How to Capture Your Share of Non-QM Loans

Geoff and John Dustman break down non-QM lending as a differentiation tool for loan officers in a purchase-heavy, competitive market. The episode covers who non-QM serves (self-employed, investors, high-net-worth), key loan types (DSCR, bank statement, asset depletion, bridge, pledged securities), and real loan scenarios with actual numbers. Best for LOs who feel commoditized and want a product-based niche to escape the rate conversation.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Audit your last 10 turn-downs and run each scenario past an Axos Bank AE (jdustman@axosbank.com) to see if a non-QM solution existed — then use those recovered deals as social media case studies.
• Create 3 short-form social posts or Reels framed as 'Story Time' — describe a real non-QM scenario (self-employed buyer, DSCR investor, bridge loan) in plain language without jargon, ending with the outcome. Borrow Axos's own scenarios if you don't have your own yet.
• Identify the top 5 luxury or investment-property agents in your market and open the conversation with: 'Tell me about the last deal that fell through or the last buyer who got turned down' — then pitch your non-QM access as the solution.
• Add financial advisors to your referral partner target list: non-QM allows pledged equities so advisors can preserve client portfolios while you close the loan — contact 3 local advisors this week with that specific pitch.
• If your company doesn't have non-QM in-house, apply for broker approval or correspondent approval at axosbank.com this week — minimum loan amount is $510K, max $30M, minimum 680 FICO on 1-4 unit programs.
• Position yourself as the 'self-employed and investor specialist' in your market by leading every agent and advisor conversation with: 'I have access to bank statement qualifying, DSCR, asset depletion, bridge loans, and pledged-securities programs — let's talk about your clients who didn't fit the box.'

The playbook

1. 1. Identify your target non-QM borrower type: self-employed (bank statement), real estate investor (DSCR), high-net-worth with complex assets (asset depletion or pledged securities), or existing homeowner needing liquidity (bridge loan).
2. 2. Get approved with a non-QM lender (broker: wholesale app at axosbank.com; retail company: correspondent app at axosbank.com).
3. 3. Work through scenario desks with the lender's AE — submit hypothetical or real loans to learn qualifying criteria before pitching clients.
4. 4. Build a library of 3-5 anonymized deal stories (loan amount, structure used, problem solved, outcome) to use in social content and agent/advisor conversations.
5. 5. Lead referral partner conversations with: 'What's your last turn-down?' — then reverse-engineer whether a non-QM product resolves it.
6. 6. Once you close your first non-QM deal, let word-of-mouth inside that high-net-worth network do the marketing — follow up with a case study post.

Worth quoting

“This is what makes you different from more of the commoditized market — 90% of the competition doesn't have the product that you have with this.”

“If you need heart surgery, you're not going to say 'I'm going to shop this' — there aren't three different people showing up who can do this.”

Best for

LOs who feel stuck competing on rate and want a product-based specialty — particularly those in high-cost markets with self-employed clients or investor borrowers they've been unable to close.