Success in the mortgage industry comes from a lot of hard work on the part of the originator. But to remain a success, the originator cannot slack off and let things slide.
“When you’re successful, it also breeds a lot of work,” declared Richard Weiner, a producing branch manager for Envoy Mortgage’s Bethesda, Md., office. There are a lot of transactions and a lot of different things going on at one time.
“Being successful takes a lot of work and being successful creates a lot of work. If you don’t want to work that hard, don’t try be successful,” he stated.
In 2011, Weiner did $33 million in production; through mid-June of this year he has done $21 million. Product types include government, conforming, high balance and jumbo loans.
Back in 1991 he opened his own mortgage brokerage doing purchase, refinance and even home improvement loans. In 1995, he moved up to being a mortgage lender, which he operated through July of 2009 when he joined Houston-based Envoy.
Among the things he credits for his success is that “I’ve taken the time to learn the guidelines, so I just don’t take no for an answer. I recognize the many different options we have as a mortgage lender with Envoy [match that with] the different things the borrower can do.
“Two, I think I provide outstanding customer service 24/7. I use technology to keep in touch with my borrowers on weekends and whenever they have a question,” Weiner said.
With the help of today’s communications technology, he is virtually available for his clients at all times to answer their questions.
This allows him to do such things as providing “one sentence answers to borrowers who may have a question on Sunday morning.”
It is not uncommon, he continued, to respond to a borrower inquiry via email at 11 p.m. during the workweek. “We’re always on the clock.”
His market includes Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia (he is licensed in all three) and “I get a wide range of borrowers.” Obviously this would include many government workers and private government contractors, plus other professionals.
This makes for an educated customer base. Weiner estimated that 60% of his borrowers have graduate degrees or post-graduate education, “so we really need to be good at what we do.”
These borrowers are more sophisticated about the process than the average consumer, so “we need to be very transparent. We need to perform as we say we will.
“At the same time, we need to be competitive” regarding rates and fees, Weiner said.
In terms of marketing, he uses items provided by “Envoy itself, which I think is a technology leader within the mortgage industry.”
Consumers are able to do a full application online. Once he becomes aware that an application has been filed, he contacts the customer via phone or email to clear up any questions that remain.
Weiner does some online marketing via a website. He also communicates with borrowers through emails and text messaging.
But the bulk of his business is through referrals from the traditional sources including Realtors, certified public accountants, lawyers and financial planners.
As for the current state of the metropolitan Washington housing market, he said the area has held up better than most others in the nation, adding “we are fortunate to be here” as other markets are not as robust although the metro D.C. area did have its problems during the downturn.
The purchase market has been pretty active although not as much as it was during the boom period of the last decade.
The downturn in rates starting last August and continuing through September and October helped his 2011 production. Rates began moving downward again in January and that has spurred his production growth for this year. His business is split approximately 50% purchase and 50% refinance.
Past customers coming back for a purchase or refi makes up 70% of Weiner’s business. By product type, 50% is conventional or high-balance loans, while the other half is made up of government products.
But the recent increase in the cost of Federal Housing Administration-insured loans has made using this product more difficult and more expensive, more so for refinancings than purchases. The increased premiums make using FHA for refis less desirable, he said.
As for the direction of interest rates, Weiner said for the foreseeable future rates will remain low as a result of the continuing economic problems in Europe and the difficulty in finding a solution.
In turn, money is flowing into U.S. Government-backed securities and this drives rates down. Weiner noted that as rates go down, it brings more consumers back into the mortgage market as they are now able to qualify for a purchase loan or more apt to refinance.
However, if the government continues to put its “hand in the till” such as the move to fund the payroll tax holiday through increases in fees paid to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it will hurt the recovery of the housing market, he continued.
Weiner has one staff member who manages the closing of all loans, dealing things like the settlement statements, etc. There is a dedicated processor for the branch and his partner in the branch is also his production assistant. While Weiner is speaking with the borrower and taking the information, he is already doing the processing for that loan.
He is also in charge of the other producers in the branch. So he handles such things as accounting, human resources, compliance and other things needed to keep a branch running.
In being able to juggle these various responsibilities, Weiner reiterated his point that success breeds a lot of work.
He is at the desk in his home office by 7 a.m. clearing several hours of work before going into the Envoy branch. Weiner comes home for dinner and then, Monday through Thursday, can be found back in the home office until 11 p.m.
Even on weekends, he responds to borrower requests and questions. Many of those come in on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Being a part of Envoy means that while he is wearing his originator and branch manager hats, he does not have to wear the owner’s hat as well, Weiner noted. “They do a fabulous job for us.”
The support level is important, but as he noted “bad companies give support, but Envoy is a good company. They do things right. When you have good-hearted people giving you support, it is better than bad-hearted people giving you support.
“When you are working for a good company and you want to do things right, you can be as transparent as you can possibly can be,” he said, adding there are no worries about money being deposited or locks not being made or underwriting issues.
“You can be as good as you can be, but if you can’t close these loans, it doesn’t matter how much you can originate. I don’t have to put out fires.”
