Jimmy Alexander, assistant branch manager and senior loan officer with the Killeen, Texas, branch of SWBC Mortgage Co., can’t think of anyone else. Alexander served in the U.S. Army as communication and networking-systems support from 1986 to 1993, including a stint overseas during Operation Desert Storm.
With Killeen’s community strongly intertwined with nearby Fort Hood — and its more than 45,400 soldiers and 8,900 civilian employees — Alexander said that his military service helps him connect well with prospective buyers in the area.
“Getting out of the military and staying in a military community, you find that your family and friends are still your military soldiers, your veterans,” he said. “Veterans like to do business with veterans. There’s a bond that you have when you’ve been in the military that you just don’t normally have if you’ve never served.”
Alexander’s military background also has instilled a passion for hard work and success that motivates him to new heights annually.
“I’m very driven,” he said. “I’m a numbers person. I always set a goal to try to be in the top 10 percent of [salespeople in] our company — not just our area. I like to watch our numbers grow.
“And you know, I feel I’m the type of person that I will help anyone. I will give you the shirt off my back as long as you are willing to help yourself.”
That passion shows when perusing Alexander’s business record: He has not only been a mainstay on Scotsman Guide’s Top Originators list since 2014, he has been featured on Scotsman Guide’s rankings for loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) six times since 2010. In the magazine’s Top Originators 2018 rankings, he was second in VA loan volume at $61.1 million. Alexander also credits much of his success to his efforts connecting to the local area.
“We have a good following, but it’s not just the military,” he said. “I’ve served on many, many committees at the Fort Hood Area Association of Realtors. I’m on the board of directors for the Home Builders Association. I’ve been their treasurer for the last three years. We give to the clean free clinic each year. We give to the United Way. We support our area. We feel like you have to support your community to get them to support you.”
A unique challenge in the Killeen community, Alexander said, is that much of SWBC’s local clientele is made up of first-time buyers, due to the large military presence. That’s why face-to-face customer service becomes crucial, to help these clients feel comfortable and guide them to the best home and financing available.
“I love it,” Alexander said. “Some of these [competing mortgage] offices around have 20, 25 loan officers and five local offices. There’s three loan officers in our office, and I feel good that we’re giving them a good run for their money, even though there’s five times as many of them as there are us.
“We’ve got, in this office, probably 65 or 70 years [of] experience in the mortgage business. We’ve seen the ups and downs. You’re only as good as your team and I think we have a great one.”
