Bayview Financial Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Bayview Financial as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – We get bagels on Friday.

Cons – The company only has about 1,000 employees

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Bayview Financial

Pros – The company had to right-size on one side of the business (loan originations), but they doggedly worked to retain top talent by moving them to the other side of the business (loan servicing). They are even positioned to possibly grow as the industry has recognized that the loan servicing group excels in the types of loan workouts that the President just signed into law. The philosophy is to keep people in their properties and really help them get an affordable mortgage so I feel great about what I am doing.
You will also be surrounded by high-caliber professionals who are, more often than not, the best of the best in South Florida. You cannot be a big fish in a small pond here, but you can be a great member of a school of big fish.
The company is very entrepreneurial, and being privately held, is able to make quick adjustments to the market. This has been very beneficial as the mortgage industry has been in a state of constant flux over the past two years and appears to continue down this path until about 2012 when the final pains of the commercial real estate market correction are felt. This company is going to be around for the long-term.
Recently, the loan servicing group has taken a keen interest in developing the skills of their most senior leaders and that has had a very beneficial impact on the employees' motivation and engagement. You can really 'feel' that they are focused on doing the right thing by the employees, customers, and the company.
The rewards and benefits are amazing. (The company pays for 100% of my medical insurance!)

Cons – Well, it is the mortgage industry... and some customers are very difficult because they automatically assume that Bayview is trying to kick them out of their homes. Also, it can be heart-breaking when a customer simply cannot afford the property no matter what we do. They have lost their jobs, the primary bread winner has passed on, or something equally horrific has completely devastated them financially. Unfortunately, that has gotten more common with the current economy.
We are very, very, very, very, very busy. Working weekends (sometimes both days) is not uncommon, especially at the end of the month. Single parents probably struggle in this environment, but that is not my situation.
The leaders are improving, but there are some very smart people who should be managing work - not people. This has been true everywhere I have worked.
Our office is across the street from a very posh shopping mall so there are not many places to buy an affordable lunch nearby. There is a free trolley that goes to another area with more stores and restaurants (Miracle Mile), but nothing is cheap there either. Bring your lunch.

Advice to Senior Management – Trust your employees and let us know what is going on. We don't get much information about the goals and direction of the company. That would make it easier for me to get motivated about coming in on a Saturday and Sunday because I would know how I am contributing to something greater than my paycheck.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Bayview Financial

Pros – Bayview Financial is the best employer in south Florida for several reasons: they hire top performers and let them perform, they have an exceptional benefits package (medical is 100% covered for employees for a PPO, 6% 401K match), pay and twice/year bonuses are very generous on the origination side (NOT on the loan servicing side), work-life balance is practiced at all levels (e.g. Managing Directors have their kids at the office when school is out), they actually trust their employees, while 80% of BLG's competitors went out of business it did not because of the Davids commitment to senior management, and everyone is absolutely devoted to the success of this company!

Cons – Concerns that I have shared with others: incompetent leadership in key areas (HR, IT) and inexperienced senior leadership in others (BLG's origination companies). The most senior leaders are friends of the owners (known as FOD - Friend of David), but were not selected because they are or will be effective. For example, the head of the new growth engine, BLS, does not communicate with his own direct reports, which cuts off the entire organization from knowing what is or will soon be going on. It is not that the near-term future is a secret so much as this leader is just not interested in communicating a vision or plan. The Davids do not seek or seem to accept input from others in the organization. They have a master plan that they require their direct reports to execute. Their lack of vision had a terrible impact on the origination businesses this year.

The industry is also a major concern, but recent investments have allowed the Davids to take advantage of the downstream side of the mortgage industry. However, the heydays of fat bonuses and tons of money thrown at marketing are over.

Locally, south Florida is expensive and prone to hurricanes, but you gotta love those winters!

Advice to Senior Management – Capitalize on the more experienced staff (not just your college roommate and favorites) during these trying times and leverage the collective intelligence of the organization. Create scenario planning sessions in order to identify the highest and best use of current staff and business units. There are several opportunities to take advantage of the current mortgage market that Bayview has not tapped.

Get senior HR leadership that can and will help you identify and build management bench strength. While your loyalty to senior leaders is commendable in some respects, their lack of competence has actually held the company back. If you know what the future should be and the skills required to realize that future then you should find and build those skills in your senior leadership team. This requires putting current leaders back into roles where they are most effective, but an exceptional HR leadership team should help you do that in a face-saving way as well. Eliminate the Peter Principle...

Outsource IT. It was a debacle of epic proportions before the current CIO arrived and he is set up for failure because of the mess that cannot be completely undone. Take advantage of economies of scale in all areas, but especially in IT where SAAS vendors can provide much better solutions and support than the current IT team. Especially now that they have been downsized, they just cannot support all of the applications that help keep the business afloat. IT is not Bayview's core competence so let go and put your trust in others for whom technology is their core product and service.

Create a strategic plan and cascade those objectives down through each of the companies. This will create alignment and congruency. Right now a lot of teams are just running in circles, not really knowing what they should prioritize or focus on. Now is the time to drive efficiencies and reward performance in a consistent, measurable way. That won't mean that you are introducing bureacracy or being "bank like". It will just give people a sense of purpose in these changing times (while making and saving you money).

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Bayview Financial

Pros – Overall, Bayview is a good place to work. Great people, excellent perks, very understanding of employee's personal life. Company believes in having regular events to make sure employees know each other. I miss the quarterly happy hours and company picnics.

Cons – Poor mid management and a lot of self interested people taking advantage of their positions.
Although most departments are handled very professionally, some are headed by unexperienced managers that may make your job more difficult.

Advice to Senior Management – Look at how IT department is being handled, company has bled millions because of constant poor decision making by CIO.
Sometimes is better to cut your losses on time.

Current Employee – been working at Bayview Financial

Pros – Free health insurance (although it's a cheap plan - not the best)

Cons – Bad salary, our job "duties" change every 2 weeks or every month if you're lucky, nobody in the company knows what they're doing, management is a joke. So I work in the Pompano Beach office and all I can say after a year of working here is the company is a mess. Nobody internally (within Bayview that works for Bayview) responds to your emails, management is clueless to what they're doing and they pay way below what one should be making (this is based on my past salary at other companies and also when compared to Salary.com).

If you want advancement, it's limited - Very limited. You need to kiss up to lots of supervisors and management to get anywhere, but lots of places are like that. The company is also known to overload you with work and refuse to hire more staff. And if you have kids, make sure you have a 24/7 babysitter because at the last moment they will "force" you to do overtime, or you lose your job.

If you're offered a job at Bayview, run far, far away from it! And find something better. You'll thank me later.

Advice to Senior Management – Hire people with some experience in what they are doing! And pay your employees better! They are worth way more than you pay.

Former Employee – worked at Bayview Financial

Pros – Opportunity to advance was great as the company was rapidly expanding. The company treated each sales employee as if they were running thier own business with the company's support.

Cons – Because growth was so quick management culture and structgure did not keep pace with growth. Often customers knew about changes before sales people.

Advice to Senior Management – Develop organization and culture in advance of growth so you are prepared. Controll growth so that employees are aware of product changes before they happen.