Opinion

Should Originators Really Care About Rate Checker?

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Fill the Need words in 3d letters in a puzzle gap or hole to illustrate marketing a product or service to customers or prospects demanding it

Take a trip up the main street in any big city and you will notice a few interesting things. Look at the gas stations that have been there for many years. There is probably one on each of the four corners on the major intersection right?

Now look at their signs. They are all different and one of them is usually significantly cheaper than the other three. Once you have filled up your tank, keep driving.

You will see a Walmart and a Costco if you live in a city with any sort of density. Not far away, usually a mile or two down the road, you will see a store that sells upscale jewelery, upscale clothing, upscale appliances and similar things.

Please stay with me here; this has everything to do with your own mortgage business.

In my hometown of Baltimore you can drive up York Rd. and see a mall full of cars shopping at Tiffany's, Burberry and Nordstrom. Drive three miles down the road and you will see Dollar General and Walmart along with a Men's Warehouse and other discount stores.

All of them are busy; all of them are doing business. All of them!

I mention all of this because of all of the noise the past few weeks over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rate checker and the new company that is trying to eliminate us and have "robotic" on-line originations.

That's fine. Why waste your energy and time debating it?

None of us will ever have the best rate, and we don't need to. (Read the last part again!)

If you know me at all then you realize that being successful has nothing to do with rates and points.

It's all about expertise and marketing.

It's all about "picking a niche," which will lead you to become the expert and then you need to let everyone know about it.

My clients rarely even ask me about my rates and points. They want to know what their payment will be and how much cash they will need at closing - that's it!

Yes, I realize that sounds easy but let me give you a real -life example.

I regularly mail to apartment complexes with a systematic way of generating new deals. I also mail directly to renters who I know are eligible and have had a bankruptcy or foreclosure and are now able to buy. One of the clients that came from this mailing was ready to buy and I got her pre-approved. I then called an agent in an office I had no relationship with and turned my buyer over to one of the top agents in that office who I had never met or spoken to.

That agent has already sent me two new deals- both conventional loans with 20% down and 800 credit scores.

Did you follow that recipe: I gave the agent what she wanted, a pre-approved buyer ready to buy and used that to build our relationship, much better than donuts. huh!

My niche, and the one that will be exploding this year, is buyers who have had a bankruptcy or other credit issue. Some have had a foreclosure three or four years ago or even longer.

They are now eligible for a mortgage, but they don't realize that.

This segment has been given a name - Boomerang Buyers - and the last estimate was that there are close to 7.5 million of them who are now eligible to buy.

Are you talking to them? Didn't think so! But they are ready and willing to get back in the market!

Stop worrying about pricing so much and start worrying about marketing and the niche you will become the expert in.

Brian Sacks is the president of Loan Officer Tips and Agents Chase You. He has taught thousands of loan officers over the past 30 years how to close more loans, make more money and still have time to enjoy life. You can view his free report at www.AgentsChaseYou.com. He is also the founder of the Loan Officer Tips group in LinkedIn, which you can join at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Loan-Officer-Tips-8225444

 

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