Brian Cooke wants his company to become the nation’s No. 1 mortgage brokerage for veterans and servicemembers who utilize U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) loan programs. Less than a year after launching World Home Loans, he’s well on his way to achieving that goal.

Cooke — who’s based in Southern California and licensed in 18 states — has been in the mortgage industry for more than 20 years, including stops at Provident Funding and Movement Mortgage. In 2018, he co-founded SunnyHill Financial, where he became one of the top brokers in the country across multiple loan products.

About three years ago, he began to chart a new course.

“It was Memorial Day 2023 when I had my all-in declaration that I would direct all my energy, efforts, marketing spend, to help make an impact for vets in America, because a lot of people out there complain that they get taken advantage of. But I wanted to actually do something about it,” Cooke said in an interview with HousingWire.

In his first year of business with World Home Loans, Cooke continues to be a beacon of success. The HousingWire Mortgage Rankings show that he ranked No. 7 nationally among the Top Brokerage Originators with $252.6 million in volume across 668 loans. The list focuses exclusively on brokered loan production, isolating performance within the broker channel regardless of other origination channels.

Cooke said his team now has 14 people, including eight processors, and most of their business is tied to purchase lending. 

“We’re small, but we do a decent amount of volume — probably about $500 million a year in VA business,” he said. “For 90% to 95% of lenders out there, it’s just another box, another program to offer. Who dives into actually training their originators, training their processors on the VA product? Very few.”

Cooke says that World Home Loans currently offers 30-year fixed-rate VA purchase loans at 5.125% with no points, adding that this figure isn’t much higher than recent low points before the conflict in Iran sent rates higher. The company also has five-year adjustable-rate VA mortgages at 4.75% with no points — a product he claims many major lenders don’t offer and many veterans don’t know exists. 

And the company expects to build more brand awareness in the near future through a pilot commercial partnership with Military.com.

“They’re probably the most authoritative web domain for the military with the amount of traffic they get,” Cooke said. “We’re working with them to kind of perfect their algorithms for generating leads. They want to build a mortgage and insurance marketplace on their website for vets. They selected us for that, which is a milestone for us as we’re going through the ebbs and flows of the commercial partnership and perfecting performance on both ends.”

Successful career transition

Vipul Hapani was a client at Vema Mortgage when he realized he could help others in his situation — first-generation immigrants aspiring to live the American dream and own a home.

“I was very thankful to my broker for getting me the loan. It struck me: This person is giving happy moments to all his clients. Why can’t I try that?” Hapani said. “The more I helped people, the more referrals I received. In almost six years in the industry, I have not spent a single dollar on marketing. It’s just word of mouth.”

Previously a physical therapist, Hapani brought a personalized approach and multitasking skills to his new career. He scaled rapidly at Vema, securing state licenses and recruiting loan officers before eventually becoming an equity partner.

His rapid growth propelled him to become one of the top brokerage originators in the country in 2025. Hapani ranked No. 3 with $351.5 million in volume across 739 loans, according to HousingWire’s rankings.

Hapani considers purchase loans his bread and butter, noting that refinances ebb and flow with industry cyclicality. That means maintaining close relationships with real estate agents — the partners who “will feed you when the market slows down.”

While he focuses heavily on conventional loans, Hapani has also started originating home equity and non-QM products.

His borrowers are primarily within the Asian community, with an average home price of $600,000 to $700,000 in the mid-tier housing market. Based in Charlotte, Hapani noted that supply issues in North Carolina’s largest market eased significantly in 2025 compared to previous years.

Builders came into the market with a lot of inventory they couldn’t move, so they threw in plenty of incentives for borrowers. “The Charlotte and Raleigh markets are currently oversupplied. There are more sellers on the market compared to buyers right now,” Hapani said.

His service doesn’t end at the closing table. He follows up with clients three weeks after closing to ensure their payment accounts are set up, checks in every six months and conducts annual reviews. For example, he’ll go over their home value, calculate how much equity they have and determine if they need further financial help.

To close loans efficiently, Hapani employs a processing team of nine but relies heavily on lender underwriting teams, who reduce his workload by an estimated 60%. “My main focus is looking at the client’s profile to see if they qualify and what options I can offer them,” Hapani said.

Carving out a niche

Similar to Hapani, top loan officer Thuan Nguyen — the founder and CEO of California-based Loan Factory — leads a production machine powered by roughly 10 loan officers. Each of them are supported by an assistant and a processor, with about 30 people focused on the company’s pipeline alone. 

Nguyen told HousingWire that he’s able to spend most of his time on marketing and building systems rather than on direct client contact, relying on his licensed team to handle day-to-day borrower interactions. Automated email campaigns under his name keep his brand in front of past and prospective clients so that when they’re ready for a mortgage, they come back to him.

As an immigrant from Vietnam, Nguyen says that while his clientele is diverse in terms of borrower type, ranging from first-time buyers to real estate investors, about 50% of his clients are Vietnamese. 

“I’ve been so strong in the Vietnamese community after so many years — a lot of people know me, so that is my strength,” he said. “Most of my clients are conventional loans, and I need to expand that to FHA, VA and jumbo loans.” 

Nguyen has been recognized as a top loan officer for several years running. His motivation comes from what he describes as a “passion” for building better systems and better technology to help people. In HousingWire’s broker rankings, he placed No. 4 with a volume of $304.6 million across 958 loans in 2025.

“The competition is very tough out there, and we need to work harder to grow our business,” he said. “If we stop, if we slow down, our business will slow down. In this market, it is not easy to be successful, and I know that, so that is why I’m not hesitating to build up the right team.”