Today we’d like to introduce you to Reginald Masters.
Hi Reginald, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Houston, TX and raised in a small town named Crockett, TX until the age of 17. When I graduated from High School at 17 years old, I went to Prairie View A&M for a semester then transferred to Sam Houston State University where I graduated with a BBA in 2002. I was the first to graduate from college in my immediate family with little to no guidance which was a huge victory for me and my family.
After graduating from college, I moved to the Northside of Houston with a goal to find my first job out of college. With no real connections for starting my career in Houston, I put on a suit & tie, printed out at least 100 resumes and went building to building and door to door passing out my resume to whoever would give me an opportunity. I met a guy named Greg Austin who would soon give me my first job at IMX, Inc., a mortgage technology company, as a broker sales rep. In this role, I helped small mortgage brokerage startups launch their businesses which has been proven to be one of the best positions I’ve held to this day as it gave me the knowledge to start Masters Home Mortgage.
After working at IMX, Inc for nearly a year, Greg Austin accepted a high-level position at Aurora Loan Services, a Lehman Brothers Company, and brought me along with him to Dallas, TX working in an AVP Position managing sales support. In this role, I obtained core knowledge on how mortgage banks work at a high level from origination to underwriting and processing. I would go on to hold additional positions as a wholesale account executive and a corporate underwriter at various companies before the financial crisis in 2007-2008.
In 2008 during the crisis, I experienced a huge career setback in the mortgage industry due to the crisis and had to find a new career for myself. I went back to my strategy that I used after college and put on a suit and tie, printed out a stack of resumes and went door to door passing out resumes again. This strategy worked once again as I was given an opportunity as an IT sales rep with SHI International Corp in Austin, TX and learned much about technology. After working for SHI for several years, I soon started an IT value added reseller company named WUUTECH. Although this business didn’t work out, I learned many valuable lessons that has helped me successfully run Masters Home Mortgage today.
For several years I went back and forth between positions in mortgages and IT and was offered a position in Atlanta selling intelligent traffic systems. I did well in the position for the first year, but my passion to do mortgages pushed me to get my mortgage originator’s license in Georgia and pivot to a career back in the mortgage industry. I started out as a part-time loan officer and quickly realized my passion for mortgages was clearly my purpose. I began to live and breathe mortgages again and decided to start Masters Home Mortgage. I chose to become a dedicated mortgage professional with the purpose of helping families achieve homeownership and provide competent financial advice around home purchases and refinances. After starting the company in 2017 and relaunching it in 2020, Masters Home Mortgage is now originating several million dollars of loans each month to fulfill our purpose of helping families achieve homeownership.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not been smooth. I started from the bottom and traveled the road alone for much of my career. I started several businesses that didn’t work out; however, those failures were lessons used to prepare me for this moment in running a successful mortgage company.
We’ve been impressed with Masters Home Mortgage LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The name of our company is Masters Home Mortgage. We provide purchase and refinance mortgage loans for residential properties. What sets us apart from many lenders is we are able to get many of our loans closed in 14-21 days and we have the flexibility to broker loans to different lending institutions which greatly expands our product offering. We plan on becoming a lender soon as well as still be able to broker loans if it’s a better fit for a particular client.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
A few of my favorite books: Bible, Rich Dad Poor Dad, 48 Laws of Power, Think and Grow Rich, The Art & Science of Respect, The Intelligent Investor.
Contact Info:
- Email: reginald@mhmteam.com
- Website: www.mastershomemortgage.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reginaldmasters/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reginald.masters
