IMT Coaching BLOG/VLOG

Good Afternoon,

For the past almost 10 years we having been emailing the BLOG to you through WordPress but with advances in technology we have been recording a VLOG to go along with the BLOG.  We have found that most people prefer the VLOG. If you would like to keep getting the BLOG emailed to you we can do that. We will also send along the VLOG. If you prefer you can always see the BLOG/VLOG on social media at any of the following sites.

Facebook – Improve My Tomorrow Coaching

LinkedIn – Michael White

Twitter – @MortgageMentor

You can also go to our website at IMTCoaching.com and read not only the current BLOG/VLOG but past ones as well.

Thank you for your support for all of these years. We are grateful for the feedback we get; it helps us to improve our services. Just let us know if you would prefer to receive the BLOG/VLOG via email.

Sincerely

Michael White

Improve My Tomorrow Coaching

Are you ahead or behind the market?

We are at the midpoint of February and already people are well ahead of their first quarter projections! Are you taking full advantage of these incredible opportunities?

Here are some really great numbers:

  • Mortgage rates are 1% or more lower than this time last year.
  • Purchase business is up more than 16% over last year.
  • Refinance business is up more than 200% over last year.
  • Equity levels are at all-time highs.
  • People can sell and move to a more expensive home for the same or slightly higher monthly payment.
  • First & last month’s rent and security deposit can help get into a new home; add in an income tax refund and you are on your way!
  • The possibility of lower rates and equity and eliminate MI as well as possible debt consolidation to further reduce monthly obligations!

With all of these opportunities, you should be setting personal production records!

How are you doing with the 50 refinance challenge? Will you get your 50 refinances closed by April 30th? Many in my group are using this challenge as a way to stretch personal expectations and reward themselves for the commitment to do what they once thought impossible!

If you’re not closing five to eight loans a month, or haven’t closed 25 units since last October, what is holding you back?

We are here to help you!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

What Size Pie; How Big Will Your Piece Be?

I have talked about the changes in mortgage lending and traditional real estate sales for a long time. The past five years I have tried to make those people engaged in these practices aware of how the entire industry has been moving much more toward a transactional basis from more of a relational basis. In fact, the entire “Crossroads” event series was built around that very simple comparison.

With the huge increase in internet buying and selling of real estate, internet based lenders, huge “teams” of mortgage and real estate professionals buying and pounding leads for business, the move away from more “traditional business” is almost alarming! It has been my assertion that companies like Zillow®, Redfin®, Open Door®, and Quicken® on the mortgage side, have continued to move the needle faster and faster. Zillow® will be a licensed real estate broker in all 50 states by the end of 2020, and Quicken® is already the largest mortgage lender! I have projected that more than 75% of all mortgage and real estate license holders by 2025 WON’T even be in charge of their own relationships at all!

I say this because the “PIE” that is the total amount of available business opportunities will be shifting. A greater percentage of business will be done by nontraditional license holders and those competing for relational based business will compete over a much smaller total “PIE”.

Now this isn’t a bad thing for you relationship focused people. In fact, it will be BETTER for your business! Why? Because there will be significantly LESS competition in that market! The reason you ask? Because most people would rather make less money on each deal if they don’t have to generate the opportunity than want to make more money doing the WORK of a relationally based business that provides for a quality experience for the clients.

Plain and simple, smaller pie; far fewer people sharing that pie means more pie for those that stay and do the WORK! Do the work, and enjoy your pie!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

Fight for Fifty!

I want everyone who reads this to think about the possibilities, and then put in a plan to commit one hour a night on each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening to connect with your database and those around you to refinance fifty loans by April 30th 202

Think about it; what would it take for you to commit three hours a week for the next thirteen weeks to connect with those who can benefit from lowering their rate, term, changing loan programs, or just selling and moving completely?

Questions to ponder?

  • Who has a loan with a rate over 4.75%?
  • Who has a FHA with permanent MI?
  • Who has any loan with MI more than three years old?
  • Who has had a jumbo loan in the last seven years that could now be replaced by a conforming loan?
  • Who has large outstanding debt obligations over 15% interest?
  • Who could use equity to update or improve their home?
  • Who isn’t currently living in their “Forever Home”?
  • Who would benefit from selling and buying their forever home for about the same monthly payment?

Some or all of these apply to a good size portion of your database and your market! If you don’t ask these questions, then most people don’t know they have options!

