Karen Deis

A list of 26 items you should review when interviewing someone to be your office helper.

There are different techniques to use in selling to each group.

Provide them a value-added with Rapid Real Estate Review.

Be proactive in getting applications from your neighbors.

Not only get client testimonials, use them to obtain more business.

Every one should have a specialty in the mortgage origination business and here are some to consider looking into.

Mortgage originators can learn from what the owner of this small town drug store did.

Up until a year ago, I had never considered using video as a way to communicate with the thousands of loan officers and real estate agents I connect with on a monthly basis.

Is it better to call attention to yourself? Or wait and have someone discovers how wonderful and great you really are?

Most people see Lady Gaga as a counter-culture freak, but I see her as a person who is fearless when it comes to branding and sharing her message.

OK, one borrower wrote his lender he couldn't make his mortgage paymentbecause he'd been bitten by a spider. That can happen to anyone, right? But he didn't make his payment the second or third month, either.

If you haven’t made a conscious effort to grow your email list every day, here are some strategies you can use to build your email database into an asset.

Nobody's perfect. But with social media, blogs, forums and articles posted in the millions each day, you need to monitor your online reputation.

“I would never stoop so low as to spy on my competition,” one loan officer said to me recently. Why not? Don’t think for a minute that they don’t know what you are up to.

A handout to give applicants on the 10 commandments when applying for a mortgage.

The reality is that every morning, when you wake up, you are broke until you find a way to get more business and close loans.

Many loan officers have been in the mortgage business forever (10 years seems to be the norm). Some have been in the business only for a short period of time. They’ve learned by doing—taking licensing courses, intra-company training, etc. But have you “mastered” your job to the best of your ability?

Between everything you do - family, friends, hobbies, work, play, lessons, school, well, you name it - you probably don’t have one spare minute in your life.

I just read the latest National Association of Realtors report saying that in 2011, 37% of all homebuyers were first timers. That's down from 2010 but it's still one-third of the home buying market.

I recently received a business card from a loan officer who called himself a "Personal Liability Manager" with the tag line "providing mortgage and liability management on an ethical and objective basis." It's unique. It's different. And it begs the all-important question—so how do you do that?