What should be on a loan officer's to-do list going into 2024

'Tis the season to work a little harder. While many professionals are taking a break and spending time with family and friends during the holidays, industry stakeholders urge loan officers to not get complacent.

The next couple of months may be some of the most challenging the industry has seen, but it is also a time loan officers can take advantage of to implement useful tools and habits going into 2024, mortgage executives say.

One of the most important bullet points on a loan officer's "to-do list" is doing outreach to past and present contacts, especially during a time that historically has low origination volume.

Greg Sher, managing director at NFM Lending, thinks originators should go "back to the basics and double down on traditional methods such as calling more real estate agents and developing meaningful relationships with referral partners." 

Mortgage professionals should consider not only going to open houses and Realtor events, but also attending "builder events, any sort of association event, or going down to serve lunch to the local fire station or taking cookies to the emergency room," Paul Hindman, a mortgage industry veteran, said.

"Go out there and meet with people face-to-face and don't hide behind some curtains," said Hindman.

Bill Dallas, former president of Finance of America, recommends for his originator clients to reach out to "accountants, CPAs, attorneys, insurance agents, schools and nonprofits, go to the Chamber of Commerce, where all the businesses are in your local town and build your database." 

"So instead of complaining about interest rates, and everything else, I need you to set up appointments to go meet people who can actually refer you loans," Dallas said. "If you aren't doing that, you're not building that database, you're dead in the water anyway." 

While originators wait in anticipation for interest rates to come down, they should also be carving out a presence on social media.

"Market share in the traditional sense is evaporating before our eyes and will never be the same again," said Sher. "The reason I say that is because more and more consumers are turning to social media to influence their behavior and to make decisions including who to buy a home from, where to buy a home, what lender to use and so any strategy moving forward, in my opinion, has to include personal branding strategy, or you'll get left behind in the not too distant future"

Thuan Nguyen, CEO of the Loan Factory, and his team actively embrace social media to find leads and bring in business. Nguyen is always "shocked to learn that so many loan officers are not doing social media."

"They know that they need to be on social media, but they don't take action and don't do anything," said Nguyen, commenting on what's observed. " If they don't, they will keep suffering." 

In crafting your presence online and with your network, it doesn't always have to be original. Sometimes imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Nguyen said.

"Find a successful loan officer and do exactly what they do. Find out what they do, how they have so many clients and you can copy their strategy and do the same thing," he added.

Dallas also urges originators to expand their product offerings to consumers by taking the time to learn about non-qualified mortgage loans.

"Most mortgage bankers are agency driven and they're stuck," Dallas said. "And they don't know how to do non-agency, non-QM and anything other than agency. They just pray that interest rates drop and they can send more loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in January."

All in all, there are plenty of action items that loan officers can pursue to set themselves up for more business.

"When rates drop there will be a lot more buyers and also a lot of homeowners will refinance, so right now is actually a great time to prepare … right now is not a good time to take a vacation," Nguyen noted.