News
For Immediate Release
Founded in Overland Park, Kansas in 2022, Smart Home Lending now serves homebuyers across nine states — Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, including communities like Overland Park, Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee, and Lee's Summit — giving borrowers direct access to wholesale rates from 100+ lending partners, with a 5.0-star Google rating across 500+ reviews at time of publication and plans for continued national expansion.
KANSAS CITY METROPOLITAN AREA — June 2026
In 2022, Taylor Hartley founded Smart Home Lending in Overland Park, Kansas, based on a single conviction: that most homebuyers were paying more for their mortgages than they needed to, and that an independent broker model giving borrowers direct access to wholesale rates from more than 100 lending partners could change that. Three years later, Smart Home Lending has funded thousands of home loans totaling more than $520 million in loan volume in the United States, resulting in 163 percent growth in annual loan volume from 2023 to 2025, and a 2026 pace on track to surpass last year's record.
What started in the Kansas City metropolitan area, serving buyers across Overland Park, Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee, Olathe, Lee's Summit, Prairie Village, Blue Springs, Liberty, Manhattan, Johnson County, Jackson County, and surrounding communities, has grown into a multi-state platform with licensed operations in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida.
Smart Home Lending holds a 5.0-star Google rating across more than 500 reviews at time of publication. The firm has served more than 10,000 homeowners since founding.
"I started Smart Home Lending because I believed there was a better way. Not just better rates, though that matters, but a better experience. One where the client feels like they have a trusted advisor, not a transaction processor. We built that in Kansas City. Now we are building it everywhere."
— Taylor Hartley, Founder, Smart Home Lending
The Broker Model: Wholesale Access Through Independent Lending
The foundation of Smart Home Lending's growth is an advantage many borrowers do not realize exists. As an independent mortgage broker, Smart Home Lending does not lend its own money or set its own rates. Taylor Hartley and the Smart Home Lending team shop each loan across a network of more than 100 wholesale lenders, including banks, credit unions, and institutional investors who may offer rates not available through traditional retail lenders.
This model stands in direct contrast to how most Americans obtain a mortgage. A bank or retail lender offers its own products at internally set pricing. Smart Home Lending shops across its full wholesale lending network with the obligation to find the best fit for each borrower. The distinction is structural rather than cosmetic. Smart Home Lending operates independently from the lenders it uses. Smart Home Lending's model is designed to prioritize borrower choice and lender competition.
The financial impact is measurable. According to research published in August 2024 by Polygon Research, borrowers who work with an independent mortgage broker save an average of $10,662 compared to borrowers who use retail lenders, based on a loan-level APR analysis using 2023 HMDA rate spread, APOR, and agency-family disclosure data for 30-year fixed purchase agency loans.
Smart Home Lending has also invested in live-rate transparency technology that gives borrowers real-time access to wholesale rates across the full lending network: not estimates, not rate ranges based on yesterday's market, and not locked-in quotes that require a conversation before a number appears. Borrowers can see actual competitive rates before they ever speak with a loan officer. This level of pricing transparency is generally unavailable through traditional retail lenders and banks, whose rates are set internally and disclosed only after an application or inquiry. It is another expression of the same principle that defines Smart Home Lending's model: the borrower deserves to know what they are paying, and why.
"We work for the borrower, not the bank. Every borrower gets the same access to our full network of over 100 wholesale lenders, the same rate-shopping process, and the same live rate transparency. A borrower can see actual wholesale rates in real time before they ever pick up the phone. That is what this model makes possible, and it is something a bank or retail lender structurally cannot offer."
— Taylor Hartley, Founder, Smart Home Lending
Smart Home Lending's 5.0-star Google rating across more than 500 reviews at time of publication reflects not only the pricing advantage but the communication and care that Taylor Hartley has built his career on. Smart Home Lending loan officers have also earned recognition in the 2025 Scotsman Guide rankings, placing them among the top-performing loan officers in the country.
Three Years of Consecutive Growth: The Numbers
Smart Home Lending launched in 2022 as a self-funded operation. Taylor Hartley started the company without outside investors, building from the ground up with a team anchored by long-tenured professionals who reflect the firm's culture of loyalty and stability: Jasmine Alexander (loan processor, seven years with Taylor Hartley), Nathan Coker (first loan officer, six years), and Ryan Alexander (compliance officer, five years).
