Mortgages, without the runaround. From someone who’s been on both sides of the table.
I’m Matt Mergo, the founder and only loan officer at Forest Hills Mortgage. I’ve worked at a major bank, worked at one of the largest retail lenders in the country, and now run an independent brokerage because that’s the structure that lets me actually do the job the way it should be done. The site you’re on isn’t a marketing front for a call center. It’s me.
In the mortgage business since 2003.
I have originated mortgages for more than twenty years — since late 2003, starting with small independent brokerages, later at PNC Bank and Guaranteed Rate, and independently as Forest Hills Mortgage since 2020.
My NMLS registration goes back to 2009. For most of the years since, I originated under a bank’s federal charter, which is how registration works for originators employed by a depository. My first state-issued license — Pennsylvania — was issued 18 October 2018, with Florida and Texas following as I expanded.
So the license dates on NMLS Consumer Access begin in 2018, not 2003. Those are the dates the state licenses were issued, not the date I started. The fifteen years before them were originated under a federal registration at a bank, and a state license does not carry those years forward. Both records are real, and you can verify either one.
The Short Version
Originating mortgages since: late 2003 — 22 years
In NMLS since: 2009
First state license: Pennsylvania, 18 October 2018
What I actually do, in plain English.
I help people buy houses and refinance the ones they already own. I work with W-2 professionals, self-employed borrowers, veterans, first-time buyers, visa holders, and real estate investors — across Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas, with a large and growing client base in the Pittsburgh area and, closer to my Neptune Beach office, veterans and buyers around Jacksonville and the Beaches. Most of my clients come from referrals: past borrowers, real estate agents, CPAs, financial advisors, and divorce attorneys — you can read what some of them say in my client reviews.
What makes my job different from a typical lender’s job is that I shop your loan to a network of wholesale lenders instead of selling you whatever my employer offers. When pricing varies between lenders on a given day — which it always does — I’m free to send your loan to whichever one is cheapest. A loan officer at a bank or retail lender can’t do that. They sell what they have.
The other thing that makes my job different: I’ll tell you when I’m not the best fit. Some scenarios are genuinely better served by your local bank, your credit union, or a different broker entirely. If that’s true for your situation, I’ll tell you. Sending the wrong client away costs me one loan today and earns me the right referral six months later. The math works out.
Small brokerages first. Then PNC. Then Guaranteed Rate. Then back out on my own.
I started in 2003 at small independent brokerages — the unglamorous end of the business, where there is nobody to hand the file to and you learn every part of it yourself. That is where I learned how a loan actually gets done.
From there I went to PNC Bank, where I learned the institutional side of mortgage lending — the underwriting frameworks, the regulatory environment, the depository relationship side of banking. I originated home equity lines of credit and home equity installment loans there, which is the bank side of the same products I now tell clients to price at a bank or credit union first. It’s where I built the technical foundation. It’s also where I started noticing the structural problems with bank lending: limited product menu, slow pricing, and the way every loan had to fit into one specific institution’s appetite or it didn’t get done.
Then Guaranteed Rate, one of the largest retail lenders in the country. The product menu was broader. The pace was faster. The volume was significant. I learned the retail side of mortgage lending in detail — how big lenders price loans, how their marketing engines work, and the trade-offs that come with being part of a large operation.
Going independent was a return to where I started, with both of the other sides behind it. In the wholesale broker model my incentives line up with yours: I am paid the same whichever lender I place your loan with, so the only thing left to choose on is price and fit. At a bank or a retail lender, I had a fixed menu and an institutional employer whose interests came first. As a broker, I have access to dozens of wholesale lenders, no quota for which one I send loans to, and freedom to tell a client “your bank’s offer beats mine — take it.”
A direct line, real numbers, and the same person start to finish.
Four things about how I run Forest Hills Mortgage:
You talk to me directly. Every inquiry comes to my phone or my inbox, and I respond personally — usually within a business day, often within an hour. The same person who quotes your loan is the one who closes it.
Quotes are the numbers I can actually deliver. Ask me what your rate would be and you get the rate your scenario prices at today. The number I quote is the number we close at, barring something material changing.
I’d rather lose the loan than oversell you. If your situation fits another lender better than it fits me, I’ll say so. If conventional works better than the non-QM product another lender pitched you, I’ll point that out. If the answer is to wait six months and refinance later rather than rush this deal now, I’ll tell you that too. The honest answer wins more long-term referrals than any sales technique.
The work happens on text and email. Most of my clients prefer to communicate over text and email rather than phone calls, and I work that way too. You’re not stuck on a sales call where someone tries to “qualify” you. You send me your scenario, I send back numbers and options, and we go from there.
Every article on this site is written by me.
No ghostwriters, no content agency, no syndicated filler. If something here is wrong, it is my error to correct — and I do correct it. The full library lives in Insights; these are the subjects I cover most:
Family, golf, sports, and the occasional good meal.
I’m married with kids, which means most of my actual life outside of work revolves around them — school events, sports practices, the kind of family chaos that anyone with kids will recognize. They’re the reason I built a business that runs on text and email instead of being chained to a desk all day. Independence isn’t just an operational structure; it’s a lifestyle decision.
Golf is the hobby I take seriously. I play whenever I can, mostly poorly, occasionally well enough to remember why I keep coming back. If you’re a client who golfs, that’s a conversation I’ll always make time for.
Sports generally — watching, talking about, and arguing about. Football, basketball, golf, whatever’s in season. I’d rather watch a game than most other things.
Travel and food round out the list. My wife and I look for excuses to take the family somewhere new, and any trip that includes good food gets extra credit. Coastal Florida living provides plenty of both close to home.
The beach and coastal lifestyle of this part of Florida is one of the reasons we settled here. It’s the kind of place where the work-life integration actually works — fewer corporate-treadmill hours, more time outside, and a community of people who chose this geography for similar reasons.
Licensed, regulated, and accountable.
Forest Hills Mortgage is a licensed mortgage brokerage. The relevant details:
Licensing Information
Matt Mergo — Loan Originator NMLS #563819
Forest Hills Mortgage — Company NMLS #1982611
Licensed in: Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas
Office: 1408 Forest Ave, Neptune Beach, FL 32266
Look me up at NMLS Consumer Access — it’s the public registry where you can verify any loan originator’s license status and history.
I’m a member in good standing with the relevant state regulatory bodies and follow all federal lending regulations (RESPA, TILA, ECOA, the SAFE Act, etc.). Every loan I close goes through the same regulatory framework as any loan from a major bank — the consumer protections are identical. The only thing that changes between lenders is the pricing and the service.
Reach out. I respond personally, usually within a business day.
Two ways to start. If you’ve got a quick question or just want to talk through a scenario, text or email is the fastest path. If you want real pricing, send the details through the rate quote form and I’ll come back with actual numbers. Either way, you’ll be talking to me directly — no funnel, no junior loan officer, no sales call.
Talk First
Text or email whatever’s on your mind. Loan scenarios, market questions, second opinions on offers from other lenders — I’ll respond personally within one business day.
Or Get Real Numbers
Send me your scenario — loan amount, down payment, FICO range, property type, timeline — and I’ll come back with real numbers, not teaser rates. No credit pull until you say so.
Request a Rate Quote →