Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins

Turning Confusion Into Confidence In Home Financing

• Nick George • Season 1 • Episode 132

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Buying a home shouldn’t require a translator. We sat down with mortgage pro Conor Bodaken to turn industry jargon into plain English and give you a practical roadmap for buying, refinancing, or scaling an investment portfolio. Conor came up through private banking, entered lending during the rate boom, and learned the deeper lesson fast: long-term success comes from relationships, not headlines. He shares how a discovery-first approach, clear expectations, and honest trade-offs help clients move from uncertainty to confident action.

We dig into the myth that every loan is complicated and show how smart planning makes most files straightforward. Conor walks through the steps that matter—credit readiness, document prep, timeline alignment, and when a rate buydown or refinance actually makes sense. For investors and self-employed borrowers, he outlines flexible product strategies that respect real income patterns and cash flow goals. For first-time buyers, he maps out attainable paths to ownership, from down payment tactics to credit habits that improve pricing. The goal is consistent: educate, guide, and advise so decisions feel doable.

Technology shows up as a force multiplier, not a replacement for human judgment. Conor explains how an AI-powered CRM re-engages past clients and warm leads with timely, respectful outreach, freeing him to focus on strategy conversations when they matter most. He also makes a case for early financial education, arguing that the basics of credit, saving, and interest should be taught long before someone applies for a mortgage. The message that frames everything: you are worth it, and with the right plan and team, real estate can be a powerful engine for building wealth.

If this conversation helps clarify your next step, share it with someone who needs a boost. Subscribe for more grounded, local business stories, and leave a quick review to help neighbors find us.

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Nick George.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today I have the great pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Connor Bodakin, of Connor Bodoken Mortgage Broking, or brokering, excuse me. I've never made that mistake before. How's your day going, Connor? I'm doing great.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm doing great. Thanks for asking, Nick.

SPEAKER_02:

How about yourself? Doing wonderful. Uh tell us all about mortgage brokering.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, let me tell you, it's uh there's never two days that are the same. I mean, we're we're doing all sorts of things, whether it's you know, purchasing, uh, refinancing, uh reverse mortgages. But I think really what it's more about, Nick, is it's it's helping people. It's genuinely helping people with one of the biggest, if not the biggest, decision of their lives buying a home, uh refinancing it. And of course, that represents not only one of the biggest assets they'll ever buy, but also one of the biggest loans they'll ever take out in their lives. So a lot of moving parts, definitely all sorts of different options, layers to the story, uh, strategy, that sort of thing. So that's that's really where I get to uh get to get my hands on it. And I enjoy it genuinely, genuinely helping people through again, one of the biggest things in their lives.

SPEAKER_02:

Awesome. How did you get into um becoming a mortgage lender?

SPEAKER_01:

So it all started just about five years ago, a little less. Um, I I've been in financial services uh for probably about 12, 13 years now in total. You know, I used to be in private banking and now uh being in the mortgage broker world, uh I'll be honest, this is definitely not a a uh a route that I thought I was gonna go. Uh it really, it all I was kind of doing some, I had left my previous job, I was doing some networking, and I had the blessing of meeting uh a gentleman who already worked for the company I work for, uh Aslan Home Lending is the name of it. And and uh luckily he was he, you know, when I kind of told him a little bit about my story and and what I was really looking to do, and and really we connected on my why, you know, what the why was behind it, because not so much what I do for a living, but why I do it. And and I also write about the same time as I read the book Find Your Why by Simon Sinek. And that was a great guide for me to really look more at, again, not what the job title is or you know, whether it's mortgages or finance or whatever the thing is, but what is it that drives me and what is that why? And that why for me was, you know, finding something where I was genuinely having a win on both sides of the table. So both, you know, helping a client go through something and achieve a great goal, and at the same time having benefit for both of us uh when it comes to the finish line. But then having it to also something tied to the financial side. I've always been more financially minded. Uh, I've always been really interested in those different types of topics in the financial world. And so taking that mindset, I was uh found myself in a blessed position where I was connected with our CEO and co-founder, Carrie Gusmus. We were supposed to jump on for maybe like a 15, 20 minute kind of meet and greet, kind of see, you know, what is this like? What's going on? Uh 45 minutes later, it was it was a done deal, pretty much. I I said, we have to make this happen, let's figure it out. And and uh I've been off and running ever since. And that was that was about the end of 2020, beginning of 2021, and uh been up and running ever since.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh, would you say that was still the good times?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah. That was, you know, admittedly, I I will always be the first to admit uh when I first got into the industry, and of course, rates were what they were. You know, I didn't need to sell the interest rate or or sell this or sell that. It was just as easy as calling folks and saying, hey, this is what I do now. Um, you know, is there have you refinanced already or do you need to refinance again? And and I'll I'll be the first to admit, Nick, that was not there was no big skill in that. But again, I was blessed to be in a company that emphasized this is not going to be sustainable. We we already know that this is not something that is gonna last forever. And to really develop a true presence and impact in this industry, you need to develop a purchase business. You need to develop relationships with people who can not only send business, but some also ways that you can give back to them and making it more of a reciprocal relationship. Where and that's that's luckily that focus was put into me early on, uh, even though I could have easily not focused on that and still would have been uh successful from a financial standpoint, but of course, it would have just led to uh would I should say would have led to burnout and probably not even it lasting in the industry.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow. Yeah. So what are some myths or misconceptions in uh lending people money for homes?

