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Okay, Scott...I see why I had a hard time figuring out what
you were asserting. The things you put below are, with
the exception of the last one, generalities that pretty
much go without saying, although there are aspects of most
that are irrelevant to me, as an exclusive buyer agent.
Let's take them one at a time, and then I will tell you what
the key things are that any successful buyer agent, exclusive
or otherwise, should be seeking.
Your list:
> Scott sez: 1. I want to increase the number houses you
> sell.
That's fine. While I do not "sell" homes, but, rather
help my clients buy the homes they want, intelligently,
I can understand that the audience you are approaching
would like to hear this. You're about sales first and
we're about service first. With the service we offer,
the "sales" are a given.
While it is not one of the four key things I expect from a
loan officer who I'd recommend, my version of this
would be, I am only going to work with serious, preapproved
buyers, because I do not waste my time. (And, I mean
I only contract with clients for whom we've pulled credit
and who have been approved through desktop underwriting.)
> Scott sez: 2. I want to increase the transaction value
> of each house sold.
This is irrelevant to me, and should be irrelevant to any
true buyer's agent, as the price of the homes seen are
according to criteria set by the buyer...and the final offer
price will be negotiated according to what my client wants
to pay and what the home is worth. The thought of wanting
to see increased transaction values runs entirely counter
to the goals of the buyer and true buyer agents.
> Scott sez: I want to get paid (minimize attrition; lost
> deals) and get paid faster (quick closing times).
I am starting to see why the dollar sign is the first letter
in your name. While I do want to know that I'll eventually
get paid, thus the preapproval and the need to know the
buyer is serious about getting a home...I don't care when
I get paid. (Though I'll release a client if it becomes
obvious that what they want does not exist in the market.)
As for attrition, I will remind you that my closing ratio is
that 99.9973 percent of my clients whose offers were accepted
by sellers, were approved for their financing. (375, plus,
clients, one turned down for financing, many years ago, due
to job loss just prior to closing.)
> Scott sez: 4. I want to increase the number of customers
> I service (lead sharing/lead generation/marketing assistance;
> reciprocal lead exchange).
Of course you do. And, while I do not blame you, it still
is not anything that hits my list of what makes me want to
do business with any given loan officer, as a successful
buyer agent. I won't do a quid pro quo with any lender.
> Scott sez: 5. I want consistent and accurate communication
> of the loan status.
Not me. I do not want you bugging me, unless there is a
problem, and then woe be to you if it is a problem that
you caused. I don't want to have to babysit you. I want
to know that you know your job up one side and down the
other and that you will keep the lending related trains
running on time.
If you do screw up, and the screw up had nothing to do
with a deficiency on the part of the buyer, you are not
likely to get a second chance with me.
Now, here is MY list. It was the consistent inability of
loan officers to adhere to the requirements of this list,
making it so I had to babysit them, that led me to find a
way to offer my clients mortgage services. While we have
always kept our trains running on time, so far...at least
I know where to turn, very quickly, in order to get a
deficiency addressed when we do it in house. Remember...I
do not want you to bother me. I want to know that you will
do your job, because if you do, closing is a foregone
conclusion.
Here's my list:
1) The appraisal must be ordered on time, but not too
early. On time, because it needs to be timely sent to
the underwriter--along with all other documentation--to
ensure that loan commitment is on time. Not too early,
because I do not want you sending the appraiser before
we have negotiated through anything that might have arisen
out of the inspection contingency. It makes no sense for
my client to pay money--around here, $300.00--for a home
that falls apart on inspection.
2) Loan commitment must be delivered, on time. Around
here, such deadlines are usually time is of the essence
deadlines. That means that failure to provide the
commitment, on time, puts the buyer in breach and the
seller may have the ability to void the offer. Nothing
displeases the buyer--and me--more than a loan originator
who, without fault on the buyer's end, misses the deadline
for loan commitment. (And my buyers all know how important
it is that they cooperate.)
3) You must communicate with the title insurance company
in a fashion that does not delay, or hamper, closing. As
part of this, you'll make sure that closing documents get
to the title insurance company on time, so that my clients,
among other things, can know the final dollar amount they
need for closing, as soon as possible.
4) Buyer funds for closing must be at the closing table
by the time closing is scheduled to begin. Again, if
funds are not at the closing table, the buyer is in breach,
under the terms of the offer. This, once again, may give
the seller the ability to void. While not as likely, at
this late stage of the game, it does give the seller the
ability to extort money out of the buyer and to delay the
buyer's ability to take possession of the property, too.
These things, are what any serious buyer's agent should
demand of a loan officer. Your list is too general.
Coupled with a true preapproval on the front end, this
list is what has enabled me to represent buyers--with a
very strong certainty that I'll, eventually, be paid--for
the better part of eighteen years.
This message is really geared toward helping buyer agents
understand how to succeed, not to gain me any clientele.
The mortgage banker for whom we work is only in a few
states, so, the odds of us being able to help anyone who
is looking on these forums isn't all that substantive
anyway.
Those are the things, though, that we do key in on, with
regards to all people for whom we do work...not just the
people who are clients of my firm.
Let me close, Scott, by saying that I do not begrudge you
a living, nor do I've any problem with you incorporating
Usenet into your plan. If you adopt the things I have
shared with you into the way you do business, you will
automatically become REVERED, by any true buyer agent,
as a lender, provided you actually perform them.
What we want to know is, the buyer is preapproved to buy
a home and that you are going to get all the steps done
to make sure that all trains run on time, so that there
is no need for you to call with any bad news. As you
and I both know, when a buyer is run through desktop
underwriting, if it comes back as approved, it is then
just a matter of properly assembling the package and
managing the transaction.
I wish you well. And, contrary to our jousting, I really do
mean that.
http://www.real-reform.org/pcnonebas.pdf
--
Jay Reifert -- Fitchburg/Madison ****** http://www.real-reform.org
http://profiles.yahoo.com/jay_reifert** http://www.true-agent.com
http://www.madison-real-estate.com
mailto:true-agents@12345true-agent.com <-----------Remember to
remove the numbers from
the email address before
hitting send.
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Re: ATT Real Estate Agents... What do you want in a mortgage broker?