The growth trajectory since launch has been consistent and steep:
2023: 299 loans funded, $77.7 million in total loan volume
2024: 515 loans funded, $136.6 million in total volume (a 72 percent increase in loans and 76 percent increase in volume)
2025: 698 loans funded, $204.6 million in total volume (a 36 percent increase in loans and 50 percent increase in volume)
2026 (Through May): 326 loans funded, $101.8 million in total volume
The three-year volume growth of 163 percent, from $77.7 million in 2023 to $204.6 million in 2025, represents one of the strongest independent brokerage growth trajectories in the Midwest over that period. The company's average loan size has risen from $260,000 in 2023 to $312,000 in 2026, reflecting Smart Home Lending's expanding reach into higher-value home segments across its multi-state footprint.
Building a National Platform: From the Midwest to Everywhere
Smart Home Lending's growth has never been confined to a single market. The firm launched in Kansas and Missouri in 2022 and within three years had built a licensed footprint spanning nine states across the Midwest, Mountain West, South, and Southeast. The expansion was not incidental. Taylor Hartley designed Smart Home Lending's operational infrastructure, including its wholesale lender relationships, compliance systems, and team structure, to scale across state lines from the beginning.
The independent broker model is inherently portable. Because Smart Home Lending does not originate its own capital or maintain a product shelf tied to a specific geography, adding a new licensed state means extending the same rate-shopping network and service model to a new population of borrowers. Every borrower accesses the same wholesale lending network, the same rate-shopping process, and the same pricing advantage — regardless of market or loan size.
Smart Home Lending's current nine-state footprint, spanning Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida, represents the first phase of a planned national buildout. Smart Home Lending is actively pursuing licensure in additional states and building toward a multi-state model, with each state staffed by licensed loan officers who operate under the same broker model and service philosophy that drove the firm's Kansas City growth.
"I believe the broker model is one of the most powerful advantages available to borrowers in today's mortgage market, and most of the country still does not know it exists. Every state we add is another population of borrowers who can access wholesale rates for the first time. That is the opportunity. That is why we are expanding."
— Taylor Hartley, Founder, Smart Home Lending
The firm's 2026 production pace of 326 loans and $101.8 million in volume through late May suggests that Smart Home Lending's national expansion is being driven by demand, not ambition alone. Borrowers and real estate professionals in markets outside Kansas City have sought out Smart Home Lending specifically for the pricing advantage and service model that established the firm's reputation in the Midwest.
Taylor Hartley: Nearly Two Decades in Mortgage Lending
Taylor Hartley's career spans nearly two decades, beginning after graduating from Kansas State University in 2007 with a degree in marketing and entering the mortgage industry at Countrywide Home Loans in Overland Park, Kansas. When Bank of America acquired Countrywide, Taylor Hartley remained in the industry, moving through LeaderOne Financial, Wells Fargo Private Banking, and Community First National Bank before entering the broker world in 2017.
"Jim Casson got me into the broker world in 2017, and that was the best thing I've ever done for my career," Taylor Hartley said. "Once I understood what the broker model actually meant for clients, I knew that was the right way to operate." Five years later, Taylor Hartley founded Smart Home Lending, funding the company personally without outside investors and building it from a single-market brokerage into a multi-state platform in three years.
Taylor Hartley and spouse Molly Hartley are raising three sons, Henry, Griffin, and Jack, in the Kansas City area. Smart Home Lending supports Children's Mercy and contributes to Braden's Hope.
"I genuinely care about other people. My team, my clients, my referral partners and my family. I lead by my heart and not my head. I created Smart Home Lending to help people. As long as we remember that, that's all we need."
— Taylor Hartley, Founder, Smart Home Lending
Key Facts: Smart Home Lending
Firm type: Independent mortgage broker (wholesale channel access, competitive pricing)
Founded: 2022, Overland Park, Kansas
Founder: Taylor Hartley
NMLS: #2140357
Licensed states: Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida
Primary Kansas City markets: Kansas City metro, Overland Park, Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee, Olathe, Lee's Summit, Prairie Village, Blue Springs, Liberty, Manhattan (KS), and communities throughout Johnson County, Jackson County, and the greater Kansas City area
Additional markets served: Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, and communities throughout Smart Home Lending's growing multi-state footprint
2025 loans funded: 698
2025 loan volume: $204,614,722
2024 loans funded: 515
2024 loan volume: $136,551,326
Volume growth (2023–2025): 163 percent
Loans funded (2023–May 2026): 1,800+ (2023 through May 2026)
Loan volume (2023–May 2026): $520+ million (2023 through May 2026)
Homeowners served: 10,000+
Google rating: 5.0 stars, 500+ reviews
Average borrower savings: $10,662 vs. retail lenders (Polygon Research, 2023 HMDA data)
Wholesale lending partners: 100+
Industry recognition: Smart Home Lending loan officers recognized in 2025 Scotsman Guide rankings, among top-performing loan officers nationally
Rate transparency: Live wholesale rates accessible in real time across 100+ lending partners
Website: smarthomelending.com
About Smart Home Lending
Smart Home Lending is an independent mortgage brokerage founded in 2022 by Taylor Hartley and headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. The firm operates as a direct wholesale broker, giving borrowers access to competitive rates through the wholesale lending channel, with more than 100 lending partners. Smart Home Lending serves homebuyers, refinancing homeowners, and real estate professionals throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area, including Overland Park, Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee, Olathe, Lee's Summit, Prairie Village, Blue Springs, Liberty, and communities throughout Johnson County and Jackson County, and is licensed in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida, with plans for continued national expansion. Smart Home Lending holds a 5.0-star Google rating across more than 500 reviews at time of publication and has served more than 10,000 homeowners since founding. Smart Home Lending loan officers are recognized in the 2025 Scotsman Guide rankings among the top-performing loan officers in the country. NMLS #2140357. For more information, visit smarthomelending.com.
