I have been a stay-at-home mom since my youngest was born, now 9 years. Now that the boys are more independent, my husband and I decided it might be a good time to go back to work. I could go back to what I know, being an Air Traffic Controller, but that would require shift work and overnights away from the kids. I’m just not ready, after always being available to them, to not be around.
So after some research and talking with friends who know people in the career field, I decided to give it a go as a Mortgage Loan Originator. I signed up for a very thorough 2 week with full-days webinar course that required much of my time during the day but also studying each night as well. I can’t say enough about On Course Learning Financial Services LLC. What a great class and instructor. I took the class titled “20 Hour SAFE Comprehensive: Applying Mortgage Knowledge to Exam Preparation” (course number 1053). I ordered the accompanying text book to be printed by Office Max as well as the Mometrix Test Prep book. Both were excellent purchases that really helped prepare me. The class cost a bit more than the basic version of the course but I was attracted by the fact that the passing rate for the national MLO test was 95% with this course alone plus if you failed on your first attempt, they would allow you to take the course over for free. Without this course with the extra prep included, the pass rate for the MLO test drops to only 55% and at $110 each time you take the test, I was only interested in taking it once. I studied for a solid two weeks after course completion and took my test and scored an 86% (requirement is just a 75%). Woohoo! It felt amazing to have proof that my brain hasn’t totally turned to mush by not “working” all these years.
After my test, I then took the next step in the process to get licensed and took another required course from On Course Learning called “4 Hour AZ SAFE: Review of Arizona Mortgage Law” (course number 11168) as Arizona requires 4 extra hours of just AZ laws and mortgage product information. Again, I ordered the accompanying textbook to be printed by Office Max. This course was self directed and consisted of reading for many hours and was extremely dry. After numerous movement breaks to keep from falling asleep, I completed it and passed that test with another 86%!
Now I am in the process of getting interviews with lenders lined up. I know I will initially be going into an office to get on-the-job-training while I await my license. Hopefully after licensure and required training, I will be able to ultimately work from home. I’m very excited about this new chapter in life! I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!!