SPEAKER_01:

Boy, um, such a great question, but definitely a loaded question. I mean, there's I I think really the thing that we struggle with the most, and and you know, myself included sometimes, but really taking a what appears to be a complex situation and making it simple. I think that's really, you know, there there are definitely, don't get me wrong, there's absolutely certain complexities to a mortgage loan. Uh, every, you know, one of our chief credit officer and chief compliance officer her her, uh, one of my favorite quotes from her is in every loan, there is an education. Sometimes it's just a quick little, you know, two-year junior college, uh, easy prerequisite education. Sometimes it's a Harvard law degree. So there is absolutely, don't get me wrong, this can get complex. But I think if, you know, one of the misconceptions is that every one of them, every single opportunity or every single loan is complex. And that's not the case, you know, and and that's on uh myself, uh as well as just the loan officer to community, to really deliver a clear and simple plan to a client that makes them feel confident, makes them feel assured that they're moving forward and they're doing the right thing, and and frankly, just making it just a little less scary, uh, hopefully, throughout the process.

SPEAKER_02:

So how are you reaching people in the digital world today, other than word of mouth? Um, what's your strategy for for getting yourself out there? Um, not just social media, but maybe what other outside the box things, if any, have you have you come up with? You know, right now it and who is your target client? That's a great question.

SPEAKER_01:

Sorry. Okay, good. No, good question. Good question. And and um, you know, we're kind of in this intersection where obviously AI is coming into, well, not coming into, it's here, you know, it's in the marketplace. It is 100% something that we as a company are diving head into, uh full on into. So there's actually literally uh one of the things we're working on right now, or I'm personally working on with our director of strategy, is uh we're developing a uh basically an AI kind of CRM engine that is uh interacting with whether it's past clients or clients that we've talked to in the past, but it didn't result in any sort of a loan, actively reaching out to them and connecting with them, but it's all being done digitally, it's all being done electronically. And the only time I get uh basically pinged to come back into it is if they want to book an appointment. I mean, that's the goal, is of course we want to reconnect with them, get back in front of them. And same thing, we can do this with you know other partners in our industry that do offer introductions to us, you know, like financial planners, realtors, uh CPAs, tax advisors, certain types of attorneys. So anyone that can influence that mortgage decision or that mortgage transaction, we can use that same technology to try to connect with them again via whether it's email, text, phone. And you know, here's the thing is as as old school as as a as a phone call is, that's something that I still very much enjoy doing. I will call people. And I, you know, almost at this point in my career, I don't make any cold calls. They're all some you know warm connections from whether it's I I received your information from so and so, and they suggested I give you a call, or again, we're meeting you know face to face at some sort of networking event.

SPEAKER_02:

So Connor, Connor. Um, one thing, sorry. Yeah, I just noticed, and I don't know how this happened, but it our live stream was disconnected. Oh no. And um the good news is is most people don't get to do a do-over. Okay, but uh we've got 15 more minutes at least. So unless you've got something pressing, if if you don't mind, I'd like to start recording again and do this over. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So sorry. I mean, do we want to do like the whole thing over or just do some different questions, or what are you what are you thinking?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I can ask you I can ask you the same questions and you can answer them differently or more concisely if you like. Um now that you're you're maybe not be not as nervous as people are on their first one. Sure. But what I don't want is to not do an interview, which looks like was about to happen. And I'm sorry, I've never seen that happen before. I don't know if that's because of this new Mars format that StreamYard's using, but I've done 130 of these and I've never had that happen before. So I just was noticing that it's still I'm still looking at a go live button when I already went live. Yeah. And there was a glitch where your voice went out for a second and you came back. And I think that's where we lost the feed. Not sure why.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I was gonna say it says we're live, at least on my Facebook, but I don't know if that's on the same thing.

