Mortgage Systems That Win Deals: Zac Broadbent on Client Care, Realtor Portals & Homebuyers
Beyond the Guidelines: How Ops, Tech, and Real Relationships Win More Closings
Real estate is full of highlight reels. New listings. Record offers. Photo-ready closings. What you rarely see is the work under the surface that makes those wins possible.
This episode of Beyond the Guidelines strips away the promo and studies the engine room with Creative First Mortgage’s Zack Broadbent. Zack is the person your clients never meet but always feel. He is the difference between a file that limps through conditions and a file that cruises to “clear to close.”
For agents, this conversation is a masterclass in how to pick the right lending partner, set shared standards, and protect your buyers and your deals. Below is the roadmap, translated into field-ready takeaways you can deploy this week.
1) Start with a purpose that keeps people first
Zack’s purpose is simple: help families reach homeownership with communication, support, and knowledge. He grew up with a single mom, and “home” meant safety. That lens guides his choices when files get tense. When a borrower is stuck. When a seller pushes back. When an underwriter adds a condition that wasn’t there yesterday.
Agent takeaway: Pick lending partners whose purpose outlives the transaction. When you feel a lender protecting the human, not just the margin, you know you have the right match for repeat work.
How to test for it: Ask, “When did you last call a borrower just to explain, not to ask for a document?” Then ask, “What’s your plan when we need to save a deal at the eleventh hour?” You’ll hear the difference.
2) Hire for scars, not slogans
Zack came up through the broker trenches: bags, reception, junior processing, processing, and finally origination. That path matters. He has seen where files die and where they get saved. He knows which documents wake a sleeping underwriter and which ones move you forward.
Agent takeaway: Experience across roles is an insurance policy. The best loan teams have someone who thinks like processing, underwrites like an underwriter, and still communicates like a human.
How to test for it: “What’s the last non-obvious condition you preempted on a file like mine?” Look for specific detail: investor overlays, appraisal commentary, or income calculation nuance.
3) The mistake that built a rule: “Don’t feed the file”
Early in his career, Zack uploaded a full home inspection to underwriting. The underwriter did what underwriters do: conditioned the file to the hilt. Eighteen repairs later, he’d learned a permanent lesson: only give the underwriter what the underwriter needs. Home inspections are for agents and buyers. Appraisal commentary is for underwriters.
Agent takeaway: Protect your buyers by protecting the file. Keep inspections on the real estate side. Keep appraisal responses precise and limited to valuation and safety requirements. If you’re not sure, ask your lender before you upload anything.
Team rule you can adopt tomorrow:
Inspections live in the agent’s folder, not the lender’s.
If a lender asks, “Anything else I should see?” confirm scope in writing.
When a condition is cleared, stop talking. Don’t re-open cleared issues with extra commentary.
4) Tenacity is a tool. Humility is the guardrail.
Zack is competitive. He wants to be right. That drive helps him dig into guidelines, investor overlays, and exceptions. But he pairs it with a habit: if he isn’t 100% sure, he backs off, regroups, and returns with cites. That combo builds credibility with underwriters and with partners.
Agent takeaway: Ask for cites, not opinions. A lender who can quote handbook sections, investor bulletins, or QC memos is a lender who can win a fight when it counts. A lender who knows when to pause is a lender who won’t burn a relationship to win an argument.
How to put this in play:
When a lender pushes back on a condition, ask, “Can you send the exact overlay or guideline section we’re leaning on?”
When you escalate, align first: “Our shared goal is clean salability. Here’s our path to get there.”
5) The biggest misconception: “It’s just paperwork”
Mortgage work is not data entry. It is controlled interpretation. On Monday morning you’re answering a closing-time email. By lunch you’re triaging an appraisal the second investor hates. By 2 p.m. you’re aligning AUS findings with a changing income picture. By 4 p.m. you’re saving a rate lock. The job shape-shifts all day.
Agent takeaway: Respect the chaos. Build communication rituals that keep everyone synced without adding noise.
