Business Plan 2020

The mortgage industry is evolving at a rapid pace. New technology and new competition is changing the landscape in which originators compete. Banks, correspondent lenders, and brokers are facing challenges from all sides of the equation. On-line lenders, retailers, leads providers, and every conceivable outlet we know has made the choice that mortgage lending doesn’t need experienced mortgage professionals to make it work. In fact, many of us have actually proven the point for these companies by supporting them in this quest by financially supporting them.

With 2020 just around the corner, it is very important that you, your company, and the industry make some choices about who they are and how each of us chooses to move forward. Each of us will make a choice as to our own survival in this industry. Are you going to be part of the transactional/leads driven, call and convert group; or are you going to move into the camp of true mortgage professionals that understand the value of the relationship, quality of the client experience, and the generation and execution of a plan?

In 2018 I traveled the country sharing my “Crossroads” presentation that alarmed Realtors® and mortgage professionals as I shared the vision of how those people we were purchasing support tools from, were in the process of figuring out how to eliminate your job as you know it! Some cried, some got angry, many disagreed, but a few saw the vision and moved to insulate themselves from these predators.

In just two short years, leads companies and retailers have invested BILLIONS of dollars into platforms to reduce, or eliminate the need for, loan originators AND Realtors® as we know them! The quest for the “one stop shop” that lists, sells, and buys properties is now available. Some have already integrated the financing, title, mortgage insurance, and home insurance services as well! We are just months away from the transaction being controlled 100% by centrally operated enterprises through a handful of hired representatives. Don’t believe me? Just take a look around! Realtors® have given away the store and now pay for their own information back. Originators forgot how to originate on their own and now buy the same leads.

As this happens, who takes care of the customer? For some, it may be fine to point and click for a house or a loan, or all the support services involved. Maybe an algorithm can do a great job for some people? Maybe AI can pick your house, your loan, your insurance, your title company, your mortgage insurance plan, and the terms and conditions of your deal? But what about the people it can’t? What about the people who trust people? The people who really need people to help them put it all together? Who will serve them if we don’t take a path of education and service?

Business Planning 2020 will be a two-hour training event that will focus on the service aspect of the mortgage industry.

  • How will we work with our referral partners?
  • How will we generate opportunities?
  • Who are our new and future referral partners?
  • How will we work with technology?
  • Will social media kill or cure our business?
  • What can the plan look like?
  • What does your schedule look like?

If you are a mortgage company, train your loan officers or train your managers to train your originations team. If you are a title company or MI company, train your team to go out and train their clients. If your people aren’t aware, they can’t share this information with their Realtors®, client’s and other referral partners!

Training events will be scheduled on a first come, first scheduled basis. Business Plan 2020 trainings will run from September through October 2019. For those IMT Coaching clients, the live webinar will be the October Monthly Coaching Call.

For more information, pricing, details, and availability, please email: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

Ready or not, 2020 is coming!

 

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Summer Strategies Causing EPIC Results!

One of the greatest parts about coaching those in the mortgage industry is when a strategy or strategies you share with your people takes hold and generates big results. Most of the time it is something very simple and often overlooked that makes it happen, like simply making calls to your closed clients on their birthday or to do an annual review. The summer opens the door to some of my favorite strategies and some of my newer clients have embraced the activities and are seeing results. In some cases, EPIC results, their words, not mine.

Taking the time to create a specific summer action and activity plan makes it fun to keep connecting with clients and referral partners while providing value to all by using the most simple of strategies. Just making weekly status calls, not emails, to your preapprovals help reduce “leakage”. Providing information using the “Forever Home Strategy” keeps you connected with your Realtors and helps them generate listings and sales you help make possible.

In many parts of the country, people are closing right before school starts. The ability to be agile and quick to convert a preapproval into a closed client is winning deals over other lenders who can’t make it happen in time! The connection to listing agents, small banks, and credit unions helps establish and maintain lasting relationships!

We all have to look at our market and get tuned into what is the most value. Being able to use that local expertise to make transactions happen virtually eliminates those online lenders or those chasing “leads lists”. Real life strategies that actually support your referral partners and provide an exceptional experience beats a fake low rate that will never close!

So as we start planning for our August and September strategies, take the time to talk to your people about what they are seeing, where are the log-jams? How can you use your local experience to connect with those who see the value in that expertise? Simple, effective, and area specific strategies are one sure way to keep loan opportunities coming your way during those “dog days” of summer!

