Mortgage Firm’s Offer Eases 2 of Life’s Biggest Buys

Negativism, hopelessness. It seemed to be everywhere Larry Koppelman looked.

As the managing director of a Costa Mesa mortgage company, Koppelman has had a front-row seat to the despair of recession. So he decided to come up with a plan to give people a lift.

His idea was cash incentives for Western Bank Mortgage Co. employees trying to make two of life’s biggest purchases: homes and cars. Starting this month, the company is paying a $500 bonus to any of its 300 employees who buy a new American-made car, and $1,500 to any worker who purchases a home.

“It was sort of an emotional thing,” Koppelman explained. “Confidence is down. Maybe we can do something.”

Besides encouraging workers to “buy American” and invest in their own homes, the plan is also a way of rewarding them for making the firm successful. Western Bank, which has 15 offices in California, funded 18% more loans in 1991 than in 1990.

Although mortgages slacked off as the recession deepened, Koppelman said, the refinancing business picked up as interest rates dropped. Now, he said, mortgages are on the upswing again and the refinancing business is beginning to taper off.

The bonuses are being offered through June 30. Some employees have already jumped at the opportunity.

Anthony Berris, who works in Western Bank’s secondary mortgage department in Costa Mesa, said the $1,500 bonus gave him and his wife the money they needed to buy a home in Long Beach.

Berris said he would have had trouble buying the $200,000 house without the incentive. The deal required that he have $3,000 left over after making a 5% down payment. The company bonus provided half that amount.

“I made an offer and it was accepted Friday,” he said.

Many employees like the incentives, Koppelman said. The flexible plan applies to car leases as well as purchases, and home loans made not only through Western Bank, but also through competing mortgage lenders.

“A positive feeling is infectious,” he said.