Countrywide at home in Burbank

The company has opened a second home loan office in Toluca Lake.

Countrywide Home Loans is working to lei a foundation for homeowners in Burbank.

The company's newest branch, which was opened by manager May Shalhoub in March, celebrated its grand opening with its customers and clients Thursday with a luau.

The new branch is a model for the company's low-overhead strategy -- open small, expertly staffed financial centers, rather than larger traditional bank branches. Since the company was launched in 2001, Countrywide Bank, N.A. has grown from $65 million in assets to more than $70 billion, according to Countrywide.

Shalhoub, a 20-year home loan veteran, recently began hiring agents to work in the Burbank and Toluca lake branches.

"Countrywide is now the number one lender out there, and didn't have any office service in the Toluca Lake area," Shalhoub said. "When you're a big lender and when you want to service more people, you want to move to a different location."

Just six months after opening the new branch office by herself, the office now buzzes with the work of 17 people working on loans for first-time home buyers, owners and investors.

The newest Countrywide office deals primarily in home mortgage loans for up to four-unit properties.

Several of the people that now work with Shalhoub, like Sheila Ventura, have joined her after working with her at Washington Mutual.

Ventura, a production assistant who works to make sure the loan closing process is smooth, worked with Shalhoub for 15 months, and joined her because she saw potential in working with her in Burbank.

"I think this is a great market just waiting to be worked at and explored, so we're doing just that," Ventura said.

It will not be the first time the company has made a foray into Burbank.

The company opened its first office at the Empire Center about three years ago, according to the Burbank Chamber of Commerce.

"There's no doubt about it," Burbank Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gary Olson said. "The real estate market is holding up, the bubble hasn't burst yet, and good things are happening so people need to have loans and do mortgages."

Members of the chamber have reported that the California Assn. of Realtors is forecasting the influx of another 10 million people into the state within the next 10 years, he said.

"We have people coming and they need housing," Olson said. "It certainly suggests that everything is going to keep rolling."

BIZ BIT

Countrywide Financial Corporation, the parent company of Countrywide Home Loans Inc., was founded in 1969.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.