SPEAKER_02:

But let's just for for just in case, and and if you want to abbreviate this, you can. Uh yeah, but I'm gonna go back through it again.

SPEAKER_01:

Go for it. Use sorry, throw it in and we'll we'll figure it out.

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Nick George.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today I have the great pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Connor Bodakin, with Connor Bodakin mortgage, brokering or lending. Gosh, I still can't say that right. We just did a recording, but for some reason it got lost. So if there's a piece of it out there, sorry, guys. I just want to make sure that this takes. Um, Connor, tell us all about mortgage lending. And I know you just did this, so uh sorry that we're fighting through it again.

SPEAKER_01:

That's that's all right. Well, we got to get it right, whether it's the first time, the second time, the third time. I mean, of course, get it right at some point in time. But um, no, we it's uh so again, I'm my name's Connor Bodoc and I'm with Aslan Home Lending, is the name of our company. Uh, but yes, I am a mortgage broker, mortgage lender, uh, doing everything from purchases, refinances, reverse mortgages, you know, really anything in the real estate financing space. And that's something that uh I've had the blessing to be able to do for almost five years now, coming up on five years in January, uh, was the official start day, was January of 21. Um, and I'll tell you what, uh Nick, there's there's no two days that are the same. Um, it's it's been a blast. And really, I think the biggest thing is being in a position to genuinely help people. Um, you know, regardless of products and pricing and interest rates and all this, or or you know, whatever. I I think my favorite part of it is I get to sit down and have those initial what I call discovery conversations where I'm getting to know someone, but also learning about their overall financial picture. And really, you know, I've been in the financial uh industry now for almost 13 years. So I've served in some different roles. You know, I used to be in private banking prior to being in the mortgage lending space. And a lot of it is, you know, there's a lot of translatable skills there that really it just comes down to having a genuine care for someone and learning about them and their story and their history, but then also setting up a great strategy that's going to make sense for them. And that's something that, you know, uh on the mortgage side, I really enjoy doing. I've had the, like I said, the pleasure of doing it for almost five years now and just been off and running ever since.

SPEAKER_02:

In this particular market, um, is there a is there a is there a transaction that you're targeting that that you maybe you weren't targeting five years ago when you got into the market? Um, and as sometimes people are you're mainly going for refines, right? Because interest rates just lowered. Sure. Um, or but when interest rates are higher, uh, you're doing something different. And in interim times, when they're starting to lower again, maybe their strategy is different again. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01:

So, you know, here's the thing. When I when it comes to the market, Nick, I I really try to rely less on what's going on in the market. And of course, you know, I will always adapt and find ways to uh, and I would say our company does an amazing job of this of, you know, adapting and overcoming whatever obstacles are there. Good market, bad market, medium market, it really is as long as I'm doing the the next right thing and I have the correct activity in place, there is no doubt in my mind I can still remain successful, I can still do great work for my clients, and we can put them in a situation that is going to be financially beneficial to them. So, in terms of strategy, absolutely, there's always going to be different strategies depending on the specifics of the market. But I I was very I was coached early on, and thank God I was, uh, that you know, when I came in and I got my license officially in January of 21, obviously it, you know, I'll be the first to admit it didn't take a whole ton of skill to simply just pick up the phone, tell you know, my friends and family and you know, anyone in my sphere, I would tell them what I did for a living, and that and I would just simply say, if you own a home, have you already refinanced? And if not, are you are you looking to purchase one? I'll be the first to admit there's not a ton of skill in that. Um, it's work, but it's not necessarily skill. Now, what I again, I was I was very, very blessed to be coached to really build a relationship business. And that a relationship business is based on not only people who can uh influence that mortgage decision, you know, such people such as financial planners, advisors, uh realtors, CPAs, tax advisors, certain types of attorneys, you know, develop those relationships, deepen those relationships, and and and hopefully we create a what I like to call a client ecosystem together, where if I have a client that's presenting a need for them, I can easily pass that off and introduce them just as much as if they present a need for me, you know, everything works vice versa. So that's really where that can happen in any market. Great, again, great interest rates, bad interest rates, uh, high prices, low prices, you know. So that to me is is I would say the sustainable uh way of going about it. But then there's of course also little uh nuances and little things like utilizing AI and all the technology that we have at our fingertips now today to uh stay connected and stay in front of clients. So, of course, I would say those are the things that we definitely uh will adapt and again tweak depending upon what we're looking at. But I would say the ideal client experience that I'm looking to create is again working with clients who have a genuine desire to purchase a home, whether it's for the first time, or you know, we also have a uh a great suite of products for folks like investors, uh self-employed clients that typically have had uh struggles in the past getting loans from elsewhere. So working with some of those niche clients as well. But uh yeah, that's that's kind of the long and short of it.

