Pay It Forward
I watched the movie Pay It forward last night. Loved it. It has Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, I think that's her name - the woman from Twister. Anyway, the movie was based on a kid who wanted to change the world. And he came up with the idea of Pay It Forward. He did one huge favor each for three different people. Something they couldn't do for themselves and that forced him to change his behavior.
So he does three favors, and the people he helped cannot repay him, they have to Pay It Forward by doing huge favors for three other people. And that's how it spreads until everyone is doing favors for everyone else.
Simple idea, but genius.
It got me thinking as to how I could pay it forward. So I decided to do something a little different.
What I am going to do, is allow everyone who reads this three questions. You can ask anything you wish and ask by posting it here to this blog. I will, as fast as I can, answer them all. We have thousands of people on our email list so we are looking at a potential of several tens of thousands of questions. So I don't know if this will work or not. But let's try. I think most of the questions will be similar anyway, and not everyone will ask.
By posting your questions here, you can read others' questions and the answers I give as well. So here we go, post away.
posted by Ameen Kamadia @ 2:02 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
I am strongly considering entering the mortgage business as a loan officer. I will be leaving the high-tech industry, most recently the Internet security market, after nearly 28 years.
My question is: Is there still life in the mortgage business for the next several years for someone to do well?
I know this is subjective so please include as much personal as well as industry trends information with your answer.
Pay It Forward Questions:
If you had to pick one single attribute that makes a successful mortgage broker/loan officer, what would it be?
What is the best and most cost-effective training you have ever received that has contributed toward your success (seminars, schools, self-help, etc)?
What is the most effective way to market yourself as a mortgage broker?
This is a piggyback on Jeff's question above: How will people just entering the mortgage brokering field today make money in the next several years when and if the housing bubble bursts?
I am in the military an I am considering the mortgage business for when I retire. I would like to start working part-time nights and weekends. What would your suggestions be to get hired by an industry that seem to only want to hire experienced people who can work 9-5. I am in the Norfolk, Va area. VA requires three years experience before running your own mortgage brokering business.
Can you explain how YSP works? My broker/boss always avoids the subject with me.
I am planning on opening my own mortgage company in October of this year, is it hard to get a surety bond?
Last but not least, what advice would you give to someone going out on there own in the mortgage business?
A friend of a friend encouraged me to become a loan officer. It has been a MONTH since the state issued my licence and this friend of a friend that processed my employment verification has yet to do any training or anything.
I am clueless about what to do next. How do I self-train?
Thanks so much!
LLO
As a new branch manager for a national mortgage lender, what is the best method for recruiting loan officers? I don't mind recruiting people who are just entering the market because I can recommend www.mortgagebrokertraining.com for training and provide them with
licensing, mortgage software and procedure training. The one thing I really need is a good source to find these people who are seriouse about becoming loan officers and have the drive to succeed.
Jeff,
There will stilll be life in the mortgage industry for decades at least. Homes are getting more expensive and more and more people need loans to afford them. So the mortgage industry is not going anywhere.
The question really is, is there an opportunity for the individual to make a ton of money? The future is cloudy. Merger mania is making larger companies. Shopping portals like Nextag and lendingtree are spending millions. Real estate companies are creating or joining forces with banks to have in house mortgage companies. More Real estate agents are getting their mortgage licenses.
But a new study just showed that borrowers save more money on average with a mortgage broker than a lender. Brokers are still doing over 65% of all loans.
And the Mortgage Broker Associations are not as strong and organized as they can be. So things can definately improve.
For the next 10-15 years at least we have nothing to fear, as long as we keep changing and keep our skills up to date - websites, ways to process loans faster, etc.
1. I left a large finance company to work with a broker. I am doing my own digging to come up with leads, can you offer any suggestions for getting leads with out paying up front? (I am currently searching county courthouse files for deeds on b/c lenders and cold calling. Takes time and I'm not getting very many applications.)
2. When I go to a Real Estate office to try to get leads, everyone says, "Fax us your b-card, mail us some info, or, just drop off your info and we'll put it around the office." How can I get IN with the realators?
