WE’RE HEARING that summer has finally arrived here on the plains. So what now? Take the rest of the summer off? Lament about the current state of the mortgage business, how the refinance market went completely south when the rates took a pop? Act like you didn’t see it coming?
Time to get busy and get with it. First of all, there are still a significant number of mortgages out there with interest rates above 5%. Secondly, there are many indications that the new home market is heating up...in some cases even showing signs of overheating. Most of all, we need to get in the right frame of mind to work the purchase market.
What does this involve? For one thing you will need to make sure everyone is ready to handle more communication...communication with Realtors, title companies, home inspectors, etc. Think you don’t need to communicate? Better warm up to the idea...more and more borrowers are demanding the lender stay in contact with all the parties involved in a transaction. Why? As the lender, you are the hub; virtually everything needs to go through you. Trust me, if you don’t start becoming an excellent communicator, someone will do it for you.
Here are some small steps you can take right now to get you moving in the right direction:
1. Check your culture. Make sure everyone on your team knows you won’t be satisfied with any loan officer who isn’t prospecting for purchase money loans.
2. Check your technology. Make sure that you have the tools you need to centralize all communication and make it available in a secure way to your consumers.
3. Check your contact logs. Are your people talking to the people who can send you business? And when they’re talking to your borrowers, are they doing so in a timely fashion with useful information to keep the borrower experience excellent?
This summer isn’t going to be all laying on the sand and playing golf. You’ve got some work to do.
Don Kracl is vice president of mortgage products for Mortech Inc., a Zillow business. Kracl has worked to make mortgage lending easier for the industry and consumers for more than 30 years. He can be reached at
