• Job: Mortgage planner, Conyers

KARL W. RITZLER/Special (ENLARGE)

'I don't do a mortgage for someone I don't think can pay it,' Jay Mitchell said.

• What I do: It's a tough time to be a mortgage planner, with housing prices falling, a record number of foreclosures, lenders going out of business and members of the industry accused of crimes and unethical behavior.

But Jay Mitchell is both optimistic and determined. "I help people fulfill their dreams," he said — even when the mortgage company for which he worked suddenly closed its doors.

Mitchell and his wife and co-worker, Julie, were taking their daughter to college in Colorado when an e-mail arrived at the office to make the announcement.

But two key members of the staff and the Mitchells continued to close deals and serve clients for about a week. Then Mitchell affiliated with another lender, Home Town Mortgage of Alpharetta.

Mitchell's job is to match home buyers with lenders, getting the potential buyers the best deal in the process. The 20 or so investors from which he can choose include some of the country's biggest mortgage companies and banks.

But Mitchell does more than arrange loans. He also analyzes the client's other financial obligations and asks questions about his or her goals and family situation. "I make people think about where they are today and where they want to be."

He said that about half of the people who contact him don't qualify for mortgages because of their incomes or credit histories. Unlike many of the lenders who got into trouble, Mitchell won't fudge people's applications to make their financial situations look better than they are.

"I don't do a mortgage for someone I don't think can pay it," he said. "I credit-counsel as many people as I help with mortgages," with the idea that, when they do qualify for mortgages, they'll come back to him.

For those who do qualify, Mitchell puts together a plan for financing options and finds the best lender. The current lending climate means that borrowers often face closer examinations of their finances and more restrictions on how much they can borrow.

His office arranges appraisals, credit checks and land title searches and prepares everything for the closing. Mitchell's paycheck — a fee connected with the loan — comes at closing, when buyers and sellers settle who is paying what.

Julie Mitchell compared the business to a travel Web site that arranges flights, hotels and rental cars. "It's just like Expedia," she said.

• What got me interested in this: "Julie and I were working together in the window-covering business," he said. But raising two young children and working together all the time became "too much."

Mitchell's brother, who was in the mortgage business, "said I should give it a try." He did, in 1992. With a background in finance, Mitchell worked for several large and small lenders before deciding he wanted to run his own office with an affiliation with a mortgage-origination company, like Home Town.

His route to finance started when he was a pre-dentistry major in college. "I hated chemistry" but loved economics.

• Best part of my job: "Helping. Talking to clients that need to figure out what they want to do," he said. "I don't really sell as much as I educate."

• Most challenging part: "Competing with unethical people," Mitchell said. "I think this whole mortgage blowup is going to squelch this. . . . There needs to be licensing" of mortgage originators.

• What people don't know about my job: "How much paper we use for a loan," he said, holding up an inch-thick stack and noting that it was only a portion of the paperwork for a real estate investor who was making deals on several properties.

• What keeps me going: "My family," Mitchell said. "Being able to provide everything for my family — and that's not always monetary; it's time, too."

• Preparation needed for this job: "No credentials are required, no minimum education, no test to take and pass, nothing you have to do," he said. "That's a big part of the problem we have for fraud and foreclosures. There's no fear of losing a license."

To be ethical and successful, though, Mitchell said you need a business and financial background, an outgoing personality and sales ability. He says he relies on personal relationship skills as well as his financial skills.

Mitchell has a bachelor's degree in finance from Georgia State University, regularly attends industry seminars and is a member of lending, real estate and home building professional organizations.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.