Amid so many behemoth banks, it can be a challenge to find local lending operations with a real competitive edge. But there is a new option in the DC area.

New downtown office of MVB Mortgage.

“We’re a subsidiary of a regional bank with the advantage of making all lending decisions locally, and the goal of making a difference in the lives of our clients” says Rob Ross, founder of The Ross Group, an originating team at MVB Mortgage. Last month, Ross became branch manager and vice president of MVB Mortgage’s first DC outpost, a top-floor, 3,400-square-foot office space on K Street in Northwest.

“We wanted our local clients to be able to hop on the Metro and meet us face to face. It helps us build more trusting relationships and eases the entire loan process,” says Ross, who does a great deal of business in downtown DC. MVB is the preferred lender for projects like CityCenterDC and for developers and companies like Urban Pace and Capital City Real Estate.

There are many advantages to setting up a mortgage with MVB, including timing and working with a firm that has an intimate knowledge of the local market. “As an MVB Bank subsidiary we have all the capabilities of a national mortgage lender, but because we underwrite all of our loans locally, we do so in about half the time,” Ross explained.

MVB Mortgage specializes in residential real estate -- with offices in Reston, Fairfax, McLean, and Loudoun County, as well as in MVB Bank’s home neighborhood of Morgantown, West Virginia -- and is backed by more than a billion dollars in assets. MVB Mortgage is currently licensed in DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, and Florida, and the company has plans to expand within all 50 states. This is especially important for DC’s transient population. “We build trust-relationships with our clients, so it’s important to have the ability to help them finance new homes anywhere in the country,” says Ross.

MVB Bank launched a commercial lending division this year, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, and is in the process of acquiring a Baltimore-based retail bank this year.

Rob Ross, of The Ross Group

MVB Mortgage is readily available to help with home purchases and refinancing, and is one of the only firms in the area handling construction loans for owners as well as builders. They track the marketplace and utilize the knowledge and skill of local appraisers, who are very familiar with housing in the area. Rob Ross is an expert in the local condo market and has been in the DC-area residential mortgage lending industry for nearly 15 years. In that time, he has forged exclusive relationships with some of the city’s biggest real estate firms, builders and condo developers, and has been the preferred lender on over 50 projects. In 2012, Rob was named to the Scotsman Guide’s Top Loan Originators in the United States, ranking in the top 1%.

Contact Rob Ross of The Ross Group by email here or by phone at 703-568-3749. For more information about MVB Mortgage, please visit the company’s website here.

Disclaimer: MVB Mortgage is a registered trade name for Potomac Mortgage Group, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of MVB Bank. Company NMLS #181319. www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org.