“Then you start seeing more youth infuse into the marketplace. And I think that definitely helps the broker population. You want to improve. You want to do better. You want to grow. And that’s a work ethic thing. You have to want that environment, and this industry will reward you, hand over fist.”
Veteran advice
Eldridge also shared advice with experienced mortgage brokers. He said that while they may not share the same knowledge gaps as their younger counterparts, they may be more resistant to new ways of thinking.
“I think with the veteran loan officers, sometimes, it’s old habits,” he said. “They say, ‘This is how I’ve always done things. I don’t need you to tell me how to do this.’ I think if they’re willing to listen and understand that I’ve been here for a long time, and I still learn things every day. But you’ve got to be willing to grasp those concepts. You may miss the opportunities that you have, because you’re not willing to change.”
It’s not just young loan officers who were impacted by the pandemic. Eldridge has seen veteran mortgage brokers also forgetting what times were like before the wave of loans in the low-rate environment.
CFPB’s 3% broker compensation cap is squeezing both brokers and homebuyers—Brendan McKay, Chief Advocacy Officer & Co-founder of the Broker Action Coalition, explains why reform is critical, not outright rescission.https://t.co/HNODXJMT9c
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) August 27, 2025
“I think the pandemic unfortunately caused a lot of, even veteran people, to forget what it was like to go capture business,” Eldridge said. “When you didn’t have to sell for three years, you forget about, ‘What did I do before that made me successful? How do I go back and do it?’”
