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

The Naked Truth About Home Buying

It’s highly likely I’ve already written about this, but I’ll try to make it entertaining at least.   There’s a guy who works in ou r office who suffers from kidney stones – and from what he’s described, “suffers” might even be a little too tame a word for it.   As an aside, though, when you ask him how painful the experience is, he gets an odd smile and says, “It’s the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced, but it’s hard to describe.   I’ve heard a lot of people compare it to the pain a woman experiences while giving birth.   To that, I must say, those people are big, fat liars!   I’ve been in the presence of a woman giving birth, twice, and her pain has to be 100 times worse.   They’re passing the equivalent of a Buick.   I’m passing a pumpkin seed.”   He’s always been a colorful fellow. He’s had this wonderful condition for over a decade now, and the stones make their appearance about every 18 months or so.   Up until recently, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saving Money is Music to Your Ears (Posted January 9, 2017)

For all the “old” people out there, you’ll instantly know the name Daryl Hall.   For those of you who are still on your original set of adult teeth (perhaps because you got your braces off fairly recently), Daryl Hall is a musician (the blonde half of the duo Hall & Oates – the one who DIDN’T have a mustache that looked like it was straight out of an ’ 80s adult film) with a number of albums (albums a re these big, black 12-inch vinyl “platters” that look like a pregnant CD) that have been certified as gold/platinum and hit songs to his credit, some of which he recorded himself and some he wrote for others.   Going back to 2007, he started a show on the internet called Live from Daryl’s House ; in 2011, he took it to cable where it currently airs.   The concept is relatively simple: he has musicians from all genres and eras come to his house to jam with him and his band.   In between songs, they talk about music and memories, and they usually end up eatin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Showcase Showdown (Posted October 17, 2016)

The game show “The Price is Right” – the show where 95% of what they give away is total garbage (fireproof bathmats in the shape of Ecuador, really?) – is probably each child’s first exercise in trying to guess how much something costs.   Admit it, you sat glued to the TV set either screaming at the screen so the contestant could hear you or you were sending out vibes telepathically – either way, you KNEW you were the BEST price guesser in the world . . .   until the very moment the model would reveal the real price of $732 for a set of salad tongs made of Lucite and cubic zirconia (your bid was $17, and you thought THAT was probably a little high).   But that didn’t stop you because here comes that toaster oven that doubles as a brief case – how could anyone put a price on THAT? A recent study published in the Journal of Housing Research (just let the sheer coolness of that name wash over you for a few moments) concerning pricing was interesting.   The r...
Post a Comment
Read more