Media Contact
Grant Richards
Caliber Firm
hello@caliberfirm.com
Kansas City Metropolitan Area
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What is the first step in getting a mortgage?
The first step is getting pre-approved. At Smart Home Lending, pre-approval takes as little as 24 hours and gives you a clear picture of your budget, loan options, and buying power before you start shopping. Pre-approval is free, requires no commitment, and shows sellers you are a serious buyer.
How much do I need for a down payment?
Down payment requirements vary by loan type. Conventional loans start as low as 3% down, FHA loans require 3.5% down for borrowers with a 580 or higher credit score, and VA and USDA loans offer 0% down for eligible borrowers. A larger down payment typically reduces your monthly payment and may eliminate private mortgage insurance (PMI). Your loan officer can help identify the program that fits your goals.
How long does the mortgage approval process take?
Pre-approval at Smart Home Lending typically takes 24 to 48 hours. Full loan approval, from application to clear to close, generally takes 21 to 30 days depending on the loan type, appraisal timeline, and how quickly you submit documents. Staying responsive during underwriting is the best way to keep the process on track.
Do I need perfect credit to qualify for a home loan?
No, perfect credit is not required. FHA loans are available to borrowers with credit scores as low as 580. Conventional loans typically require a minimum score of 620. VA loans have flexible credit guidelines with no set minimum from the VA itself. Higher credit scores generally qualify for lower interest rates, so it is worth asking your loan officer whether improving your score before applying makes sense for your timeline.
How are mortgage rates determined?
Mortgage rates are shaped by a combination of market conditions and your personal financial profile. Key factors include your credit score, loan-to-value ratio, loan type (conventional, FHA, VA, or USDA), loan term, and debt-to-income ratio. Lenders also watch broader economic indicators like the 10-year Treasury yield. Rates change daily, so a Smart Home Lending loan officer can give you a real-time quote based on your specific situation.
Are there any hidden fees in the mortgage process?
All mortgage costs are required by federal law to be disclosed in writing on a Loan Estimate, provided within three business days of your application. This document itemizes your interest rate, monthly payment, closing costs, and any lender fees. Smart Home Lending walks you through every line before you move forward, so you know exactly what to expect at closing.
Can I lower my mortgage interest rate later by refinancing?
Yes. Refinancing replaces your current mortgage with a new loan, often at a lower rate, which can reduce your monthly payment or total interest paid over the life of the loan. Refinancing typically makes financial sense when market rates drop at least 0.5% to 1% below your current rate. Your break-even point, meaning the time it takes for monthly savings to cover closing costs, matters too. Smart Home Lending can run a cost-benefit analysis to help you decide if and when refinancing is worth it.
What documents do I need to apply for a mortgage?
Most mortgage applications require a government-issued photo ID, federal tax returns from the past two years, recent pay stubs (last 30 days), two to three months of bank statements, and documentation of any additional income. Self-employed borrowers typically provide two years of business tax returns and a current profit and loss statement. Your loan officer will give you a personalized document checklist based on your loan type and financial profile.
Will I have a dedicated loan officer to guide me through the process?
Yes. Every Smart Home Lending client works with a dedicated loan officer from application through closing. Your loan officer coordinates with the title company and real estate agent, answers your questions, and keeps you updated at every stage. You will always know who to contact and where your loan stands.
What happens after I get pre-approved for a mortgage?
Once pre-approved, you receive a pre-approval letter stating your loan amount and estimated terms, which you can present with offers to show sellers you are a qualified buyer. When your offer is accepted, your loan officer opens the full loan file, orders the appraisal, and moves into underwriting. From accepted offer to closing, the full process typically takes three to four weeks at Smart Home Lending.