SPEAKER_02:

Speaking of uh struggles in the past, is there a hardship or something that happened in your life that made you the financial um the focus that you are today that that you'd like to share with us?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, it's one of those where I grew up in a very financially blessed situation, but I think the biggest thing that I realized and I was taught early on by uh by my parents in particular was the you know financial education, which that's one of my big passions, Nick, is the the financial education in our country is really um I'll I'll just come out and say it, it's very poor. Uh, we really don't emphasize early enough in life the you know how to do certain things like how just operating a bank account. What is credit? What's a responsible way to use credit? We really don't have these lessons early on in life. I thought, you know, when I was going into college, I thought everybody kind of just knew these things. And when I, you know, as I made my way and grew up, I realized, wow, these are the, you know, I was in a blessed position where my parents taught me these things. And I I and don't get me wrong, I learned lessons the hard way. There was that, I wasn't, I was, I was no saint. Uh, I had to, you know, bump up against some guardrails. And again, thank God I was in a blessed situation where I didn't go too far off the rails. I I get, you know, hit some bumper lanes. Um, but again, these are the lessons that I learned that I would like to now pass on to folks. Um, frankly, as early on as you know, ages 12 to 14 is really where I feel like we should be emphasizing these financial principles. So that's you know, really, I think where I where I got that passion and that drive from, and uh what kind of led me to to my why today.

SPEAKER_02:

Connor, what is the big takeaway that you would like for people that find find you um in a Google search or just listening to our show? What do you want them to take away from this? And and con Connor Bodakin home lending.

SPEAKER_01:

So, my my big thing is, you know, number one, you are worth it. Whether you are scared to buy a home for the first time and then have never done it, or maybe you're getting into the investment space for the first time and have never done it. Um, one of the things that I really like to emphasize is I come at it from the angle of I want to educate, I want to guide, and I want to advise. And I and I do that from the heart. Uh, we really do this in a way that not only will I ask some deeper questions and probably some bigger questions than you're used to hearing from a mortgage broker or a mortgage lender, but again, it comes from I want to help with the overall just holistic financial picture, but also really show uh clients that this is possible. You can do this. And that's I think the biggest thing, one of the things that I preach uh on frankly, any stage is you can build substantial wealth through the use of real estate. And that's really where, again, just even buying, like I said, buying a home for the first time or buying your 20th home, there are all sorts of ways to do this. And that's really where I'd say the biggest takeaway is I would love an opportunity to help, or even if you just had a conversation with me but ended up doing a loan elsewhere. My hope is that you gained something and I was able to give you some value along those lines.

SPEAKER_02:

Connor, what is the best way for people to find you in social media and on your website and by phone?

SPEAKER_01:

So my uh so my information is uh again, Aslan Home Lending is the name of our company. You can look us up. It's aslanhlc.com uh backslash cbodoken. Um, or you could just go to our website, you'll find me right on there. Um, I also, you know, you can follow me on Instagram at ConnorThemortgeguy, or again, my Facebook is just Connor.bodoken. So first name dot last name. Uh, but usually the easiest way to get a hold of me is, you know, I I get calls and texts. That's really the biggest way to get a hold of me. My number, area code 415-250-8753. Please don't hesitate to reach out anytime.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, Connor, we really appreciate you being on the show, and we wish you and your brokerage the very best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01:

Sincerely, thank you so much for just the invite and thank you so much for connecting with me. I really appreciate you reaching out, Nick. Um, and again, it's all the best to you and yours as well. Sincerely appreciate it. Thank you so much for the opportunity, and again, thank you very much for uh inviting me on today.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gmpfortcollins.com. That's gmpfortcollins.com or call nine seven zero four three eight zero eight two five.