“A Home for the Holidays!”

We have just a couple of weeks left to put deals together and get them closed before Christmas and New Year’s. All calls and visits need to remain focused on the fact that there is still time to get deals done and that getting a deal done before the holidays often means you will be paying less for the home and competing with fewer buyers because of those “waiting” until after the holidays to make something happen. Seriously, will prices come down or will there be less demand in January? I really don’t think so. So making sure your referral partners and clients know that you can still get it done is the message you need to bring to the streets. You need to bring that message hard for the next week and be certain you push right to the last day!

We also need to be aware that as we come upon Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday party season, that we remember to be social and not sloppy! Enjoy yourself but be careful to manage the merry making to a low roar! You can’t afford to be the life of the party or to over enjoy to the point of no return! You need to remain professional at all times and helpful to those that may have overdone it. This is not the time burn bridges; it’s the time to build them through respectful and professional celebration. You also need to be sure you make appearances at all the functions that you are invited too, and be certain to keep RESPA in mind when you are planning gifts. If you aren’t really clear that what you are doing is compliant, be certain you ask someone to review your plans that knows the rules and follows your company protocol. Different companies have different rules. Just be careful.

This is also a good time to support your referral partner’s charitable efforts or work within your company framework and support one as a group. I know from past experience that working with charitable organizations during the holidays can be very rewarding and they all can use the help. Be certain you are the one doing the work, nobody needs more queen bees; charitable groups need worker bees! Do the work and help, the reward is in making the effort!

There will be no blog post next week because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to coast! The “Black Friday” weekend can be a great weekend to put loans together and I know many of you are working the “Black Friday Home Sale” idea we have talked about here in the past. These last few weeks of effort will all come together resulting in a few extra deals and a number of new referral partners because you have executed a plan based upon providing exceptional value following a sound strategy. These benefits will reward you both short and long term. While many originators have already packed it in for the year, you have been doing the work and will see the rewards of those efforts all through 2015!

I thank you all for taking the time each week to read and share these posts. I am also very thankful to those of you that took the time to visit www.forever19.org and like us on Facebook®. It means a great deal to my wife and I and to those of you that took the time to order tee shirts, dog tags, and bracelets; or who made generous donations, we will keep you in our thoughts and prayers and thank you for helping us help remember all those who have served!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Questions or comments: mike@IMTcoaching.com  or visit us online at http://improvemytomorrowcoaching.com

Advertisement

Making a Difference

As mortgage professionals we get to make a difference in people’s lives on a regular basis. We help people plan and prepare for one of the biggest events of their lives, buying a home. We also help those who thought they could never own a home reach that dream, as well as keeping connected to our clients to be sure that the mortgage we wrote for them in the past, is still working for them now, or change it if it doesn’t.

We can also make a difference to be sure when we offer options to our prospective clients that we don’t just give them what they ask for, we take the time to listen to their goals and find a loan product that works best for them. I say this because I just read that 93% of all mortgage loans being written today are thirty year fixed rate loans. 93%! Now I know rates are low and people are trying to protect themselves against higher rates by locking in today’s low rates, but is a thirty year fixed rate loan really the best thing for a consumer that won’t likely stay in the home for the whole term, and if they do, will likely refinance one or more times for a number of different reasons?

For many people we need to at least explore other options. In most cases, the 7/1 ARM is a far better choice for those people buying or even refinancing a home. If you don’t believe me, run the numbers yourself! Use whatever rate you have on a thirty-year fixed and the 7/1 ARM and do the math. You will be surprised to see how that works. Then, do an analysis on what happens if you take the 7/1 ARM but make the thirty-year fixed rate PAYMENT! See how much the loan gets paid down over those seven years! Remember, the loan recasts after 84 months and the new payments are calculated using the new outstanding balance! Even if the loan “caps out” the total cost will still be less money for more than ten years when compared to the thirty-year fixed.

Now this won’t appeal to everyone, but you have to share the information so that the people can make an informed choice. Some may not want an adjustable loan, but most likely many would have saved money by taking it! As a professional, you need to look and offer options. If the client doesn’t want to go that way, fine but at least they had the choice. It makes a difference to have been offered the choice!

Also, speaking about making a difference, I am proud to announce that my wife and I have formed a now charitable foundation called Forever 19.  Compelled by an article written by Lisa Bell in the Weatherford Now Magazine May 2014 edition, we have chosen to adopt the name and lead the mission to help those who need to build monuments to those heroes who have allowed us the very freedom we often take for granted.

Weatherford, Texas will be the first town we will help. We are pledging to help raise the $250,000 needed to build this park and place of prayer and remembrance.  The Parker County Memorial in Weatherford has broken ground but there is still a long way to go. With your help we look to accomplish two main goals, identify worthy candidates who are committed to building their own memorials; and provide assistance in creating the plan and generate the needed funding to complete the project.

Please take a moment and “LIKE” our Facebook® page, visit our website: www.Forever19.org and read our story and share in remembering those who have served. It is only proper that we have this up and running the week of Veterans Day. If you can donate even a few dollars, it can really make a difference!

Thanks for your support!

Mike & MJ White

Forever19 a 501 (c)(3)

 

“The Final Push”

The election is over and the ads will finally stop. Yes, we are already hearing about 2016 but how about we focus on something that will affect us right now? The clock is running down for the end of 2014. Like it or not, the calendar waits for nobody. If you haven’t had the year you wanted to have, now is the time to push the last few weeks to get deals in and closed before the end of the year. If your systems and tools are not what you need, then you have a limited amount of time to get your business plan together and put those systems in place and try them out before the ball drops in Times Square!

Concede nothing! There is plenty of time to put deals together that will close this year. Depending on whom you work for and the types of loans you do, you have a minimum of two, and likely more like four or five more weeks to get a deal together and get it closed in 2014. Get up, get out, and get talking about how it can and will happen this year! Get the conversation off the holiday sales (unless you are doing the “Black Friday” home sale event) and talk about how we are still in a position to change the outcome of 2014.

Many mortgage people and their Realtor® referral partners work on a “tiered compensation plan” which dictates how much you get paid per closed transaction. In many cases, Realtors® carry forward the end of the year pay scale into the next year. Sometimes just one deal can make all the difference between tiers, which change how much they get paid on future closed transactions. So what if you were the person that helped make that happen?

For those of you that work for companies that have a distinct speed advantage, then you need to set the tone and draw the distinction between your ability to close new deals into December, and those lenders who pretty much have to stop accepting deals that will close before year end by the middle or end of November. By drawing that distinction, you can get in front of people who might not ever thought to refer you. Even if they don’t have a transaction to share with you, they will remember that you were out there working to generate more closings while the other people where focused on the holiday party schedule! Not everyone takes the last six weeks off! Some people have to work. Some need to put together deals as much as there are people who need to get them done.

I am not just talking about Realtors®. Financial planners, accountants, and a host of other professions will have people that NEED to close or HAVE to close for a number of reasons BEFORE THE YEAR ENDS! Who is in an HR department that needs help with a new transfer? Who has a tax obligation or financial commitment that needs to be met? You never know who might need you if you aren’t out talking about how you are ready, willing, and able to get deals together and CLOSED in time before 2014 turns into 2015.

Know your limitations. Under promise your timeline and be sure to over deliver on the results. You know your situation and its limitations. But if you have the ability to get the job done, you can build a bunch of new relationships that will help grow your business in the years to come. There will be plenty of time to attend the parties and have fun during the holidays. Just don’t rush to shut things down because somebody else may out work you to the finish line!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com or visit us online at http://imtcoaching.com