Nick L'Ecuyer founded the Mortgage Wellness Group in 2010 and has been racking up awards and accolades ever since.
The 35-year-old Barrie entrepreneur was recently named on the Top 40 Hot List by Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine.
The Hot List identifies the "men and women who took the mortgage industry by storm in 2015" and put L'Ecuyer in some prominent company.
Nominees include Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
"I thought this was pretty cool," said L'Ecuyer at his Worsley Street headquarters. "The 40 most influential mortgage brokers in Canada and the biggest surprise was some of the names on the list - the Governor of the Bank of Canada, CEO's of major financial institutions, industry advocates - and me."
L'Ecuyer is a graduate of the Georgian College Business Administration Marketing program and says the secret to his success is simple.
Initially it all came down to working harder than anyone else but now he credits talented employees.
"We manage the business in different compartments, finance, marketing, sales , administration, and what that led to was a better client experience and it allowed us to attract better people. Now our culture is so rich, we have great people and attract more people every day. Happier employees make for happier clients and those people get better mortgage rates. So that is the secret now."
L'Ecuyer says his company has seen "sustainable but explosive growth" since he opened its doors and the booming Barrie market doesn't hurt either.
Higher homes prices from Toronto to Newmarket are starting to bleed into Barrie but our city still offers affordability for first time buyers in the $300,000 range.
But values are going up.
"Barrie is a crazy place to buy a home right now. The market is absolutely on fire," said L'Ecuyer. "We're seeing a very early spring market and nobody's surprised by home prices in Barrie."
A healthy market is always good for everybody's business he says and while there is always a concern over a possible rise in interest rates, L'Ecuyer warns his clients about that instant payment shock if rates go up.
The award-winning broker says seasonality dictates interest rates and homebuyers should know the best times for good rates.
"In a typical rule of supply and demand. The more somebody wants something, the more expensive it gets - but that doesn't happen with interest rates," explains L'Ecuyer. "Every year when the spring market lights on fire and everybody's buying homes, banks, lenders, mortgage corporations want a bigger piece of that pie so they lower their interest rates to get market share."
L'Ecuyer's company has grown to 50 employees with nine offices throughout Ontario.
He says Barrie is a community that likes to support its own.
"We often see competitors come in with a 416 number and they're simply not successful because they're not local."
