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How To Deal With Pushy Wholesale Account Representatives In The Mortgage Industry When You Are A Loan Officer

By: Rob Lawrence

As a mortgage broker, one of your main advantages is that you have access to many different lenders and hundreds of loan programs, which you can offer your customers. Having too many lenders to deal with–however–can become one of your biggest problems.

As the person between the borrower and the bank, you?re responsible for dealing with the myriad of third parties involved in the transaction. You?re dealing with appraisers, title companies, attorneys, underwriting, wholesalers, etc. You?ve already got a lot on your plate, so adding more ?things? or ?people? for you to deal with in your office, isn?t going to help you get any more loans closed. You want to simply your business and your life.

How many times have you been bombarded with rate sheets, special pricing offers, free donuts, luncheons, etc. from wholesalers? How much time did these people cost you? Did they help you close any of your ?difficult? loans? Did anything come of it? Are they bringing anything of value to the relationship? These are questions to consider before letting another lender?s rep into your office. They can suck-up all your time, and leave you with nothing to show for it. Don?t go down a road to nowhere and let this happen to you.

Here are some of my top tips for dealing with pushy wholesale account representatives:

* Realize that there are some stellar wholesalers out there. They aren?t all bad. Some will go the extra mile for you and fight your case to the underwriter on difficult loans. Unfortunately, you won?t find this out until you are deep into the loan process, and after your relationship has progressed to a respectable working level. Until it gets to that point, it is impossible to differentiate one wholesaler from another.

* Never deal with an account representative that is new to the lender, or has only been in the mortgage business a short time. You?ll end-up having to ?train? them, and they won?t have much value to bring to the table. They also tend to be the ones who call all the time begging for a loan, because they don?t have many clients to service. To get the best rates, and highest level of service, demand someone with at least 2 years of experience, preferably more, with a particular lender.

* Don?t allow yourself to be stuffed onto the wholesalers marketing lists. Your fax machine and email with be overflowing with gimmicky sales pitches and mortgage hyperbole.

* Never allow a wholesaler into the office, without first speaking to them IN-DEPTH over the phone about their loan programs. They will try to schedule an appointment to come see you, but why spend an hour or two in a meeting, if their programs and rates aren?t competitive?

* Ask for a sample rate sheet upfront, so you can see what their rates are. Better yet, get their program and underwriting guidelines so you can judge how ?strict? the underwriters will be. Even if their rates are low, can you still get the deal closed?

* If you are a new broker, and don?t have many lenders, try not to go overboard and sign-up with everyone. Believe me, you?ll be overwhelmed with phone calls, and only have so many loans to go around. Not every wholesaler you sign-up with get a loan from you. They should know this upfront.

* Wholesalers can be a valuable resource into the rest of the industry. They all know each other and are great for getting the inside scoop on the other local mortgage companies as they make their rounds. They also have a lot of connections with lenders and should know how their programs stack up to others.

* When a wholesaler calls and starts in on his sales pitch. Say, ?Why should I do business with you?? ?What will you offer me, other than low rates??. A low interest rate is not enough, these days you also need a high degree of service to get the deal closed. I?ve seen many deals fall through not because the rate wasn?t low enough, but because the account representative sat on his hands. Is this guy going to go to bat for you? Ask him.

* Focus on working with a handful of lenders, and send them the majority of your business. You should have 5 to 10 A-Credit lenders, and know their programs inside and out. B-Credit is more complicated, so you?ll need between 10 to 15 for shopping purposes. By narrowing your field of lenders, you?ll get to know the account reps better and can deepen relationship. They will become more like a partner and an extension of your mortgage office. But, remember to choose wisely because your loan rests in their hands.

These are some of the policies I follow in my office and teach my students. The mortgage business is full of people who are all acting in their own business interests. Remember, the wholesaler?s job is to bring in loans from mortgage brokers. They are selling to you, as much as you are selling the loan to the end-borrower. Use them as a valuable and trusted resource, but don?t fall into the trap of being distracted by an endless array of programs and rates.

