The No. 3 producer for 2010, Kevin Lyons, has been in the mortgage business for nearly 14 years. Obviously, during that period he has developed a lot of relationships with consumers and other partners.
So when rates dropped last year, he estimated that 80% of his business came from repeat and referral customers, with the rest coming from the marketing and networking he has been doing all along.
Lyons originates at Anchor Funding in San Diego. Almost all of his 2010 volume of $220 million was in conforming product (including conforming jumbo) and 80% of his production was refinancings.
He works with financial planners and attorneys. His referral base also includes Realtors, home improvement contractors and stockbrokers.
As for the current year, the San Diego market is starting to see some purchase business come back, and so all of the ground work Lyons has done with his referral-based network is beginning to kick in.
But given all the changes in the business environment, “every day is an adventure. Anyone who can give you a forecast as to what is going to happen in the next six months is guessing.
“You have to make yourself networked and be available for people to work with you so that you can fulfill their needs,” Lyons said.
There is nothing special about what he does, it is just working hard, he added. It is the “same old, same old that everyone should be doing all the time. If they are doing it every time they will get busy.”
