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Kirt has guided Bell to become Minnesota’s largest privately owned residential-mortgage company with regional offices in St. Louis Park, Edina and Phoenix. Despite this being the worst mortgage market in decades, Bell closed an impressive $1.35 billion in loans in 2009, well above its typical $1 billion mark. Kirt expects 2010 will be a tougher year, and Bell’s loan volume will dip.
“We’ll work very, very hard to do $1 billion this year in this market,” he says.
Home sales have been dropping, underwriting standards are increasing, and there have been more government-sponsored mortgages. These struggles facing the housing market, however, have also meant opportunities for Bell, which has been expanding by acquiring smaller competitors. Bell has grown from 150 to 180 employees, although it closed some smaller offices to save operating costs during the economic downturn.
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