When Mark Hanna informed his banker mates that the Maryland-based group financial institution he leads was planning to purchase a mortgage lender, they “checked out me as if I had 5 eyes,” he recalled this week.
The underwhelming response got here as little shock, stated Hanna, who’s the president and CEO of Glen Burnie Bancorp. In spite of everything, with rates of interest nonetheless stubbornly excessive, mortgage origination exercise is at lower than half of its 2021 peak, based on information from the Mortgage Bankers Affiliation.
And different banks proceed to exit the mortgage market. Ally Monetary in Detroit, Seattle-based WaFd and Blue Ridge Bankshares in Richmond, Virginia, all introduced plans to give up residential lending this 12 months.
Bucking that pattern, the $351 million-asset holding firm for the Financial institution of Glen Burnie introduced Monday that it had closed its deliberate acquisition of VA Wholesale Mortgage. Underneath the deal’s phrases, the financial institution agreed to pay $750,000, plus a share of earnings over the subsequent three years, Hanna stated.
For Financial institution of Glen Burnie, which has struggled to ebook loans lately, the acquisition “makes a variety of sense,” Hanna stated in an interview.
Financial institution of Glen Burnie is “very a lot in a progress mode,” and mortgage lending stays “an amazing technique to develop and retain relationships,” Hanna informed American Banker. “We’re attempting to deliver as many new relationships to the financial institution as we are able to. We’re additionally attempting to retain all our current shoppers.”
VA Wholesale, primarily based in Virginia Seaside, Virginia, closed about $125 million of residence loans in 2024. It is well-versed in making loans to veterans, in addition to Federal Housing Administration and first-time homebuyer transactions.
Financial institution of Glen Burnie has traditionally supplied mortgages, however its lending was beforehand confined largely to 30-year fixed-rate offers with comparatively giant down funds. Its loan-to-value ratios usually went no increased than 80%.
“There have been individuals in our communities that wanted mortgages, however we did not have the merchandise to serve them,” Hanna stated. “Now, we’ll be capable of assist nearly anyone who’s concerned with shopping for a house.”
For his half, VA Wholesale Mortgage CEO Eric Tan stated his firm, which can function as a division inside Financial institution of Glen Burnie, ought to be capable of do extra enterprise as a financial institution subsidiary.
“Having a dedicated funding supply will broaden our attain, permitting us to develop and meet the wants of our clients extra readily, whereas additionally rising lending quantity,” Tan stated Monday in a press launch.
Whereas VA Wholesale serves all homebuyers, it makes a speciality of providing loans to active-duty army personnel and veterans. That focus ought to work nicely in Financial institution of Glen Burnie’s footprint, which incorporates Fort Meade, one of many Military’s largest bases, the Nationwide Safety Company’s headquarters and the U.S. Naval Academy, based on Hanna.
“We predict their enterprise mannequin interprets properly into the communities we serve,” Hanna stated.
Hanna began as CEO of Financial institution of Glen Burnie in October 2023. The 76-year-old firm excelled at service, however its cabinet was naked by way of merchandise, based on Hanna. “We wanted to get again to rising shopper relationships, and embedded in that’s having the merchandise to compete,” he stated.
Over the previous 12 months, Financial institution of Glen Burnie has rolled out a collection of treasury administration instruments, in addition to a high-yield cash market account. The financial institution’s mortgage and deposit portfolios, which had been trending down for a number of years, expanded within the second quarter. Hanna stated he is hopeful the acquisition of VA Wholesale, in addition to plans to launch a bank card product, will spur much more progress.
“That is actually the trail ahead,” Hanna stated. “There is not any secret sauce. We have to develop.”
