Melissa Cohn is a pioneer in the mortgage industry as we know it today, with nearly 40 years in the business. Cohn remains one of the industry’s top-ranked mortgage brokers and continues to hit past her billion-dollar mark. She began her career with CitiMortgage before launching her own successful mortgage company, The Manhattan Mortgage Company, in 1985. As one of the very first independent mortgage brokers, Melissa was able to exponentially grow her business into the #1 residential mortgage broker on the East Coast with more than $5 billion in annual volume. In 2020, she joined William Raveis Mortgage as Regional Vice President and has been the top originator in the company ever since.
Year after year, Melissa is consistently recognized in the industry for top production. She was named in Crain’s 40 Under 40 Class of 1996, Ernst & Young Metropolitan New York 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year for Financial Services, and The 100 Most Powerful People in New York Real Estate, 2009, In 2023 she was recognized by Scotsman Guide for total volume: #50 Top Originator nationwide, #10 Top Women Originator nationwide, and #1 Top Originator in Connecticut.
She has been on any number of boards including the Child Development Center Of The Hamptons Charter School, Volunteers of America, The Lighthouse for the Blind, and Real Estate Board of New York. She currently sits on two boards, at the Ellen Hermanson Foundation which supports The Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, and at Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.
As if all her accomplishments weren’t enough, she has also been recognized as a female trailblazer, driving change and personally helping to promote more women into the still male-dominated mortgage field. One of her biggest moments of pride was getting her daughter to join her. Melissa’s business comes from word-of-mouth referrals from REALTORS®, attorneys, financial planners, and past clients with whom she has built a relationship over the past four decades. She also seeks new relationships that can offer her clients more options. Her expertise and insights are regularly featured in the press including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, CNBC/Acorns, and Mansion Global.
