When is the last time you, as a loan originator, stopped to realize how much trust a Realtor who refers their trusting client to you is placing in you? First, they’re in a precarious position. In many cases – their client has yet to gain pre-approval for a loan, so there’s the “Are they going to qualify?” question in play. Second, they are, in many cases, giving a good bit of control over to you as they wait for the loan to make it through to closing. I got to thinking about this after reading a blog post by Sean Purcell on the Bloodhoundblog entitled Before They Get It, Make Sure They Get It.
Mr. Purcell breaks the real estate transaction into two phases: The Dark Ages and The Age of Enlightenment (hey, where’d the Renaissance go?). He likens the discovery phase Realtors go through with their clients (house hunting, writing and negotiating offers) to the Enlightenment. Guess which phase the loan process gets to occupy… wait for it… yes. The Dark Ages.
It’s during this period that Purcell explains that many Realtors feel that they are “pushing the contract, the client, the paperwork AND their commission check into a gaping black hole… of silence… then waiting, hoping and praying a deal will come out the other end.” Realtors are no different than anyone else. They are concerned about their clients… and their commissions! They are putting their reputations on the line for you in hopes that you will make them look AMAZING in the eyes of their buyers. And you’d better if you want referrals for life!
Charlemagne Used Research, Writing, and Education as Tools to Emerge from the Dark Ages
Ok – so Alcuin of York did all the real leg work. In fact, he’s the British Ecclesiastic who, in c.790 AD, was responsible for establishing the very grammar rules we use today. Minor ones, like – punctuation, capital letters, universally accepted spelling, and the use of paragraphs. (AND THEY SAID MY MASTER’S IN ART HISTORY WOULD NEVER PAY OFF!… BWAH HA HA HA!)
LOAN ORIGINATORS!!! Communicate with your customers! If you are guilty of falling silent – of not touching based with all of your clients (Realtors are your clients, too!) at a minimum of once per week during the loan process, then you are out of your stinkin’ minds!
What kind of a loan officer does that? Surely not you. No. Surelyyou’ve set say, every Friday as a recap day with your Realtors. Or – better yet – you are including them on automatic email updates from your LOS so they know exactly when their buyer’s loan reaches each milestone in the process. The Encompass Web Center offers this feature. And please tell me that you have a way of offering easy access to the loan in process info to your mortgage clients – especially nervous first time home buyers.
Whatever system you use (phone, email, carrier pigeon, smoke signals), use it with consistency. Your customers and referral partners will evangelize you for it. Guaranteed. Charlemagne and Alcuin of York started the process of formalized education in monasteries that led the way into the Renaissance (Italian for Rebirth). What role will you play in bringing the mortgage industry out of its own Dark Ages and into a Renaissance of communication.
Are You a Guiding Light for Realtors? Please share with us the systems or methods you use to keep your clients and Realtors advised of what’s going on during the loan process.
I hope you found this post useful! As always, if you or anyone you know is in need of a local Florida mortgage loan originator, I’m your guy. Call me at 888-859-7418 or apply online for your Florida mortgage. We’ll keep you posted and let you know when it’s time to pull the trigger!
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