“The next three years were very different and that brings us to where we are today,” she continued. “We fought and fought, we’ve grown every year – we’ve grown over 100% every year for the past two and a half years. We’ve won national recognition, we’ve opened offices across the country, we’ve launched educational initiatives that allowed everybody from every background to have access to resources they didn’t have previously. We’ve launched a PAC [political action committee] that got picked up in national coverage and got picked up in local circles in DC because of how quickly we got people’s attention – over $350,000 in one week,” she said. “That’s impressive,” she said as the audience spontaneously applauded the milestone.
AIME is now covered by media outlets like never before, she noted, and other housing-related groups reach out for insight: “We sought for media attention and got it,” she said. “We’re now on the receiving end of questions about what’s going on in the industry. We’re getting phone calls from Fannie and Freddie. We’re getting conversations in place with the MBA [Mortgage Bankers Association], with the National Association of Realtors, with the homebuilders, with the people who have influence and have had influence for decades. They now want to talk to us.”
The upshot: “We’ve created real change for originators across the country, starting in Maryland, soon to be in Michigan, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, California, Virginia, Kentucky and most importantly, Florida, with our recent win with down payment assistance.”
She took stock of the difference one year had made: “I stood on a stage similar to this not that long ago,” she said. “My very first FUSE [another annual AIME event] on stage was 2021. And I said at the time it was time for us to be finished looking at ourselves as underdogs – we’re not. We’re powerhouses people need to be listening to.
“We’re maturing and growing every single day, but most importantly we’re now not just being heard but influencing decisions from people who have the ability to make a big difference. We’re making our own history.”
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