Follow these tips, and your business will be much more focused and on track.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/business_and_finance/article_9347.shtml

The Seller Finance Solution

By: Nathen Hache

Seller financing can be an alternative of getting a house sold quicker, and without reducing the asking price. By recognizing the number of people in this market who can?t get traditional financing as potential buyers, property sellers, and their agents, can minimize their time investment in getting a property sold. Sellers who offer financing can possibly get a higher asking price (or sell their house quicker). This shows to be a nice win-win situation to the seller, and buyer.

Most home sellers never consider financing the buyer directly because they are not aware of the advantages.

Three Advantages

Advantage #1 ? MORE BUYERS.

How does this work. When a seller lists his/her house on the market and adds ?OWC? ? Owner Will Carry ? this will make the house stand out and attract more buyers (This can be helpful when there are many houses on the market. Similar or not.). Because the potential buyers who cannot get funding from a bank, offering seller financing will open the doors to these prospective, thus increasing the pool of potential buyers.

Advantage #2 ? MORE MONEY.

Offering seller financing can offer the possibility of selling at a higher price. If that is not the case, then collecting interest payments will bring you more revenue and higher profits.

Advantage #3 ? LONG TERM PROFITS

I explained a little bit in Advantage #2 and now in further detail. When the seller finances the buyer, they get to act as ?the bank?. This means the seller could structure the deal to collect interest. Over time, if the seller holds on to the note, this can add up to thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars in additional income.

The Seller’s Strategy

Even with these advantages to “carry back financing” lending are made clear, many sellers are still hesitant to offer financing because they are entering unfamiliar territory. It’s a natural, human response — everyone is uncomfortable with new things.

For many property sellers, considering owner financing when they’ve only dealt with buyers via traditional funding is definitely “thinking outside the box”. But once sellers understand the process, they are likely to choose seller financing instead of the unattractive option of cutting the listed price or waiting for the “right buyer”.

A seller-financed real estate sale is simply a real estate transaction where the seller acts as “the bank” or lending institution. The seller sets the sales price, determines and accepts a down payment, and then finances the remaining balance. The final step is the part that may scare some sellers, but in actuality, it can be very simple. Here is an example.

If the sales price is $100,000.00, and the buyer gives the seller $10,000.00 cash (the agents fee will be deducted from this down payment), the seller will finance the balance of $90,000.00. The buyer and seller would then agree to the terms, such as the interest rate and the total term, and use an attorney to create the mortgage document and close the deal. From that point on, the buyer sends the seller monthly payments for the house he/she has just purchased.

Special Circumstances (and a Solution)

The whole process can really be that simple. But, there are some substantial differences between a seller-financed deal and one that relies on traditional bank funding.

First of all, the seller in this example does not receive a large, one-time payment at the time of the sale. In fact, they will only receive the down payment, and in some situations, most of that will go towards paying the real estate agent’s fee. On the other hand, the seller will be receiving monthly payments at a decent interest rate, but this income stream can’t be used as a down payment for a new house.

Since many home sellers are also looking to buy another property, the seller will need to get enough at closing to pay their own down payment. Without this payment, the seller’s hands will be tied when they look to purchase another house and need to have a substantial amount of funds available. There is a common solution to this issue, however.

The Solution

In order to get the money the seller needs from the loan they just created, the seller could sell the monthly note payments to a specialist buyer for a lump sum of cash. If the seller finds someone willing to buy the payments, now they can “have their cake and eat it too”.

Summary.

Step One: Use the seller finance option to find unique customers willing to buy the house at a higher price than would have been possible otherwise and complete the real estate transaction quickly.

Step Two: Decide on the terms of the deal and create the note.

Step Three: If the property seller needs immediate cash to buy another house or for any other reason, their new incoming payment stream can be resold. The person who buys the future payments from the seller will provide the funding to act as a down payment on a new house, and every party involved in the deal comes out smiling.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/business_and_finance/article_9402.shtml