“I’m not an expert, I just read a lot.”
Mark Madsen
Social Media / Communications
Raintree Mortgage Services
Las Vegas, NV
mark(at)myfhablog.com
702-496-5626
Twitter: @mark_madsen
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Professional Bio:
I’ve been an active mortgage originator since 2000 with experience as both a branch manager and wholesale rep.
After spending the past 4 years learning how to leverage social media for the purpose of communicating with clients and real estate partners online, my role as Communications Director for Raintree Mortgage in Las Vegas, NV allows me to pursue my passion for reading and writing about the financial industry.
I believe that education is the foundation for success and security, which is why I co-founded the Mortgage Revolution movement in 2009 for the purpose of networking with other lending professionals that are passionate about bringing some honor back to our industry by raising the bar for ethical business and marketing practices.
As a full-time mortgage blogger, my objective is to build perpetual equity in an online presence by producing targeted content, networking with social media innovators and staying ahead of the curve through daily research.
My mission in business and life is simple – …. Value – Find It, Share It
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Professional Affiliations / Highlights:
- Raintree Mortgage Services- Communications Director
Raintree Mortgage Services is an FHA approved Nevada Mortgage Company. My main role as the communications guy is to spread the good word about FHA mortgages online, network with our real estate referral partners, educate our clients and build relationships within the community we serve.
- Mortgage Success Source - Faculty
Mortgage Success Source is the parent company of Loan Tool Box and Mortgage Market Guide, which represent a private community of around 20,000 top loan originators. As a contributing faculty, I participate in content development and education pertaining to social media marketing, mortgage blogging basics, and online social networking strategies.
- Bankrate.com – Weekly Rate Index Contributor
I participate on the weekly Bankrate.com Mortgage Rate Index Trends Survey with a few other national lenders. Bankrate.com is the online authority “Bank Rate Monitor” with over 7 million unique visitors a month. “The Bankrate.com Personal Finance Minute” plays over 200 times per day on XM Satellite Radio and their data frequently referenced on “CNN Headline News,” “ABC News” and many other major broadcast news outlets.
My affiliation with Bankrate.com has created several interview opportunities with national media organizations for myself, as well as my real estate partners.
- National Association of Mortgage Brokers – Communications
Besides helping NAMB with its evolution into social media, I volunteer my time developing educational webinars that will allow the organization to provide mortgage industry professionals with valuable information about regulatory updates, Web2.0 communication strategies and networking opportunities.
- Mortgage Revolution – Co-founder
The Mortgage Revolution is a grass-roots movement of street level loan originators who are standing together for the benefit of our industry’s future.
We believe that mortgage reform needs to come from within and it is our responsibility to protect the profession that we love.
Through transparency, group accountability, and a code of conduct, mortgage originators can change the public’s perception of true lending professionals.
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Mortgage / RE Blog Projects:
As a full-time blogger, I spend most of my time researching, participating in niche social networks, and talking with industry experts so that I can keep our clients and referral partners in the loop with trends that may have a direct impact on their real estate decisions.
I probably own or participate on around 13 different blogging projects, but the following list are a few of the public ones that I feel represent the different shades of Mark the best:
- MyFHAblog.com – Owner
Myfhablog.com was designed as a mortgage blog for the busy loan officer. By centralizing our online content on one high traffic FHA Mortgage focused platform, we can be more effective at dominating our local search markets.
Since FHA mortgage guidelines are continuously changing with this turbulent market, I wanted to create a national network of a few hundred non-competing loan officers who can help each other stay ahead of the competition.
- WannaNetwork.com – Partner
Originally launched as a social network that attracted over 19,000 members, WannaNetwork.com has evolved over the past three years into a national group real estate networking blog designed to give industry professionals a powerful voice online.
With so many exciting (and well funded) online social networks to spend our time on, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, we decided to simplify the WN platform and focus on providing great content written for our clients and referral partners.
- Mortgage Revolution – Co-founder
I actually learned how to develop WordPress blogs by building this project. MRev is a non-profit company, so we obviously didn’t have the budget for development. Either way, it was time that I figured out how to stand on my own feet and handle some of the basic functions of launching a new blog from scratch.
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Guest Blogging:
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Personal Bio:
Originally from Lake Tahoe (Minden, NV), my family moved to Las Vegas when I was in Jr. High due to a job transfer my father had in the casino business.
After graduating from Green Valley High School in 1995, I returned to northern Nevada to attend college at the University of Nevada Reno. While fraternity life (EN) and skiing were fun for a few years, I eventually graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas with a concentration in Marketing and Finance.
With family ties to the real estate industry, I have always loved the business of buying and selling properties. There is something about that excitement and pride a new homeowner feels when they close on their first deal. I was fortunate to gain some valuable experience building and selling a real estate company with a few friends between 2004-2006.
However, as a numbers and finance fan with a preference to having the perception of control, the mortgage business has always been better suited for my personality type.
I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, especially after meeting my beautiful and patient wife during my senior year at UNLV. We have a 3-year-old daughter who is already practicing to be the next Hanna Montana, and we love spending the weekends with both sets of grandparents who live nearby.
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Social Stream
