Mortgage veteran sees major differences in her market compared to other large cities
Despite the national headlines that describe conditions in the mortgage industry nationwide, mortgage brokers know that the housing market is hyperlocal. It’s possible that the statement has never been more accurate than right now.
Maddie Kamphaus (pictured top), chief operations officer for Planted Local Lending, hears all the things that other mortgage professionals are saying about their local markets.
When she hears the conditions in other large cities, she can’t help but note how different things are in each of those places, including where she’s located in Kansas City.
“It's a really interesting time to be in this world,” Kamphaus told Mortgage Professional America. “I was in Detroit a couple of months ago, and there was somebody who was saying, ‘We are slammed, and we can't keep inventory. It's like 2020, times two.’ I'm thinking, I can't recall a time when there has been such a difference in markets.”
It’s not just in person that Kamphaus has heard the differences. She has seen the differences in Facebook groups, where brokers share stories from around the country.
“The feedback that I hear, it just feels really extreme across the United States, and I am pretty fascinated by that,” Kamphaus said. “I'm not sure what I think about it, but it definitely feels like things are different.”
Interesting place to live
On the Kansas side of Kansas City, Kamphaus said it is a very interesting market. And it is very different from what is being seen in other large cities across the country.
“We're not like the rest of the country, but we're also not Florida and we're not California, so it is really interesting,” she said. “When we've made trips to UWM, we sit in the room, and I hear everybody's stories that our market is not like theirs. We've got steady climbing prices. We have a healthy amount of inventory. We've had a really steady year of business.”
She sees two groups of homebuyers in the Kansas City area. One group consists of individuals who currently own homes and are seeking to upgrade or purchase an investment property. The other end is people looking to enter the market, which can be challenging due to the high home prices.
“We have a tale of two groups right now,” Kamphaus said. “We have the more established homeowner. They’re middle-aged and they're happy to buy up again. They’re upgrading or pulling out cash. We had somebody buy a second home in another country. The way they're handling their money is very different from the people who are just trying to enter the market or are on their second home.
“There's a huge gap in the middle, which I think is being experienced in most of the United States right now. But our low-end borrowers are not necessarily what might be considered the low end for the rest of the country. We don't really have availability of homes under $100,000 or anywhere close to that.”
AIME’s community aspect
Kamphaus will be one of the speakers at the upcoming AIME FUSE event in Nashville next month. She is looking forward to a return trip this year, although she and others will hope to avoid flying into a hurricane this time.
“We absolutely love AIME, especially the community aspect to it,” she said. “We flew into the hurricane, and we actually raced the hurricane there last year. We ended up having the best time networking and just getting to know people at all levels through the organization.”
Like so many other attendees, Kamphaus touts the networking possibilities of the event. She said it is incredibly valuable to be able to learn from so many other mortgage professionals.
Hunter Bolling of Edge Home Finance uses pre-approval Zooms, benefit-focused education, and deep relationships to steer vets away from bad lenders and build customers for life.https://t.co/1lmbfjv3WY
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) September 16, 2025
“I don't think there's another chance to get together with that many people,” Kamphaus said. “You can have a cocktail in the evening with the highest person at whatever organization and somebody you've never met before. Everyone's at the same table, sharing stories and learning from each other. That's really unique.
“The most attractive part about it to me is that you can be anyone in the broker or mortgage world and really benefit from being in the room. It's nice to help people grow their businesses in a way that is long-term. The information of the people at AIME really helps keep everyone together and moving forward, which is actually kind of magical.”
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