Craig Montgomery on Lower’s journey to becoming a top-five lender

On today’s episode of Power House, we had the pleasure of speaking with Craig Montgomery, the Chief Strategy Officer at Lower. Craig joined Lower this past June with plans to drive the company towards the goal of becoming a top five national mortgage lender. Today’s conversation is all about Craig’s vision for building Lower’s ambitious plans for growth, including a focus on an originator-first mindset and platform, as well as finding real value in strategic partnerships. Lower is also ramping up mergers and acquisitions to help achieve this goal with two different acquisitions within the past year. He shares their unique growth plan for today’s higher-rate, low volume environment.  Enjoy this episode with Craig Montgomery, Chief Strategy Officer at Lower! Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: Providing originators with the tools, resources, and support they need is crucial for their success. Listen to originators to truly understand their needs and shortcomings. Transparency and communication are key in successful M&A integrations. A coaching program can be a game changer in elevating originator performance. Becoming a top-five lender requires aggressive recruiting and a focus on providing a platform for originator success. Related to this episode: Lower hires Craig Montgomery as chief strategy officer | HousingWire  Craig Montgomery | Linkedin Lower | Linkedin HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode! The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024.