Mortgage Banker Spotlight: Dan Phelan

Dan Phelan joined PSRS in 1973 and currently holds the title of President and CEO. Dan attended Creighton University for his undergraduate studies, where he attained a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He has spent his entire 42-year career with PSRS where he has learned about property and construction management, leasing, real estate valuation, underwriting, and mortgage banking. During his time with PSRS, Mr. Phelan has served as a chairman for both the Commercial Board of Governors for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), and for the Certified Mortgage Servicer Task Force. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the MBA in 2008, and in 2015 received the MBA’s E. Michael Rosser Lifetime Achievement Award. Dan and his wife have four children and two grandchildren, and one of his daughters works for PSRS. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, backpacking, hiking, tennis, and traveling.

Where are most of your deals coming from?

Most of my deals come from existing clients or from referrals. Having been in the industry for 46 years, I have worked with a lot of borrowers and have always had pride in the fact that I get to represent both the borrower and lender on every transaction. At the end of the day what we have to sell is capital markets knowledge and service. Our clients, both borrowers and lenders, come back to PSRS because of the knowledge we possess about the markets we work in, the capital in all forms, the power we have been a part of SAM (Strategic Alliance Mortgage), and the level of service we deliver to each and every one of our clients.

Who do you prefer to do business with?

On the borrower side, I really enjoy my existing clients and exceeding their requests for both the type of debt they are looking for and the way I structure the deal in a manner to meet the needs of both the future of the property and the borrower. In many cases, I have become the “Finance Department".

On the capital side, I like to work with those individuals and lenders whom I have formed relationships with over the years. I like the Life Company process as it is a fairly straight forward process focusing on the real estate to support the loan request. I also like working with many of the other capital sources that provide us with the diversity of capital that is needed in this ever-changing commercial real estate market to meet all of the varied requests from our borrower-clients.

What are examples of notable deals that you've done?

I have done both large portfolios of $250-400M and I have done deals of $1M or less. I've worked with all of the basic property types in addition to hotels, senior living facilities, golf courses, and any other property that has had a cash flow available to pay debt service. The most notable deals I do are those where both the borrower and lender are pleased with the deal and the execution at first the closing of the loan and then when the loan pays off at the end of the term. There is a lot that we do both in front of the scene and behind as mortgage bankers and intermediaries to make sure the process goes smoothly and all of the parties get what they bargained for.

Why did you join PSRS?

Back in 1973 I had just graduated from Creighton University in Omaha and I both needed a job and I wanted to try living, at least for a while, in another part of the country. I think the better question is, why did I stay? I stayed because I loved what I was learning from Dan Mulvihill about the industry and I learned from everyone else in the company how to be a good underwriter and a great mortgage banker. There was and is so much creativity in being a mortgage banker working as an intermediary between the borrower and the lender. I “get” to come to work every day and both have fun and enjoy what I do and created in the process such wonderful friends over the last 46 years in the industry. The other reason I stayed was to get involved in the industry both with our trade association and taking on the role as an educator. I have taught over the years at our local university and have helped create education material that I enjoy delivering to classrooms. I have stayed because I could not imagine doing anything else.