"Walt Disney's Aladdin became the biggest hit movie in 1992. A wonderful soundtrack, creative animation and the voice talent of Robin Williams set the foundation for an entire Aladdin empire consisting of sequels, books, toys and a TV series."
Summary: This page is intended to benefit mortgage professionals that are interested in dedicating time and energy to boost their career.
"Walt Disney's Aladdin became the biggest hit movie in 1992. A
wonderful soundtrack, creative animation and the voice talent of Robin
Williams set the foundation for an entire Aladdin empire consisting of
sequels, books, toys and a TV series."
We can't solve your problems and dilemmas by giving you a magic lantern like the one Aladdin had. However, having the right resources available means you are much more likely to make good decisions that further your career and professional satisfaction.
Professional entertainers and athletes spend much more time practicing than they do performing. We recommend that you spend upwards of 20 minutes a day in solitude pondering how you can do things better and generate more business. One tremendous site to help you is Advanced Mortgage Brokers University. It offers numerous free courses to help you in your career.
This page focuses on the life cycle of a loan and provides tools that can benefit you in every aspect of your origination career. However, there are two more tools that are so broad-based that they can't really fit into one stage. Both are subscription based: LoanToolbox.com and the Mortgage Mastery Club.
There are many avenues to take in generating your business. We suggest that you concentrate on developing your own unique selling proposition. Being different is certainly better. One thing we never recommend you do is create rate sheets!
Consider these two suggestions when you solicit your business. First, always provide value before asking for the business. What right do you have to suggest that a referral source give you business unless you have first earned it. A key way to generate value is to drive leads to your referral sources. In the case of real estate professionals, a well implemented FSBO program can create leads that you can share. Please review our Selling Your Home page for learning more about what home sellers need to know.
Another idea is to use Mortgage Coach as a tool to add value when working with financial planners and real estate professionals who truly want to demonstrate a commitment to helping buyers get the absolute best mortgage. With Mortgage Coach you can easily create detailed reports that dramatically illustrate how differing loan terms can have a long-term impact on big picture financial objectives. Take time to study their Sales Library when you visit their web site.
Product knowledge and proficiency in understanding the application process are the keys to success in this stage. We recommend that you practice taking apps while in the car. Purchase a small recorder and then listen to the interviews that you create. Practice makes perfect. Do you know how to answer the rate question? If not, get some one that can mentor you and teach you the ropes.
In taking applications, look for ways to build trust and rapport; learn to use every conversation as an opportunity to sell yourself. If taking an application in person, make sure to take notes and provide lots of nonverbal feedback as ways to show that you really care about the borrowers.
The more valuable you become in the process, the less likely you will lose the deal over a quarter of a point. Try to under promise and over deliver. Use every conversation as a tool to sell. Visit BestofSales.com for a list of wonderful resources to help you sell better.
Another thing to realize is that your credibility is greatly damaged if you go back and request more information after initially collecting some information from your borrowers. Even though it costs a little more, try and run as many deals through DO or LP as possible so that you will have a precise list of items required to validate a loan request.
So the real issue becomes how can you get your loans processed efficiently? First, take a complete application and get all compliance items signed when you first meet with a client. Doing this will not only help your processor but it also demonstrate your professionalism to the borrowers you work with.
Assuming you run your own automated approvals, tell the borrower that you will get back in touch at a particular time and do it! Breaking promises is a great way to demolish your credibility. Use software like ACT! that offers special add-ons for the professional loan officer.
You must understand the submission process and learn to read underwriting findings. We highly recommend that you become familiar with automated underwriting. In addition to DO and LP, both mention above, you should check out MGIC's eMagic (or your favorite MI web site) or ePass.
Make sure that your files are stacked according to the desires of the underwriter and that you provide a coversheet with your contact information on it. Try and communicate via E-mail with your underwriters so that there is a written history of what is communicated. You want to insert notes in the file if phone conversations are made. Make sure you know the underwriting and funding turnarounds for the loans that you want to close. Lock-in loans so that your time frames are generous enough to allow for delays.
One of the most critical stages in the mortgage process is closing. Don't let closings happen late and don't let them be ugly. You must make an individual decision as to whether or not you will attend your closings - some loan officers do, others don't. Regardless, call the borrowers ahead of time and make sure that they understand the amount of cash they need to bring to closing and that it is consistent with what you originally told them.
We discourage conducting a closing survey to see how thing went. You really don't have the chance to correct any errors you made in the process. Try using a mid-processing survey and solicit feedback early enough that you can adjust your course of action if the borrowers appear to be unhappy with the process. Here is a link to a sample mid-process survey.
Studying your closed loans is a great way to build the proper best business practices. You should request quality control findings from your compliance department so you can learn from them as well as asking wholesalers to share their findings with you. If your mortgage company is FHA approved, they must have a quality control plan in place that complies with HUD.
You should make a habit of working diligently to retire any post-closing exceptions that may arise. Use this process as a sign to the borrowers that you are sincere in wanting them not to be hassled over missing or improperly executed documents. This is your time to shine; you have been paid and could move on but by clearing exceptions you truly are demonstrating your commitment to excellence.
© 1999-2008 America's Mortgage Broker, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Contact info@amb123.com for more information.