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Process Design & Leadership

York Funding: Proprietary Underwriting System

Built and operationalized a proprietary underwriting strategy from scratch, creating pursuit collateral, managing $80M+ portfolio lifecycle, and training a 3-person team—becoming the firm's top revenue stream (~$35M) within two years.

Timeline April 2016 - September 2020
Role Head of Underwriting & Investor Relations
Company York Funding (Boutique Real Estate Investment)

The Challenge

York Funding, a boutique real estate investment firm, had no formal underwriting system when I joined. The company needed to scale its asset-backed lending operations for residential, commercial, and mixed-use properties—but lacked the processes, pursuit collateral, and team infrastructure to do so efficiently.

My task was to build an entire underwriting practice from the ground up: design risk analysis frameworks, create investor-facing materials, establish portfolio management protocols, train a team, and integrate with legal, accounting, and servicing departments—all while originating deals that would need to perform at scale.

No Existing System

Zero formalized underwriting processes, risk models, or pursuit collateral when I started

Multi-Stakeholder Coordination

Had to interface with accounting, legal, servicing, borrowers, external investors, and internal investment committee

Scale Without Breaking

Needed to build repeatable systems that could handle rapid growth while maintaining quality and compliance

My Approach

Build the System, Then Build the Team

I approached this like a product development challenge: first, design the minimum viable process that could originate quality deals. Then, document it obsessively. Finally, train others to execute it, using metrics to identify bottlenecks and iterate toward higher throughput.

📊

Risk Analysis Framework

  • Developed proprietary risk rubric for real estate assets
  • Created financial models for profit/loss projections
  • Built comp analysis tools for market validation
  • Established due diligence checklists by property type
📝

Pursuit Collateral Suite

  • Investment memos with standardized formats
  • Executive summary templates for IC presentations
  • Investor pitch decks with risk/return visualizations
  • Portfolio performance dashboards
🎯

Team Development

  • Trained 3-person underwriting team from scratch
  • Created SOPs for every stage of deal lifecycle
  • Implemented peer review process for quality control
  • Tracked individual metrics to identify coaching opportunities

💡 Core Insight

The bottleneck in underwriting isn't decision quality—it's decision speed. By creating standardized templates, automated financial models, and clear diligence checklists, I compressed time-to-decision by 10% while simultaneously improving deal quality through peer review and consistent risk frameworks.

Deal Lifecycle: From Intake to Portfolio Management

I designed an end-to-end process that moved deals from initial inquiry through closing and into ongoing portfolio management, with clear stage gates and decision checkpoints.

01

Intake & Triage

Borrower submits inquiry → Preliminary qualification (property type, loan amount, borrower credit) → Assign to underwriter

SLA: 24 hours Pass rate: ~65%
02

Due Diligence

Property appraisal → Title search → Borrower financials review → Market comps analysis → Risk assessment

SLA: 5-7 days Pass rate: ~80%
03

Financial Modeling

Build cash flow projections → Stress test scenarios (default, market downturn) → Calculate ROI and risk-adjusted returns

SLA: 2-3 days Automated templates
04

Investment Memo

Draft executive summary → Populate standardized template → Peer review → Submit to Investment Committee

SLA: 1-2 days IC approval: ~75%
05

Negotiation & Closing

Terms negotiation with borrower → Legal documentation with firm counsel → Coordinate with servicing/accounting → Fund deal

SLA: 7-14 days Close rate: ~90%
06

Portfolio Management

Monthly performance tracking → Covenant compliance monitoring → Investor reporting → Exit/refinance strategy

Active monitoring Quarterly reviews

Each stage has defined SLAs, quality checkpoints, and escalation procedures. The entire process was documented in SOPs with decision trees for edge cases.

CRM Rebuild: From Paper to Digital-First

When I joined, York Funding tracked deals in Excel spreadsheets and paper files. I transitioned the firm to a digital-first framework with CRM structure, diligence checkpoints, and real-time dashboards.

