Triton Funding Group’s Thomas Murray, Director of Condo Development talks to LuxeSF about the company’s aggressive growth plans, what’s happening in San Francisco real estate and his predictions for the city’s super-hot condo market.

LUXESF: Triton Funding Group? Who are they? What do they do?

THOMAS: Triton Funding Group has been existence for 10 years and is THE premier mortgage brokerage that handles mortgage and commercial loan financing throughout the Bay Area.

LUXESF: The size of the organization? How many employees?

THOMAS: Triton employs 42 loan officers, and has an amazing support staff which totals 18 additional employees. There are three locations ... the headquarter office is based in San Francisco and the satellite offices are in Sonoma and Novato . Triton has also joined forces with WJ Bradley which now makes us a banking entity, with access to over $5 billion in mortgage financing capital.

LUXESF: How big is your loan portfolio?

THOMAS: With all three branches reporting, Triton Funding Group closed on approximately $1.3 billion in new mortgages last year alone.

LUXESF: You’re not the largest company in the Bay Area. Therefore, what separates you from the herd?

THOMAS: Triton is not the largest mortgage company in the Bay Area -- yet. Having the support of a bank behind us is big. This alone separates Triton as it gives Triton a big advantage over brokerages that have a smaller, more limited loan portfolio. In addition, in a market where you see mom and pop shops closing their doors, along with the downfall of several major players in the sub-prime market, Triton is thriving. In fact the growth we expect to see this year will outpace any of our prior years. Triton has the service, the products, the customer service, and the respect of an entire real-estate industry here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

LUXESF: You brought a group of six lending officers over from J P Morgan Chase? Why?

THOMAS: The group was handpicked by me while I was working with JPMorgan Chase Bank. The members of my team come from many different industries, as I felt it was very important to train both new and existing mortgage professionals that had a variety of backgrounds -- within the industry, as well as outside the industry. My team is well-rounded, they’re excited, and they are ‘outside-of-the-box’ thinkers. As a combined team we bring mortgage experience, sales experience, business ownership experience, marketing experience, and national sales management experience. These are all CRUCIAL to any success in the mortgage industry. This is not a single-faceted industry, it has many dimensions and I wanted a multi-dimensional team that thought out of the box in terms of getting new business, improving on existing business, and who were able to effectively manage a large clientele database. We are also all licensed real-estate agents, so we know what it takes to succeed in any market. In a word, they are amazing.

LUXESF: Why did you make the move?

THOMAS: JPMorgan Chase Bank was a great launching ground for my career. However, when you work with a single bank, you have one set of guidelines, and one set of products to offer to clients -- which completely streamlines the process, no doubt. You are also completely limited to those guidelines, and as long as a client fits those guidelines, you are fine. I felt that our team needed a broader scope of products and services to offer our clients than what could be offered at the retail banking level at JPMorgan Chase. Our clients and builders need mortgage professionals and lenders who can look at a broad spectrum of possibilities, not just one. To succeed, you have to service the client in any situation, period. It doesn’t matter if it is a client purchasing their first home, a developer building a new 45-story condominium project, or a sales company that needs our lending services on a development. You simply MUST be multi-faceted, and you MUST be working with a company who believes and supports that same philosophy. That company is Triton Funding Group.

LUXESF: What made you choose Triton Funding as a place to land?

THOMAS: Triton Funding is know throughout the industry as being one of, if not the, best. Triton Funding is highly reputable, has a history of fantastic client service, and has a company culture that nurtures and promotes individualism and ‘outside-of-the-box’ thinking. Triton is trusted by many of the top realtors in the Bay Area, and we all know reputation is extremely important. My team and I wanted to work with a company that would allow us to put our experience and ideas to work for our clients, our community, our realtors, and our builders.

LUXESF: Give me an opinion on the glut of high-rise condo units that are springing up around town. Do you think the market will become saturated or can it absorb the large number of projects on the drawing board or under construction? How’s it going to play out in the next three to five years?

THOMAS: I do not see our current market as a ‘glut’. The units coming on the market will absolutely be absorbed. Builders and developers are smart, savvy, and looking long-term. Not only would they simply not be building if there weren’t a demand for it, they are going to build more as they can see a demand now and going forward for years. People from all over the world WANT to live here in San Francisco . We are known here for quality of life, beautiful surroundings, and a great society of people -- who wouldn’t want to live here? In addition, San Francisco is a very unique city. It’s very similar to a city like New York where there’s not much, if any, land to expand outward to fill the demand. Here in San Francisco , you have to tear down and build up, or you have to build up on existing land; not outward, but upwards -- the sky is the limit, right? Demand for condos and housing has not gone down, in fact, it is just the opposite. We are continuing to see a demand for new developments. We are seeing condo developments sell out a year in advance. We see condo developments reserve 30% of their units in one weekend. We are seeing new applications for city permits for new developments years in advance.