3. On my cold calls, I am using was I was taught on my previous job, and I feel like I'm striking out. Can you offer info on scripts or fresh info on how to get peopl's attention?
I've been reading your info for the last few weeks, great stuff. Like the idea of "Paying it Forward."
Matt,
One attribute is hard to single out. Being a personable person, being liked by others, is a huge benefit. And if that is all you have, then you can make a living. But to be truly successful, you need to be disciplined. Have the discipline to be organized, manage your business properly, do the things that need to be done on a daily basis, and set up systems to run things for you.
The most cost effective training would be the small courses I have bought. They provide more info than a bookstore book and almost as much as a seminar. I dont like semnars too much because they take so long. And with the ones nowadays, the speakers just tease you and want you to buy their stuff. I have also taken part of expensive coaching programs, but they do not teach anything new. The material is oout there. You need to discover what you need and fine it.
The more effective way to market yourself is without a doubt, have a database and marketing to it. Building friends and getting referrals. It is easy, the most fun, and can set up up in a referral only business the fastest
With experince it is not easy .....
I have been in the mortgage business for 15 plus (heavy on the plus smile)yrs..as a Sr. Loan Processor/Closer... I now strongly desire to become a LO but I finding that alot of Mrtgage Companies are only looking at me to be their Ops Mgr/Processing Mgr becuz of my strong back ground in the "Operations" side of the mtg business and/or that I'm not in my early 20's that I would not make a good LO ..... How can I get my foot in the door as a LO with strong Mortgage background and not be pre judged because of my experince?????
I see I am not alone out here as a new loan officer. I spent 23 years in the healthcare industry, but wanted the opportunity to do more in the latter part of my career years than I did in the first. I still see this as a service industry. My boss is terrific and has spent money to have training materials available for the new folks, but I still find myself at a loss as to how to market myself. I have tried a few of the techniques I've read about, but so far have had very little response. I am determined and committed to this business and know I will be successful at some point in time, but I could still use some help along the way. Any tips you and your readers can give me will be greatly appreciated. I really liked Conrad's idea about a handbook. There is so much to remember.
Judi
joe here. Awright! Three free questions. i couldn't find a "post" button so i assume they go here? Ooops, does that count as one of my free questions? Ooops there's two? ;-(
i'm a "newbie". Since rates are still pretty good i'm searching for a few refi's while i try to put together a purchase business. For now i do property searches on people who bought between 1998 and 2002, when rates were high-ish, on the hopes that one or two might have missed out on earlier rifi opportunities. Is there an easier way to do this? And, what i'd *really* like to do is search out people who are living under b/c paper loans but i haven't a clue how to go about this?
And, regarding refi's, since these would be mostly rate/tem refi's i'd like to do a quick 'n' dirty "break-even", etc. for them so i wrote a little spreadsheet routine. My mentor (and every one else in the office) disagrees with my methodology.
What i try for is an "apples to apples" comparison so i
* take a look at their original terms (say 30F and $100,000).
* take a look at how long they've held the mortgage (say 5 years) and calculate their current balance (about $95,000).
* then i run a new payment based on that balance plus finance charges ($95,000 plus say $3,500) as amortized over *25!* years. This is where everyone disagrees with me. They say it should be for 30 years since that was the original term. i say it should be 25 since that what's left and i want "apples to apples". They say it makes us look crappy (compared to the other guys). i say being able to surface the truth (if it is the truth?) is our competitive advantage.
Help?
* Anyway, i then divide the costs of refi by the difference between the two payment rates to come up w/ a roughly right number of months to BE (recover fincance costs) and, no, i don't bother to figure in tax benefits/consequences (after all i am a newbie!)
I am in the military also and want to start my own mortgage business. I want to originate loans in my state. My first question is: how do I link up with national lenders to sell their products (mortgage plans)?
#2 Can I work with more than one national lender legally, if so, is there a limit?
and
#3 Is it necessary to work for someone else as a loan officer first?
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