Before: Manual, Fragmented

  • Excel spreadsheets with inconsistent formatting
  • Paper files stored in physical cabinets
  • No real-time pipeline visibility
  • Reconciliation errors in reporting (~17%)
  • Long time-to-decision (avg 14 days from IC to close)

After: Digital, Integrated

  • CRM with standardized deal stages and fields
  • Cloud-based document management with version control
  • Real-time dashboards for leadership and IC
  • Reconciliation errors reduced to 12% (-5pp)
  • Time-to-decision compressed to ~12.5 days (-10%)

Key CRM Features Implemented

📊

Pipeline Dashboards

Real-time view of deal flow by stage, underwriter, and property type

🚨

Automated Alerts

SLA breach warnings, missing documents, covenant violations

📈

Performance Metrics

Track time-in-stage, approval rates, throughput per underwriter

🗂️

Document Repository

Centralized storage with tagging, search, and access controls

Team Growth: From Solo to 3-Person Powerhouse

As deal volume grew, I transitioned from individual contributor to team leader, training a 3-person underwriting team and raising collective throughput by 30%.

~7
Deals/Person/Quarter (Before)
~10
Deals/Person/Quarter (After)
+30% throughput increase

Training & Development Approach

Phase 1: Shadow & Learn (Weeks 1-2)

New underwriters observe my process end-to-end, asking questions and reviewing completed memos

Phase 2: Guided Practice (Weeks 3-6)

Underwriters handle deals with my oversight—I review their work before IC submission and provide detailed feedback

Phase 3: Peer Review (Weeks 7-12)

Underwriters work independently; peer review process catches issues before IC; I spot-check for quality

Phase 4: Full Autonomy (Week 13+)

Underwriters operate independently with monthly 1-on-1s for coaching and development

Quality Control Through Metrics

I tracked individual and team performance to identify coaching opportunities:

  • IC Approval Rate: Target 75%+, indicating strong deal selection
  • Time-in-Stage: Identify bottlenecks where underwriters are getting stuck
  • Rework Rate: Track how often memos are sent back for revisions
  • Throughput Trend: Monitor deals/quarter to ensure consistent growth

Results & Impact

What I Achieved

💰
$35M
Revenue stream became firm's top source within 2 years
📊
$80M+
Portfolio assets under management in 2018
⚡
+30%
Throughput increase (7 → 10 deals/person/quarter)
⏱️
-10%
Time-to-decision reduction (14 → 12.5 days)
✅
-5pp
Reconciliation error reduction (17% → 12%)
👥
3
Underwriters trained to full autonomy
📝

Proprietary Underwriting System

Complete process framework from intake to portfolio management

📊

Pursuit Collateral Suite

Investment memos, financial models, IC presentations, investor pitch decks

🗂️

CRM & Pipeline Governance

Digital-first framework with dashboards, alerts, and document management

👥

Team Training Program

4-phase onboarding with SOPs, peer review, and continuous metrics tracking

Key Learnings

Document Everything, Obsessively

The SOPs I created weren't just for training—they were the foundation for scaling. Without documented processes, every new hire would have reinvented the wheel. Obsessive documentation turns expertise into infrastructure.

Speed Is a Competitive Advantage

In real estate lending, the firm that can close fastest wins the deal. By compressing time-to-decision 10% through templates and automation, we became more competitive without sacrificing quality. Speed and quality aren't tradeoffs—they're complements.

Metrics Drive Improvement

Tracking individual throughput, IC approval rates, and time-in-stage allowed me to coach effectively. Generic feedback doesn't work—specific, data-backed observations do. "Your approval rate is 5pp below team average" is actionable; "work harder" isn't.

Build Systems, Not Dependencies

I could have kept all knowledge in my head and remained indispensable. Instead, I built systems that didn't need me—which paradoxically made me more valuable. Leaders who create dependencies stay individual contributors forever.

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