Mortgage Think Tank

Memorial day is the traditional beginning to the summer season in the United States. All across the country, families will come together on back yard decks and enjoy meals cooked on an open grill. Instead of the shelter our houses have been through the cold winter and wet spring months, they become entertainment venues of every shape and size.

We in the mortgage business will also be among that number, enjoying ourselves, our families and our homes. It’s a good time to remember that while the mortgage loan may seem like a business transaction to us, it’s much more to someone buying a new home. It’s the key that opens the door that leads to the deck and the grill and what will hopefully become a lifetime of memories.

We often think that we add value to people’s lives by getting them money. The value loan originators bring to American families goes far beyond that. You’re helping make something possible. As the market continues to change, you can expect to be working with many Americans that might not have been considered for a mortgage just three years ago. They’ll be counting on you (as will your wholesale lenders) to find a way to make their dreams possible. Just like you’ve been doing for awhile now.

I hope that sometime during this holiday weekend you’ll take a break from your grilling duties and give some thought to some of the weekend cookouts you’ve help make possible. And pat yourself on the back.

See you back at the office on Tuesday.

Rick Grant for Mortgage Think Tank

If you could look through your wholesale lender’s eyes, what would you see in yourself. A valuable source of new business? A trusted partner in the work of satisfying borrowers?

Bankers, in my experience, see the world in terms of risk and reward. To some degree, all business people wear these glasses, but bankers are exceptionally good at identifying risks. They can sense it sense it like a Lensman from the Chronicles of Riddick. They recoil at the first whiff.

You can’t blame them, really. The downside for the lender is almost always more severe than the risk faced by the third-party originator. So what does your lender see in you?

I’ll be traveling out to Monarch Beach, Calif., next month to get a better idea of the risks lenders are monitoring right now. Lenders and vendors from across the country will be coming together for the sixth annual Predictive Methods Conference there. High on the agenda will be the subject of fraud.

Bankers have read that close to 70% of fraud is perpetrated on the 1003. Where do they get that document? From you, of course. Whether this figure is accurate or not, it surely adds a hue to the glasses bankers are wearing.

How are you protecting your wholesale lenders from fraud today? Can you document your procedures? Do you discuss it with your AEs?

While it’s true that third-party originators are vitally important to lenders at this point in the cycle, you can’t take the fear of risk out of the banker. If you’re not thinking about putting your lender’s fears to rest, you should be.

–Rick Grant for Mortgage Think Tank

When it comes to marketing to third party originators, KISS is a great standard. Not because brokers aren’t sophisticated. I know plenty that rival top lenders in the way they think about and use technology. But rather because they just don’t have time for complicated sales messages.

These hard-working folks make their money only when they close the deal. All the work that leads up to that — prospecting, lead cultivation and incubation, customer counseling and managing the processing — is given away in hopes that the borrowers will actually sign the closing docs when they sit down at that table. And the more successful a broker is, the less time he has to figure out what new product or service will have any chance of making his life easier.

No, if you want to market to a broker, you need to demonstrate your value before the elevator makes it to her floor. Once she gets off that ride, your chances of having any influence are over.

I’m speaking metaphorically, of course. That ride could be an elevator, but it could just as easily be the 15 seconds she spends on your homepage or the 10 seconds he spends looking at your recent postcard. In any event, it’s a short ride. You need to have a simple and powerful message to make an impact or he’ll be on his way to the next mortgage deal.

It’s not that brokers don’t want to do business with you. Many are seeking you out, in the five or ten minutes of free time they have each day. But to get their attention, you have to be spot on target when their eyes move over you. That’s what brokers want. They want to find ways to do what they do better, faster and more profitably. Can you help them? Make sure it doesn’t take you more than a few seconds to say “yes!”

–Rick Grant for Mortgage Think Tank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeXAcwriid0

I read about this today in WSJ. Apparantly, this was done by MSoft designers. Apparantly, they either have a good sense of humour or too much time on their hands.

Does this belong on this blog?

Sure, why not.

I believe it speaks to simplicity in marketing.

 KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.

Applies to the mortgage professional who is responsible for marketing to other mortgage professionals.

If you are a wholesale lender looking to reach brokers, you might humorously state that many mortgatge brokers fit into the last ‘S’ of KISS. But that is an overused generalization.

Brokers need to be dealt with like a general consumer audience. Too often, ad agency’s, publishers and large marketers treat them as one would a typical C Suite b2b audience.

They’re not. Many are simple people trying to get by who want to make a good living for their families. They don’t have boards or shareholders or internal constituants. They don’t have targets, growth plans or compensation plans. They get by, by getting by.

Headlines should read- Title Companies Win Big.

 I’m sorry, but a $2m fine & a roll back of 15% on rates is a light penalty, given the absolute racket title insurance is.

 If someone really wanted to do something about ‘predatory lending’, they’d take a look at things like Title Insurance, PMI and Flood Certification. These are the biggest rackets out there.

 Why should I need title insurance? To prove the seller actually has clear claim to sell the property. If they don’t, its called fraud.