Dream maker - Michael Rankins, broker, interview - Interview

Rankins Mortgage Co. helps African Americans achieve the American Dream

An eighteenth century novelist once wrote "The desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ver with the acquisition of it." With Michael Rankins, president and CEO of Rankins Mortgage Co. based in Oklahoma City, "desire of knowledge" led him to become the largest African American mortgage broker in the state of Oklahoma with sales of $375,000 in 1999 and projected sales of $600,000 for 2000.

"I started researching the mortgage business because it was something I didn't know anything about," admits Rankin, 42, who, at the time, was a supervisory contract specialist for the U.S. Air Force. "I requested data from every library in South Carolina and must have read 200 books and periodicals."

With only $1,500 and a handful of investors who were willing to take a chance, Rankins set out to capture clients. "I put 80 or 90 percent of those dollars into marketing [specifically] radio ads and TV, then sponsoring block parties, contributing to golf outings, softball teams, and banquets. Anything African Americans were doing, I was there."

The gamble paid off in his first year of business. Revenue for his fiedgling company was $167,000 in 1996. Five years later, Rankins projects an income of seven figures for the year 2001, through mortgage brokering, lending, and refinancing.

As a sub-prime lender, Rankins Mortgage serves customers with "derogatory credit" yet has a default rate of only one percent because of the firm's customer counseling approach: "If the client can't afford it, we don't sell it." "Our strategy is not to push asset-based lending," [approval based on what you own].

"We take all outstanding debts into consideration and lend based on what the client can afford to pay," says Rankins.

"Michael takes good care of his customers," says Jimmie Ray, assistant vice president of Equicredit Corp., one of Rankins' first bank partners.

"He serves a segment of the community that a lot of brokers won't. Over the years, we've had to adjust our business to accommodate his volume."

In four years, Rankins has expanded to three Oklahoma cities and served more than 1,000 customers. Rankins, father of two, is a native of Greenville, Mississippi. His wife, Mardece, is vice president of the firm. Future plans include a national expansion and buying one or two urban, commercial banks.

Rankins Mortgage Co., 4010 N. Lincoln, Ste. #110, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, 405-427-0299

COPYRIGHT 2001 Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group