LUXESF: But the market’s starting to slow down now isn’t it?

THOMAS: No, the market has stabilized, and that is excellent. The frenzy is over and many will say the market is having a downturn, or slowing, when in fact this stabilization is a very, very good thing for the market. Demand is still there, however the ‘artificial’ feeling is gone as it is not a flipper’s market any longer driving up home prices and false demand. We are now in a time and place that is a market for the serious investor and is much, much more of a long-term market. The clients that we’re seeing coming into the market are those that want to hold onto their investment for the long term, anywhere from seven years all the way to 30 years.

LUXESF: But the bulk of the initial buying was investment money, was it not?

THOMAS: Yes, there was lots of investment money that poured into the market, and on the flip side, lots of investment money also poured out of the market, as flippers were just there for a fast buck. Today’s market is smarter, savvier, and demands that investors and homeowners have a long-term mentality to their purchases.

LUXESF: Staying with the San Francisco condo market, what do you think are the trend opportunities?

THOMAS: There are so many opportunities. You have new condo developments which are going ‘green’. You’ve got luxurious high-rise developments such as the new 45 Lansing (which is Turnberry’s development), with prices starting at $1.8MM. You have hotels that are becoming residences -- just look around -- there are opportunities everywhere. It’s obvious to me that we are now in a market that welcomes new ideas, new concepts, and continues to build on the niche consumer. AND, money is still very inexpensive to borrow. It is an amazing opportunity to own a piece of real estate here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

LUXESF: What do you see as the challenges or the risks?

THOMAS: Not a lot of risks or challenges. The only immediate risk would be rising interest rates, but money right now is still inexpensive to borrow. This alone ultimately provides so much opportunity right here in the San Francisco real estate market, and helps more clients afford more home. We can never predict with 100% accuracy what the Federal Reserve Board will do with interest rates, and that always seems to be the ‘golden egg.’ The employment market here in the Bay Area is also strong. Thousands of new jobs are created every year, and more housing is needed to provide those employees a place to live and a place to raise a family. You also have the clients moving back into San Francisco , ready to improve their quality of life. Residents living outside of San Francisco are now coming into the city to work in the Financial District, work and live in SOMA, and just look at all the neighborhood redevelopment work going on here in San Francisco . We are a city that is living and thriving -- our ‘heartbeat’ is strong, very strong.

LUXESF: What are the hot mortgage products right now?

THOMAS: Our hot mortgage products right now are still some of the hybrid products. We have definitely seen an increase in fixed rate loans, 30-year and 15- year fixed rates. Those types of loans are great for those investors who want long term and more conservative products. There is still a large demand for interest only loans, neg ams, etc. The 7-year Interest Only loan is probably our number one loan product right now, neck and neck with the 10-year Interest Only loan. That alone shows to us that the market is strong, and very stable.

LUXESF: I saw in the New York Times last week that there is a greater delay in payment cycles now for high-end real estate. Even the affluent are not making their mortgage payments on time. What are you hearing?

THOMAS: We’re seeing a lot of the sub-prime market being hit very hard right now. This is the market that loaned to individuals who really were not qualified, and the banks took a big risk on these deals. On the contrary, we’re not seeing a lot of the affluent class missing payments, at least within our business portfolio and the banks that we work with on a regular basis.

LUXESF: What’s the profile of your “perfect”? In terms of the price point, what’s ideal for you?

THOMAS: That is hard to say, as all of our clients are ‘ideal.’ Being a mortgage broker, we deal with all walks of life, all incomes, and all circumstances. Just living and being located in San Francisco naturally makes the price points here much larger than the rest of most of the USA . However, if you want a tangible number, the majority of our business comes from the homes sold in the price range of $650,000 and up.

LUXESF: And what will that buy you now?

THOMAS: That amount of money will get you a really nice 800 sq. ft., studio or one bedroom condo or TIC. And then, if you want to go even super high-end, you’re looking at $1200- $1500 per sq. ft. for the same space.

LUXESF: What’s the most exciting thing about the San Francisco real estate market for you?

THOMAS: The opportunity that’s here. You have clients who want to live here. You have a general public who visits here, with a resulting tourism industry that remains hot. The employment sector is hot and the condo market just continues to grow. It doesn’t get any better than that.