Skip to main content

Get to the Point (Posted February 29, 2016)



As you may have already noticed, there’s some amateur art included in this week’s newsletter.  While it’s certainly better than a crayon drawing that might grace a refrigerator that’s supposed to be “mommy” but looks more like a B-movie creature, we all acknowledge there’s a reason the guy in our office who drew this . . . is still working in our office rather than making a living elsewhere.  Be that as it may, there’s a point to the picture: is this how you’re allowing your client to choose their mortgage company?  In many cases, it’s probably not too far off. 

Agreed, it’s wise to stay on the right side of the law and be sure you’re never accused of “steering”.  With that in mind, many agents tell their clients that it’s completely their decision as to what mortgage company they use (and it is, of course) and effectively step back from the entire conversation – using the illustration to the left, they’re putting the blindfold on the buyer and getting as far away as possible so they don’t take a dart to the eye or another sensitive region.  Others give the same advice about this being the buyer’s choice and go on to give three or four recommendations of different lenders – this is still giving them the darts but not the blindfold. 

“Steering”, of course, means you’ve symbolically taken the client by the shoulders and marched them into a lender’s office and said, “You HAVE TO use this lender if you want to work with me.”  There’s a reason that’s not just frowned upon but illegal.  It’s a good law designed to protect everyone in the transaction! 

Clients come to you, ultimately, so you’ll hand them the keys to their new home.  (Thanks, Captain Obvious!)  This means that they rely on you to give them good advice and sound counsel.  When you see a particular buyer has a unique set of circumstances or know the transaction has some funky factors that don’t pop up every day, you’re performing a value-added (and legal) service by saying, “Choosing a mortgage company is ALWAYS up to you.  With your situation, I would strongly suggest you consider _______ when choosing.  I’ve seen them tackle issues like these before, and they do it very well – other companies haven’t been up to the challenge.” 

KNOW what your individual lenders do well and better than anybody else and counsel your clients accordingly – a large part of our business comes from agents referring other agents because they’ve seen how well we’ve handled the tough situations.  The smoother the transaction, the happier the client will be.  Happy clients equal more referrals.  Smoother transactions equal faster paychecks. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Posted August 31, 2015

Fast . . . So They’re Not Furious InSellerate , a lead-generation company, conducted a study that yielded some very interesting insights: •    32% of consumers expect a company to respond to an online inquiry within 30 minutes •    42% of consumers expect contact within one hour •    M ore than half of the companies studied (56.34%) did not respond to the online or email inquiry at all Of those companies that did respond, the average response time exceeded 24 hours, and the primary response vehicle was email, which is a passive, relatively non-effective method of contact .   The take-away thought from all of this is “no kidding”, of course, but it underscores the wisdom that a lead is only as good as the work you put into it. Safety Over Sales According to a USA Today article, realtors in Iowa are taking steps to ensure the safety of all agents. The initiative includes an optional seller contract that prohibits any agent from ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rates are Overrated

Buckle up and get ready to have your mind blown!   Okay, it’s not THAT mind blowing – some of you might even say, “well, duh” – but it’s still interesting. The economists (that’s a fancy term for “the smart folks”) at the New York Federal Reserve published the results of a study, which reveal that changes in down payment requirements have MORE influence over home buyers’ willingness to buy than changes in rates.   Follow me on this – you’ll be glad you did! Surveying both buyers and renters, those smarty pants at the Fed found that the effect of interest rates may be overrated when compared to changes in down payment requirements.   The study found: • Dropping the down payment from 20% to 5% INCREASES the willingness to purchase, on average, by 15% among buyers and 40% among renters • Decreasing the interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan only raised the willingness to purchase by 5%, on average If you’re straddling the fence between BUY RIG...
Post a Comment
Read more

Perspective Produces Progress

Each week I try to write something that will either make you think about a rather humdrum mortgage/real estate topic in a new way or at least clear the cerebral cobwebs.   Admittedly, some weeks I’m better at accomplishing that than others – my apologies for those “off” weeks.   As I’ve been trying to come up with a topic for this week’s missive, it’s not so much that I’ve been hitting a brick wall that’s been keeping me from inspiration, it’s that I’ve felt sort of “dragged down” by so many things that have been happening here in our own backyard over the past few weeks that have been . . . less than inspiring.   It seems that wherever you turn – TV, radio, Facebook, Instagram , newspapers (they still exist) – one party isn’t happy unless the opposing party is proven wrong and/or devastated.   I’m not advocating the philosophy that “everyone’s a winner and should get a trophy just for showing up” – I’m an advocate of just the opposite when it comes to c...
Post a Comment
Read more