It’s up to you to make it happen! Fifty refinances in the next sixty days is entirely possible IF you schedule the time and do the work! The “bonus” listings, sales, and purchase loans are just an extra added bonus!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

Important Information

We got some really important information yesterday from a number of sources. The MBA shared that purchase activity was up 8% year over year and refinances were up 116% in the same period. Clearly the desire to buy homes is not wavering in the least, and the appetite to save money, reduces loan terms, change programs, consolidate debt, or access equity remains strong! This wave of activity is largely being captured by those who kept working hard in the fourth quarter of last year, and given the rate of new applications and the preapproval numbers being reported back by those I have been speaking to, we are in for a very strong first quarter!

The FHFA reported that in November, property values of homes financed with a conforming loan were up 4.9%. Now, any number of properties could be financed with a conforming loan program, but this number is likely to put more weight in more typical homes and less in larger homes. Certainly you could use a conforming loan on a two million dollar house, but most of these homes are likely represent what is the hottest part of the market right now, which are homes of more average market values.

Existing home sales were reported higher this month by 3.6% and almost 11% higher than this time last year! When you couple this with NAR reporting that housing inventories are at the lowest levels ever reported, and they started keeping this data forty years ago, we are in a real purchase housing demand cycle that makes sense given the rise of household formations, rising wages, consumer confidence, and the high cost of renting!

As supply continues to struggle to meet demand, new construction can only help so much! It will be those agents who can generate listing activity that will see the greatest advantage. For those mortgage professionals out there looking for an opportunity to forge new relationships with the best of the best, knowing the strategies to help generate those listing opportunities are essential! Buying leads will not create the relationships, value, and quality of experience needed this year; being a successful strategic partner in listing opportunities will be GOLD!

The cost of waiting will be enormous for those who wait to buy, sell, refinance, or learn the strategies needed to help create listing opportunities in your market! So use the tools and strategies on the website to help you create opportunities and build the very relationships you will need to defeat the algorithm enemy!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

 

 

Knowing The Numbers

What a great start to 2020! Everyone seems to be firing on all cylinders and both the purchase applications (highest number in 10 years) refinances (up 100% over last year and 60% of loan volume) have made this an exceptional beginning!

With loan rates just below 1% lower than this time last year, the opportunity for buyers to buy that home or make the cost of where they live more affordable is very real! The strategies for FHA and Jumbo loan conversions to conforming loans are really seeing favor with customers. Accountants and financial planners are also jumping into the mix to help their clients benefit from this market!

Another piece of information that came out was some data from Wakefield Research that showed that 60% of consumers felt their real estate agent went “above and beyond” the scope of their duties during their transaction; it also showed that 34% of people would not rehire that same agent!

This is disturbing to me because in the past few years, NAR has published that 78% of people would be happy to refer the agent they used to someone else. Now for those who want to split hairs, there is a difference in a real estate agent and a “Realtor®”. Not all real estate agents are Realtors®, I get it, but the numbers are at least important enough to take a good look at. It would be important to know and share this, at least from a conversational point of view.

With all the online competition for lenders, listings, and buyers, we need to be aware of how much quality of the experience matters in our world!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

Actions That Payoff!

With the first full week of 2020 running along, it is really important to be focused on the actions and activities that really payoff. With your work schedule clearly defined and your marketing calendar in front of you, this is a good week to be sure you are up to date and have all of your people with you. Here are a few things you will want to be sure of taking care of this week.

  • Connect with every preapproval personally to be sure they are back in action.
  • Speak with every Realtor you expect to be working with this year and be certain they have already done the same!
  • Finalize your plans on your Valentine’s Day event or activity.
  • Complete your “Accountant video” and get it out by Friday so you can follow-up by phone next week.
  • First conversations of the new year with your banks and credit unions.
  • Set the first breakfast or lunch appointments with your financial planners, insurance professionals, and divorce attorneys!
  • Think about “Leap Day Saturday” potential event!
  • Girl Scout Cookie Season!

Momentum is critical and if you have it, you want to keep it going; if you don’t, then you need to generate it NOW! All the tools are on the website so there are no excuses! If you can’t find what you need, just email me!

As always, questions and comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

2020 Isn’t Just A New Decade, It Means Perfect Vision!

Welcome to the first blog post of a new decade! Much gets put on a new year; even more thought around a new decade! Some look back to the “Roaring 20’s” of a century ago and wonder if there is any special meaning? While those 20’s were free and easy with what seemed to be growth, wealth, and an endless party; it ended with a stock market crash and the great depression!

