KEITH UTHE: A High-Performer Helping Homeowners Create a Financial Life by Design

Becoming a high-performer means being aware of one’s limiting beliefs and learning how to prevent them from creating obstacles in achieving more.

As an Independent Mortgage Broker with Enrich Mortgage Group, Keith Uthe considers his daily goal as creating future wealth for those he speaks with. His objective in every conversation and interaction with his clients is, ‘Everyone Is Living A Life Of Abundance – Stay Calm and Mortgage On™.’

A Good Feel for Mortgage Financing

Having been attracted to financing for many years, even prior to becoming a mortgage broker, Keith’s first hint that he had a good feel for mortgages occurred while obtaining a mortgage for his and his spouse’s own home.  

The advisor at the bank was telling him that their debt servicing was too high because they had a balance of about $6K on a credit card and an available personal line of credit amount(PLOC).  Their policy was to include a payment for the full available PLOC amount.

However, if the credit card was at $0 then that was a $0 payment. The advisor could not figure out a solution.  Keith is the one who resolved the problem for his and his spouse’s mortgage financing for their mortgage without any mortgage training.  The trained banker could not come up with the solution to the debt service ratio number when Keith came up with the solution: Pay off the small credit card with the personal line of credit(PLOC).

The advisor had to take a minute to think about this suggestion before she said, “Well I guess that would work. Let me try.” So she made the changes and bingo, bango, bongo, their debt servicing was what it needed to be! 

Not long after that Keith and his spouse began investing in real estate, which furthered his interest in learning about mortgages. About 10 years later, he changed jobs and began working as a Junior Underwriter for a private lender.

When they went separate ways do to a poor fit, Keith’s good friend/mentor/advisor, Richard Dolan, introduced him to the brokerage owner of Enrich Mortgage Group, Richard Anderson to discuss becoming a mortgage broker.

“Richard /A. and I got along immediately and have built both a great friendship and business relationship,” says Keith. “I push him and he pushes me to be better and aim higher. Both Richards challenge me to push my boundaries, learn more about myself, and live my vision” and bring my family along for the ride.

Learning About the Three Keepers

Keith believes that challenges, not problems, only make you stronger if you’re open to learning from them and accepting your role in the challenge.

“I have learned that most of the roadblocks that have occurred in my professional journey come from my personal journey,” he says. “My advisor, Richard D., taught me about the three keepers – 1. Fear, 2. Ego, and 3. Judgment.”

Keith explains that these three Keepers get ingrained in us as children, based on what we see, hear, and learn from the adults around us. For example –‘That’s too high – Be careful’/’That will never work’/’If you try harder you might win next time’/’Do you think we are made of money?’, or ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees!’ 

“By learning, understanding, and being aware of where the Keepers pop up in my professional life, I have been able to keep them from getting in the way of my life now, so that my possibilities of achieving MORE are limitless,” he states.

Leading His Clients Towards a Life of Abundance

As a Mortgage Broker with Enrich Mortgage Group, Keith’s daily objective is to fulfill his personal life purpose. ‘Everyone is Living a Life of Abundance’.  “Showing people how their mortgage will be a part of causing and creating their future wealth is the role I take seriously.”

Keith’s experience, training, and knowledge as a Smith Manoeuvre™ Certified Mortgage Professional, Certified Financial Life Professional, Real Estate Investor, and Certified Real Estate Investment Adviser, is part of the value he offers his clients, that they are not able to find from any other mortgage broker.  Keith and his spouse even implemented the Smith Manoeuvre themselves starting in 2005, long before the certification program was created, leveraging their real estate investing to convert their personal mortgage interest into a tax-deductible debt completely in only 2 years

“I represent the client to many different lenders,” he explains. “All banks and lenders have different terms for their mortgages and this is equally as important as the lending rate, when making your borrowing decision.”

Keith explains that a home is likely the single largest investment, and the mortgage is the single largest debt you will likely ever have, so in addition to rate, ensuring it offers you flexibility and freedom, at minimal cost for those unexpected life moments, is critical.

The high-interest rate differential mortgage payout penalties that banks charge can crush a family financially when a change is required. “Don’t let that be you. Make sure you are making a fully educated decision,” he advises.

Keith lists his responsibilities as a mortgage agent in terms of connecting, communicating, advising and evaluating clients borrowing ability. His typical day involves talking to lenders, email responding, training, file reviews, advising clients and networking.

Keith lists two ways to measure success. The first way is when you achieve something that you set out to do for yourself. The second is when you have a positive impact on other people’s lives in a way that allows them to achieve more. 

“For me I focus more on #2. When I am living and fulfilling success through having a positive impact on others, I know that I am also achieving more for myself by living through my vision of ‘Everyone Is Living a Life of Abundance’,” he explains. 

What it Truly Means to be a High-Performer

Keith feels fortunate that the brokerage he is part of – Enrich Mortgage Group – has over 120 mortgage agents across Canada, so they constantly have an open sharing of information amongst the agents. 

When an agent comes across a new technology or lender that may create competition, they share it with each other.  We can then discuss it and evaluate it to see if it is something that could add value, or not or increase competition.

His brokerage has training sessions with lenders, appraisers, and other service providers scheduled every Tuesday to Thursday weekly.  These sessions are so they can be better at what they already do, make improvements to streamline processes, and better understand lender policy changes or new products which increase client borrowing opportunities.

“In 2021, I created the High-Performance Lab for Mortgage Brokers to help them understand what it truly means to be a high-performer, get a deeper understanding of self, want to achieve MORE, and build more trust with clients through conversation,” says Keith.

He discovered that one’s own limiting beliefs will come through in a conversation with clients without them even realizing it. This, in turn, has an enormous impact on the trusted relationship that the broker is trying to build with their clients. 

Through an increased understanding of one’s self, one’s values, beliefs, and the three Keepers, one begins to realize what it takes to ask better questions, be in action, and build trust. 

“How can anyone try to move the needle for themselves in life from A to B if they do not know truly where A is for them?” asks Keith. “This only comes from doing the work to better understand yourself and where you are now, then stating where you want to be, and committing to the small actions that will get you to B. Only then will they begin to see what it is like to be in High-Performance, more often than not.”

Keith also believes that the largest changes in the industry will come from Canadian government regulation. Mortgage fraud and money laundering are huge government concerns and are likely to hold-back full automation of mortgage processing in Canada.

“As much as there are some new aspects of automation for mortgage processing, there will always be the need for someone to do a review of the documents, and a need for services for clients that don’t fit inside the perfect box that the Banks and A lenders are looking for” he says.   There are so many people that are business for self in Canada, have investment properties, high net worth or other non-typical income sources that need hands on mortgage broker solutions.

A Proud Dad and Basketball Coach

Having also been a referee for wheelchair basketball since 2001, and for able-body basketball for 30 years, Keith’s proudest moments have nothing to do with his business, and everything to do with his extracurricular commitments.  Being a referee is rewarding in a way that most people would not understand.  It challenges the brain and the body to think differently, make quick decisions and get good exercise.  I have also made great friends across Canada and the U.S, because of it.

As a volunteer, coaching his daughter’s junior high basketball team for two years was undeniably one of those great memories.  “In the first year they did not win a single game, despite being close so many times,” he recalls. “The following year they had a winning record, won their home tournament for the first time in many years, and made the playoffs for the first time in many years. Seeing their joy from learning, using, and executing what they had learned into wins is an achievement like no other.”