Entrepreneur Anthony Hsieh has decided to hang up his sails and go back to work full-time in the mortgage business.
Hsieh, who started Irvine’s HomeLoanCenter.com and sold it to LendingTree LLC in 2004, has started online mortgage lender LoanDepot.com LLC in Irvine.
The company marks Hsieh’s first full-time return to the mortgage business since leaving LendingTree in 2007.
“I’m seeing the best opportunities in the mortgage industry in the 25 years I’ve been in the business,” Hsieh said.
LoanDepot.com makes loans using lines of credit. Borrowers come to the company via its Web site, which allows them to enter information and get a list of possible loans from LoanDepot.com.
Borrowers go through most of the process of applying and closing a loan online. For the rest, LoanDepot.com sends out employees to get documents signed, signatures notarized and closings recorded with the county.
Hsieh said he’s looking to compete with the big banks that dominate the mortgage business with lower costs, better interest rates and shorter processing times.
LoanDepot.com opened its Irvine office with about 120 full-time employees. Within the next three years, Hsieh hopes to employ about 1,000 people full-time.
“Not all will be in Irvine, but the majority will be,” he said.
Hsieh’s last venture, HomeLoanCenter .com, expanded to 1,000 employees within two years during the mortgage boom.
“Our internal projection as part of our business plan is to reach that level at LoanDepot.com by the end of 2013,” said Hsieh (pronounced “shay”).
He said he’s also planning to hire part- and full-timers in other markets. LoanDepot.com is licensed to do business in 18 states along the West Coast and in the Midwest. By year’s end, Hsieh said he expects to be approved to do business in all 50 states.
Hsieh started LoanDepot.com with his own money and investments from private equity firm Parthenon Capital Partners of San Francisco and Boston and Washington, D.C.-based investment bank Milestone Merchant Partners LLC, which has a Newport Beach office.
He has a track record of building mortgage businesses.
Hsieh’s first was Huntington Beach-based LoansDirect.com, an early online lender bought in 2001 by E*Trade Group Inc. He went on to start HomeLoanCenter.com and stayed with the company for several years after its sale to online mortgage broker LendingTree, part of IAC/Interactive Corp.
Yachting
After leaving LendingTree, Hsieh indulged in a passion-turned-business by buying Crow’s Nest Yacht Sales, a Newport Beach yacht dealer. The company was a sponsor of Hsieh’s professional fishing team, Bad Company.
Two years ago, he formed a partnership with a unit of American International Group Inc. to form Grander Financial Inc. in Irvine. Grander sought to give homeowners cash in exchange for a stake of the equity in their homes.
Hsieh called Grander a part-time venture and said he’s no longer involved with the business. Grander was sold to a private company early last year, according to Hsieh.
“I got myself involved with a few dozen things in the past few years on a part-time basis,” he said.
The rebounding mortgage industry still isn’t out of the woods yet, Hsieh said.
“But the smoke is finally clearing and we’re able to see some real opportunities in a market that has dramatically changed,” he said.
Mortgage lending isn’t likely to return to the go-go days a few years ago, according to Hsieh. He points to numbers from the Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Association showing nearly $4 trillion worth of mortgages closed in 2003.
For 2009, about $2 trillion mortgages were made. This year, the association projects around $1.7 trillion.
“We’re at a low and we might be here for some time,” Hsieh said. “But on a longer-term basis, we see growth returning, although it will continue to be a highly cyclical marketplace.”
The downturn has cleared out a lot of competition among mortgage lenders, Hsieh said.
“Over time, it looks likely that the supply of lenders won’t increase as much as the demand for mortgages,” he said.
Hsieh said he plans to keep pursuing sailing.
“Balance is always the secret of life,” he said. “Too much play is never as challenging and stimulating as spending time at work. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find a better balance between work and play this time around.”
