We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Helfrich and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Matt, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
There were many, but taking control over my options and pricing was the biggest one. Working for a traditional bank or lender leaves those originators tied to potentially poor business decisions. Too big of a staff, CFO not on point, mismanagement of expenses, huge lease payments = all equal worse pricing and rates to the borrower. Now I am providing a significantly better lending experience, with better rates and lower overall approval times. We are not selling loans. We are advisors, which help to pick the best option.
One piece of conventional wisdom I disagree with is doing loans with a big box company is absolutely not a convenience to pay for. Just because you bank at one of the big banks and you can take a mortgage from them does not mean it’s worth the extra 0.25%+ to the rate. You can set up auto pay with any mortgage servicer. Paying thousands of dollars over the course of the loan is never worth any reason they are selling you.
What should our readers know about your business?
To me the most important part is us being a people first company. Interactions with people, learning what matters, what the life circumstances are, is crucial. You cannot learn how to take care of people solely through your laptop or phone. Having spent years out in the field helping people teaches you how to better help people. It teaches you to communicate with grace that all walks of life can appreciate. This has a profound effect on the business in general as we are predominantly referral based, where clients, partners, recommend us to each other, and come back for new deals.
I am inspired by helping people create wealth. One of my best friends had thanked me about a dozen times for how impactful and influential I have been in him getting his financials in order. He went from a 500’s credit score to 800. He went from living paycheck to paycheck to having amassed a sizeable nest egg. And the actions and patterns he does now have resulted in a lifestyle that is far better. In America the fastest path with the most consistency is real estate. The landscape of price points does not afford people to pay cash so they are forced to get a mortgage. Leveraging debt, specifically mortgage debt, is the path to growing your net worth. Once you have started to acquire net worth, you likely begin to shift gears on strategy. Many people start to buy investment properties as a path to recurring income that will last the rest of their life. So yeah, I am inspired by helping to create wealth and improve lives!
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are so many things to enjoy around here! I live in Colorado Springs, have a horse property in Black Forest and own a ski share in Breckenridge. So we would definitely need a week long trip to enjoy all of the things. I would start with a day in the Springs to do a hike at Garden of the Gods with lunch from Cheba Hut that we picked up on the way. We would need another day to go play with the horses out in Black Forest followed up with dinner in the city. There are so many new restaurants here now it’s really nice. I would probably choose something in North Gate as it has really recently exploded with things to do and places to eat. Would definitely need some time at Top Golf after dinner. The next day we would go for a ride in my 68 Mustang, Electra. She is a race built car that loves to go thru winding canyons.
The rest of the week we would spend in Breckenridge either skiing or enjoying summer activities as both are equally wonderful. Interestingly, it was here that I came up with the name for the business. At the time I had taken essentially a sabbatical from work and many personal relationships to focus on myself. The specific moment was sitting atop the Quandary ski run at Breckenridge. The view atop this run is beautiful with a direct view of Crystal Peak. I had been thinking about what I wanted to do with my life for a few months. That day I just wanted to sit and feel what would come to me by being present to myself. It seemed fitting that some of my favorite moments in life have come atop a black diamond ski run. It requires an expert level of experience to navigate such a steep slope, so I used it the naming of the company. Black Diamond Lending, experts in the mortgage space.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Definitely the work habits inspired by my family. My father opened his first company in 1964, basically a home remodel business. Over time due to the demographics and lack of competition it really ended up being a carpet store primarily. He switched gears to manufacturing draperies and bedspreads in 1977. He had to pivot numerous times and worked hard to succeed in any market situation. My brother took over the business in 1998 and had to do the same thing, and it was only last year that he shut down the company and liquidated the assets to move to Colorado Springs to be close to my sister, daughter and myself. The habits I took away from growing up in this environment are hard work and persistence, the never give up attitude. This really helps me every day, because I know that there always is solution and way to move forward.
This basically means repetitions, focus and persistence. Ben Hogan was quoted saying “If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.” I have funded in excess of a Billion dollars in mortgage loans in my career. This translates to doing upwards of a hundred loans a month. The average MLO may do two loans a month. So the vastness of the learning opportunity in doing the volume provides a foundation for knowledge that cannot be compared. We find solutions that others won’t. We take on their declined files and close loans in many cases. When we pick a borrower to work with, we know that there is a loan that works for their particular scenario, and we are always able to make it work.
Website: https://www.blackdiamondlending.us/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matt.helfrich/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helfrichmatt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mhelfrich94