The coming decade is full of promise and excitement, but I also urge caution. While things change, those jumping onboard some of those changes may be making a huge mistake! While change is inevitable, not all change is good! It is important to look at the future and examine the changes that are being presented to us and make good choices.

What I think will make a difference in 2020 verses 1920 is that we have awareness and the ability to understand history. What I also like to think is that 2020 in our minds also needs to be understood in a way that we already accept; the understanding that 2020 implies perfect vision! Adapting that meaning, I feel we can look down the road of change and be prepared to make choices and adjustments if we have perfect vision!

The obvious point is clearly planning. It will become more difficult to just “wing it” in the mortgage and real estate industries! You will need a plan, complete with strategies, schedules, and accountability toward a higher expectation! To be clear, overall performance will have to improve!

One of the choices we have to make is the path we will take. It becomes clearer every day that the battle in the industry will be around transactional verses relational business models. Simply put, leads verses opportunity; price verses value!

As more and more people chase leads, that market will become saturated with people focused on price and quantity! What will remain will be a smaller, but more individually profitable arena that some will enjoy. When the mortgage and real estate business becomes about the quality of the customer experience and the current and future value of that experience there will be unlimited potential.

The choices are clear and the competition will be significant. For those in the high volume, transaction based, low margin arena, the risk becomes dependence on outside resources beyond your control. For those taking the other path, the focus needs to be on consistency and value driven process. Both paths will yield results; what is the choice you will make?

Is your vision of the new decade 20/20?

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

The Five Things You Must Do Before The End Of The Year!

It’s the day after Christmas and how many originators do you think are working today? You know, it might even be less than that! It’s also likely that many others aren’t working their jobs either. In fact, many people are not expected to really go back to work until after the New Year! So here are the five things you must do before the end of the year and everyone else starts to trickle back to work in January!

  1. Finish your business plan, marketing calendar, and schedule for 2020! Seems like something that would have been completed already, but we all know that some people never even bother to plan at all, and even fewer have a predetermined schedule of activities and tasks they plan to follow. Marketing calendar?
  2. Call every pre-approval you did in 2019 and didn’t close and figure out why! So many are carrying “dead” preapprovals just to fill out a number. Let’s be honest, fake numbers are just stupid.
  3. Connect with every Realtor® you know and see if they are active this weekend and if they have also completed their business plans. Offer to schedule an appointment to help them get it done. Use the outline on the website.
  4. Check all Open Houses in your area for this weekend and visit at least one of them and follow the complete Open House plan!
  5. Visit each small bank and credit union on your list! If you haven’t made that list up yet, do it NOW!

The last six days of 2019 could very well determine the success of 2020 for you! So how about we just get out and go do the work and have a great year?

Have a safe and Happy New Year! If you can’t get this all done or you just have realized you can’t do it yourself, HIRE A COACH! There are plenty of good ones out there!

For help, questions or comments: Mike@IMTCoaching.com

Do What The Others Won’t Do!

The last couple of weeks of the year can really define who we are as mortgage professionals. For those of you who are going out of town on vacation or taking off until the beginning of next year, enjoy your time off and have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! For those who are still engaged, you need to manage your work schedule to make the most of the opportunities left behind by those who will not do what you will; WORK!

Yes, there will be Open Houses this weekend. Find them. Visit a few. Connect with the agents, the seller, and the neighbors!

Yes, there will be people looking at houses this weekend. Be sure you are speaking to ALL of your active preapprovals. If you don’t know which ones are active, call every preapproval you issued in 2019 that you didn’t close yet and ask them!

Yes, you can find small banks and credit unions still open for business the next couple of weeks; go stop by for a visit!

Yes, accountants, financial planners, attorneys, and insurance professionals are working the next couple of weeks; pick up the phone and schedule an appointment!

Yes, there are people in your database that need to refinance or sell their home and buy a new one; call them in any order you like. Low hanging fruit first, every FHA loan needs to be refinanced, either streamlined or into a conventional loan to eliminate permanent MI.

Yes, there is work to do the next couple of weeks. Just two hours a day will help you take advantage of doing what the others won’t do and establish the base for a strong first quarter of 2020!

Have a Merry Christmas and I will speak with you again next week!

Mike@IMTcoaching.com