, 2019.

With 16 years of mortgage industry experience and 14 years at FCM, Meyer has worked in or managed almost every operational department at FCM. She has seen FCM grow from approximately 25 employees to nearly 250. She has played a key leadership role in this growth process.

“I am thrilled to have Samantha on the board; she has the experience, leadership qualities, and forward thinking we need to continue FCM on the path of helping families find homes, and doing it for the right reasons,” said FCM CEO, Keith Canter. “Not only is she part of FCM’s Board of Directors, but she has been a member of FCM’s Executive Team for 6 years, and she has been serving on our nonprofit organization, FCM Cares, Board of Directors as Vice President since its creation and will prove a tremendous asset as we continue to strengthen our presence in all the communities we serve.”

Meyer currently oversees FCM’s Compliance, Quality Control, and Fraud & Risk Departments, as well as Legal, Regulatory Policy and Audit. She is a member of the Executive Management team. She began her career at FCM in 2005 as a retail loan processor, then closer and later becoming an underwriter. She then developed the company’s original Loan Origination System, and started the Quality Control and Compliance departments. She has also managed FCM’s closing, post-closing and shipping functions.

She attended both the University of Minnesota and Emmaus Bible College. She is married with two young children ages 12 and 7 years old. She has been published in The M Report – Women in Housing Magazine, has been a panelist at local and national banking and regulatory compliance conferences, and has been a panelist with The Mortgage Collaborative women’s group. Samantha has a passion for mentoring young women and helping them find their voice while growing professionally.

“The board is extremely pleased to have Samantha join the team,” said Canter. “We know she will serve the employees, shareholders, company, and community, with meaning and skill only Samantha can offer.”

About First Community Mortgage

Founded in 2002, First Community Mortgage is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Community Bank of Tennessee. They are headquartered in Murfreesboro, TN with additional operation centers in Louisville, Columbus, and Kansas City. Support is given by retail branches alongside wholesale and correspondent relationships throughout the United States. First Community Mortgage is a FNMA, FHLMC, and GNMA seller/servicer and offers mortgage solutions to consumers and financial institutions. With mortgage volume of $2.1 billion in 2016, First Community Mortgage was ranked the #1 lender for new construction homes for the past eight years as published by Metrostudy and #5 for 2017 in the Nashville Business Journal’s Book of Lists. First Community Mortgage was the recipient of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s prestigious 2017 Residential Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award for Market Outreach Strategies.