Loan Officer Strategy

The Refinance market is downsizing and there seems to be a lack of affordable housing. Many long programs are changing the guidelines for lending. Government and government sponsored programs including GSEs loans are still the main loans for many borrowers. It is important to keep up with the changes that are being made to these programs. There are changes and new regulations being made to these programs all the time. It is important to stay on top of them for changes in the qualifications for the borrowers and to make sure that they qualify for the loan.

There are new lending guidelines developed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA, The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, and other programs that include loans offered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. One of the ways to keep up with these changes is to sign up for their newsletters. This will allow you t see the changes in a timely manner and will make sure you get...

Social Media for Loan Officers

As a loan officer in the mortgage industry, social media marketing should be on the top of your list in terms of ways to promote your business online. Today’s customs are very tech savvy, and they are all on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, YouTube, …etc. Besides the fact that you can generate leads through a well planned social media marketing campaign, Google gives a huge credit to websites that have social media accounts that are active in terms of google search ranking, so either way you look at it, social media is crucial for any marketing efforts.

That's why we are here to offer you some helpful mortgage social media marketing tips that are designed to make life easier. While the idea of a loan officer or a loan providing outlet using mortgage social media marketing may seem strange to some, it is the new way of the world and you will need to get on board or get left behind, so be sure to read on and learn more....

Closing a Home Loan

Now a days there are tons of mortgage programs available from many lenders, and it’s hard to keep up with every program guidelines, requirements, restrictions, ..etc. As a loan officer you are not expected to be aware of every underwriting guideline there is for every program, but at least for the most popular mortgage programs available, as a loan officer you should have a pretty good idea about the general guidelines and qualification requirements.

The loan underwriter is responsible for analyzing your clients risk to determine if the terms of their loan are acceptable. The underwriter will investigate to make sure your client’s application and documentation are truthful and they will double-check you have described your finances accurately.

Mortgage underwriting standards have become more stringent in the last few years. This requires mortgage underwriters to look closely at the applicant’s employment and financial history before approving a...

Comfort Zone is Comfortable

It can be easy for a loan officer to fall into a routine and get comfortable with the way things are. If your mortgage business is OK and you are paying your bills, Why change? As a matter of fact, comfort zone can be your worst enemy, because even if you are doing good in your mortgage business now, history taught us that nothing stays the same, any small change in the economy can effect your business, also there are new loan officers joining the mortgage industry every day, so staying put, means that you are going backwards.

Pushing yourself to expand your horizons and get a little better each day is essential to growth, by striving to learn new things in improve with every aspect of your business, you will be creating a new comfort zone like no other, which is to be only comfortable when you are moving forward.

Pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone doesn’t have to be extreme, like taking on a new mortgage marketing strategy that you’re...

Pick one Mortgage Niche and Stick with it

One of the main reasons Loan Officers fail in their effort to generate business in the mortgage industry is that they try to do everything at once, the problem is when they see other successful loan officers targeting certain niches and they try to copy each niche and each loan officer style. For one what might work for you may not work for someone else and vice versa, what could be a great marketing strategy for one loan officer may not work for you, there are many variables like that effect it, like experience, market, available programs, …etc

It even gets harder when you try to do market yourself in so many different ways, because first you will never be great in everything, and second its very hard to measure the outcome of a marketing campaign when you are doing several at the same time therefore it makes it impossible to make the necessary adjustments in optimizing the campaign to ensure the maximum results.

“A Jack of...

Loan Officers can target renters to convert into home buyers. Steps to follow on how to convert renters to an owner with a marketing plan for your mortgage business. 

Why Market to Renters

Here are the top 10 reasons to focus on Renters:

1) Rent Increases, just getting too expensive to continue renting

2) Job relocation to a new city or area

3) Wish to move to a different area to be closer to their job, family, friends, school, hospital, etc 

4) Issues with management, neighbor or neighbors; loud neighbor(s) moved in, dogs continuously barking, no parking, etc

5) Need more space, outgrown space with a new addition to the family

6) Divorce or getting married, downsizing or increasing family size

7) Becomes a homebuyer's market, realizing it is the right time to buy and own real estate

8) Maintenance issues, the property always needing maintenance with bugs, water leak, needing updated carpet or paint

9) Need less space, their current residence is too...

Many loan officers fail in achieving their mortgage marketing goals, even when they take the time to think about their goals and write it down. There are many reason why you may not be able to achieve your goals. Your goals may be too big to achieve, especially when personal issues sidetrack you, or maybe you’re just switching mortgage companies.

Set Achievable Goals

Challenging yourself to grow on a daily basis requires setting goals that are meaningful to you . When setting up your mortgage goals you need to think of how defined, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-specific they are. Rather than maintaining the bird’s eye view of what you want to accomplish, break it down into the smallest, most manageable steps you can.

Setting and achieving goals isn’t about knowing how you’ll get to the end-result, but rather understanding the incremental steps needed to edge you closer to it. Having goals that are too big and hard to...

When it comes to finding leads in the mortgage industry, there's no limit to the number of venues you can choose from. From free and paid systems to networking with influencers at events, there is a lot to explore. In fact, if you check your inbox, you'll probably find dozens of unsolicited emails that talk about how to get these leads.

And that's what so frustrating. Sure, you know that borrowers aren't going to flock to you and that you have to go out and find them. However, with so many options to choose from and so many different pieces of advice out there, it can be difficult to decide which strategy is best for you.

So how do you avoid becoming overwhelmed with all of these decisions? It's easy to let your indecisiveness paralyze you into doing absolutely nothing. What's worse, it could cause you to fall into the black hole of trying one strategy and gimmick after the next, never really knowing which one actually works because you never take the time to fully execute it. Not...

How many potential clients are right under your nose?

Did you know that a large portion of your potential business is already in your own database?  All you have to do to generate some new business is utilize information you already have.  Well, that is the case if you’ve correctly built your database.   If so,  you will already have access to a large list of email addresses that will help you market to specific target groups of potential customers.

Chances are that you are collecting data from potential home buyers who agreed on lead-capture forms and from online inquiries or even loan applications However, what about all the other professionals that you work with during the loan process? You can add a lot of emails to your database by acquiring the information of other industry professionals, such as escrow officers, realtors,  selling homeowners, tax preparers, insurance agents, transaction coordinators, various home inspectors, and the like.

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How an open line of communication can improve your mortgage business

Chances are, we all already know how difficult it can be to convert a simple lead into a loan.  Additionally, after that lead has been converted, it can be even tougher to use it in order to grow your business.  The easiest way that we suggest you do this is by establishing an effectively line of communication between you and each of your customers.  You can do this by establishing a talking point early on in your relationship with every customer.  

We probably all already know that one of the most frustrating aspects of the mortgage business is is that borrowers are often forced to go days or even weeks without hearing any updates about the status of their loan. That’s why you should take it upon yourself to make sure that all parties involved are consistently kept up to date.  This will make you appear more trustworthy, honest, and transparent, and in turn, keep your customers...