So to my originators who are working hard to make those around them enjoy the process and create a better transaction experience, I thank you for your efforts! For those setting personal bests in new applications, closings, and closed dollar volume, while continuing to build a pipeline of qualified borrowers, keep moving forward! The second half of 2019 will likely be even better for you than the first half!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

Closing Funds From Retirement Plans

This is a brief reminder to those who already know this information and a short tutorial for those that don’t. PLEASE do not assume that your client has done their homework when it comes to using funds from retirement plans. So many people know just enough to get themselves in real trouble, then find themselves frantic right before closing trying to get the money, or worse yet, finding out they can’t take out the money from the plan for any number of reasons!

You should always advise a client to speak to a CPA long before they even get pre-approved for a loan. There are different potential issues and tax consequences from taking the money out, as well as HOW you take the money out!

After you understand the potential issues with removing the money, how much money you remove, how you remove it, if you have to repay it, the taxes and penalties that may come due at certain levels of removal, and what kind of account you are removing it from.

The next question is to talk to the benefits manager of the account or accounts you may be taking money from. All accounts are not the same, all may have different rules and timelines to receive the money, and all of this must be coordinated so you are not chasing a long paper trail of documentation!

Another area to consider is the possibility of removing money from more than one plan and the possibility that less is more; but also that more is more! What I mean is that you may benefit by removing as little money as possible just to make things work, or you may benefit by taking out MORE money to lower the loan to value or to reach up for a slightly more expensive home!

Last but not least is to understand the dynamics of the transaction with your deal so you can really look at all the options. In today’s market we have all kinds of people buying houses together and sometimes you have two first time homebuyers who are not married buying a house together. This is yet another area you MUST address early with the client, the accountant, and maybe even an attorney before moving forward.

As always it is important to get the plan worked out before the client gets out looking for a house. Once they hit the market, any delay or missed opportunity could really be costly. So be ready to coach your clients through the process. Have a CPA and possibly an attorney on hand to refer your clients if they should need a referral. Getting people out in front of this issue and being in a position to explore all the options is what makes you a trusted professional!

The last thing anyone wants in a real estate transaction are surprises. Prevent that with some proactive research and connecting with the math before issuing that pre-approval letter! Remember, it’s not just simply pulling the money out of an account; there are many things to understand before that happens!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.co

Rates, Jobs, Strategies, & Opportunities!

Happy Independence Day to all! I pushed this post off a day because off a series of events that might need attention. Waiting one day to get the jobs report this morning I felt was worth the short delay.

Mortgage rates continue to trend lower and consumers desire to buy homes remains strong. Despite many of the main stream media trying to push an agenda of a declining housing market, and virtually all the “experts” predicting mortgage rates well into the 5% range from the beginning of the year, the reality proves what we have been saying here, that people see that owning is better than renting in most markets and the economy is really helping all aspects of consumers.

I have addressed the opportunities of refinancing in the June 2019 Monthly Coaching Call which you can see on the website. The wealth of opportunities far exceeds just lowering someone’s payment. You have to know ALL THE OPTIONS! The peak of benefit for many in your database is in front of you, not behind you! Keep in mind, what if rates continue lower and chase all time low numbers? Get clear on the real value and the “WHY” behind the opportunity!

This weekend will offer huge opportunities in the purchase arena. You need to be out and visible to your Realtor® referral partners. Spend a few hours stopping by some offices this weekend and saying hello. Drop off some notes and make some calls, visit some Open Houses and connect! Those looking and selling right now need to be out and about to make something happen.

HUGE increase in new jobs; with a prediction of 150,000 new jobs, todays number came in at 224,000 new jobs! While the unemployment rate ticked up a tenth, the growth in the labor participation rate and the continued growth in earnings help prove that more people are participating in the growth in the economy.

So how the markets react today and where rates go will have to be taken with a grain of salt. It’s a Friday and it’s a holiday weekend so volatility is possible. Remain calm, look to Monday and Tuesday markets to provide some insight. I believe we are in another 50bps range that will bounce around until the FED meeting on July 31. Keep focused on all the opportunities at hand and the longer term trend of rates moving lower and people seizing the opportunities to own rather than rent, or to make a move to the home they really want, or to make the cost of where they want to live cheaper!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com