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

Financial Nearsightedness

Years ago when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created, we had some wacko thought that part of the job of the folks filling its ranks would be to . . . protect the consumer.  In some people’s view, this would mean that builders of new homes would no longer be able to dangle the carrot of “free” incentives if the buyer would finance the purchase through the builder’s in-house or preferred lender.  To those same people, it just made sense that the CFPB was created to even the playing field and make it so that the consumer got the very best deal available.  Well, we were wrong. Builders ARE allowed to offer incentives for using their in-house and preferred lenders despite the fact that sort of goes against the idea that the consumer is getting the very best deal available. And for most consumers, all they see is the incentive, and this computes to less money coming out of their pocket at closing  –  and they’re right (sort of).  The purpose of today’s article is si
Post a Comment
Read more

Topless Professionals - Nope

Fads come and go, certainly, but you can’t always tell the difference in the moment between a fad and a trend  –  because refusing to adapt to the trends can be limiting . . . if not disastrous.  Let me share a couple of examples where failing to see where things were headed didn’t turn out well.   An engineer presented the idea of a “filmless camera” to the executives at Kodak back in 1975, but they laughed him to scorn.     In 2012, Kodak was forced to file for bankruptcy because they failed to adapt to the digital world.     We all know Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, but how many of us recognize the name of Ron Wayne (and, no, that’s not Batman’s brother)?     Ronny was the third founding member of Apple, and he sold his 10% stake in the company in 1976 for $1500.     His shares would now be worth over $50 billion.     WAY BACK in 2000, Reed Hastings approached Blockbuster and offered to sell Netflix for $50 million.  Blockbuster turned Hastings down.  Netflix is now wor
Post a Comment
Read more

Sitting on the Fence Only Gives You Splinters

“I woke up this morning and couldn't find my socks, so I called information.   She said they were behind the couch.   She was right.”   Reading the words of comedian Stephen Wright isn’t quite the same as actually hearing them with his deadpan delivery, but they’re still funny.   The same can be said for timeless wisdom: whether you hear it coming directly from the lips of a wizened old sage or you read it in a little missive such as this, it’s still wisdom, right?   They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, so you’re about to get 2,000 words’ worth right here: I’m going to show you two graphs that are going to speak volumes about buying power and interest rates – far more than I could convey if I tried to write over 2,000 words (and probably put you to sleep).   Obviously, this first graph shows how even a slight change in interest rates can affect someone’s buying power in the real estate market.   There’s a fairly big swing between what someone can a
Post a Comment
Read more