In 2012, there were about 28.1 million real estate investors in the United States. As of the end of first-quarter 2013, the Federal Registration of Mortgage Loan Originators listed 394,000 registered loan originators. These days, because many loan “brokers” don’t feel they can spend the time or money to register or join associations, the figure for registered originators undoubtedly understates by a sizable amount the number of intermediaries placing loans in this country.