Ritual toolkit you can borrow:
Two-touch Tuesdays: Every Tuesday, your lender sends you a human update on every shared file: what moved, what’s next, what’s at risk.
“Green-Yellow-Red” dashboard: Green = pacing on time. Yellow = watchlist item named. Red = action required. You and the TC see it. Borrowers get the distilled version.
“One doc, one ask” emails: Each request names only the next document and explains why it matters. That reduces borrower fatigue and speeds responses.
6) Systems built for agents win more offers
Zack’s team invested in a LOS and CRM that behave like an agent-first portal. Agents can:
See live file status without texting the LO.
Confirm appraisal ordered or file in underwriting.
Generate their own pre-approval letters within the guardrails of the issued amount and program.
One agent used it to write an offer at 10:30 p.m. without waking anyone. That is speed as a service.
Agent takeaway: If your lender makes you wait for a letter, you’re losing houses. Ask for a portal that lets you self-serve within bounds.
Guardrails to request:
Letter generator capped by approved loan amount and product.
Change log tracking who generated what, when.
Auto-alerts to the LO when a letter goes out, so the team is never surprised.
7) Automation plus a personal note beats either alone
The team “races the automation.” Their CRM triggers status updates and texts. Zack still tries to beat it with a quick human message. If he’s buried, the system covers him. If he’s free, the personal touch lands first. Either way the agent stays informed.
Agent takeaway: Demand both. Ask your lender, “What messages will the system send? What will you send?” Align on tone and timing. Your client shouldn’t receive three texts at once.
Practical fix: Stagger the automation. Let the CRM ping at set times. Have the LO’s personal notes fill the gaps.
8) Trust but verify
It’s the team mantra. Believe people, then check the math. Believe the guideline, then confirm the overlay. Believe the seller, then confirm the invoice. In Zack’s words, there are many ways to get to the same answer. Find the one that closes.
Agent takeaway: Build verification into your standard of care.
Re-calculate income on odd files even if DU says “Approve/Eligible.”
Verify large deposits before they become last-minute LOEs.
Confirm repair receipts match the work scope before re-inspection day.
9) Use tech, don’t let it use you
Zack is a techie. He plays with features, builds automations, and uses AI carefully. The goal isn’t to replace judgment. It’s to prevent repeat mistakes and keep service consistent when people are juggling multiple files.
Agent takeaway: Ask what automations protect you. Examples:
Missing-doc safeguards with due dates and owner.
Automated milestone emails to buyers and listing agents once appraisal is received or CTC hits.
Letter generator with limits.
Agent portal that removes “status check” texts.
10) Education is a retention strategy
The team is building short webinars for agents and buyers. Topics include AI for real estate workflows and practical buyer education that cuts friction. This is not spammy newsletter filler. It is targeted training tied to faster, cleaner deals.
Agent takeaway: Pick lenders who teach. If they make you smarter, they will make your business smoother.
Field guide: what to copy from Zack’s playbook this month
Adopt a “Do not feed the file” rule. Keep inspections with your team. Let the lender see appraisals and the documents they request.
Demand an agent portal. Live status. Guardrailed pre-approval letter generator. Change logs.
Install “Two-touch Tuesdays.” Ask your lender for a weekly human-written update on each file.
Map your “Green-Yellow-Red.” A simple color-coded status view everyone can understand.
Codify trust-but-verify. Add a pre-CTC verification checklist: income calc, assets, credit supplements, condition tie-outs.
Align on automation timing. Avoid update pile-ups that confuse clients.
Build borrower-facing one-pagers. What happens after conditional approval, why the next doc matters, how to avoid last-minute snags.
Schedule one co-branded buyer class. Pick a common friction point: assets, appraisals, or condo approvals. Track fallout reduction.
When you put these in place, you sell the invisible: confidence. Your buyers feel it. Your listings feel it. Your pipeline shows it in fewer rescinds, fewer rushes, and more offers you can submit at 10:30 p.m. without waking anyone.
That is how you go beyond the guidelines.
