We promise not to lecture in this article but the headline above says it all. If you are reading this, then we commend you for having stuck it out during the past few years. Things have not been easy for sure. So take a minute and congratulate yourself. Reverse mortgages still hold a lot of promise for the future. But you know where we’re going with this.
Now, before you get too comfortable—the next couple of weeks will determine how 2011 turns out. Why? What you do or don’t do now is crucial. You simply cannot allow the market, the economy, or any other factor to determine your success or failure.
You must plan it! You can and will succeed if you have a plan. So let’s discuss putting one together.
Please don’t be like so many others who simply allow themselves to be dictated to by market conditions or other outside factors. You have to agree that no matter what there will always be deals. The reverse mortgage market is poised for continued growth. Your job is to get your share of them. Our seniors and their families need you.
Here is a roadmap for a plan:
Let’s start at the very beginning and determine how much you want/need to earn. For this example let’s say it’s $100,000 for the year. Now let’s also say that you average $2,000 in net commission per loan. (NOTE: Please make the appropriate changes to these numbers for your situation.)
So we have $2,000 per loan and we want to earn $100,000 meaning we need close 50 loans to attain our goal. Still with us?
Now let’s break it down even further. If you divide 50 by 12 months, it means you need five loans a month. Yes I know my math is off. The number is really 60 but assume for our purposes that not every loan will close, or may experience a delay.
Now to answer the big question: How are you going to get five loans a month?
Here’s a suggestion—pick three or four strategies and work on them each and every week.
These include: Direct mail (you must commit to stick with this); referrals (what are the sources of your current referrals?); speaking; be a guest on a radio or TV show; have your own radio show (incorporate other senior service providers); write for area senior publications; advertise in/write for appropriate publications; network (the foundation for getting referrals); Internet leads from your own social media and website efforts; and Realtor deals (HECM for purchase).
I could list another 10 here but you get the idea. Choose the marketing efforts for your reverse mortgage business that you think can produce the best results.
Perhaps you are already doing some of these for your forward originations. You may be able to simply tweak them and make them targeted for reverse prospects. But you must pick three—not 33! If you choose to do everything you wind up being overwhelmed and doing nothing. Be sure to have a mechanism for accounting for every dollar you spend on any of these strategies. Count your time, too.
One last step and perhaps this is the most important. Each and every month you should look at your production and see where each deal came from. Successful originators know their numbers. Here are some questions to ask:
• Did each of my three marketing efforts produce the expected results?
• If not, why not?
• Can it be tweaked and made to work or is it just not working?
• Did I get a deal from a different method that I can now focus on and replace a method that is not working?
Go ahead and give it a try and let us know how it turned out. Have a happy 2011.
Sue Haviland and Brian Sacks are the co-founders of
