Georgia Mortgage FHA

Part diatribe, part expose and all fact:

Many mortgage brokerages do their own advertising and have their own referral base. My Novation Mortgage has a huge client base and spends heartily for on air, print and web advertising. Our phone rings off the hook. No joke. Our average originator turns roughly 50 applications per month. Of those 50 approximately 25 are new callers who have not yet found a home. Of the 25 who have not yet located a property approximately 10 have not yet engaged the services of a real estate professional.

Now let me tell you a story about a not new agent to whom I sent a referral several months ago. We will call her “Faye”. Faye was so excited and pleased to have this opportunity to work with me and just knew she could find the buyer the exact home they were looking for.

I continued working with the buyer and had them fully qualified. We spoke several times a week and he would send property addresses to me and I would GIVE him AVMs paid for from my own pocket. Then one day he would no longer return my phone calls or emails.

Concurrently I had also been maintaining open dialogue and contact with Faye who would ask, “Now this one is a little more expensive, is that going to be okay?” So I would run the scenario (I don’t just pull numbers out of my air like some folks may) and give her the answer all the way down to the monthly payment and closing costs. I even took the time to research the taxes on those specific properties so the GFE and TIL were as accurate as possible for a QUOTE! Not once but 7 SEVEN times. Now maybe Faye didn’t have anything else to do but I had 20 other agents needing their files closed! But I digress.

Here is why Faye will never get another referral from me: She took MY CLIENT that I had developed through very expensive radio advertising to a subdivision where the sales agent told her that the client would HAVE to use “their lender“ or they would not contribute to closing costs. Now Faye could have done several things not the least of which would have been to have called me and told me what happened. I, in turn, would have called the Operations Manager or VP or CEO of the seller and had a temporary policy changed enacted. Or Faye could have said to the sales agent, “Well that’s not a good way to lose a sale now is it? Let’s see what we can do to drop the sales price enough to offset that rule or let’s just waive the rule and go to closing.”

Nope. She convinced the buyer they had to do this regardless of how much work ol’ Ken had into it. So Faye is done. The buyer was SOOOO apologetic. But still a weinee for not calling me.

Now let me tell you about Sonya. Sonya sold over $3,500,000 worth of homes to my clients at an average price of $245k in 2006. Sonya listens to me when I say, “They are qualified for up to $285,000 for an investment property with no money down. This is their first property so a builder closeout new construction will be good for them. Please help them find a tenant for their property and show them how to handle a lease-purchase contract.”

Generally, no joke, within 3 days … THREE DAYS … I have a copy of the contract on my desk!

What happened when Sonya went into a subdivision where the sales agent pulled that little trick? First SHE WALKED THE BUYER OUT OF THE OFFICE! Then, she and I talked and I asked her for the contact information and we would get that waived. The next day she calls me back and says, “Ken, I spoke with Steve the president of the company out in Texas and he sent me a copy of a letter he sent to all of his sales managers saying they must honor the same deal with our clients.”

When Sonya gets a client it doesn’t matter if they come in the car with a mortgage broker she has them contact, who? That’s right … KEN! And Ken will be totally honest with them if he thinks they are getting the same deal he can do he tells them to stay where they are. If Ken can do better (lower rate not likely but higher LTV or no PMI, etc.) Ken says, “If I can show you a better deal, will you switch to me and lets get this closed?”

If Sonya is working with a client who starts talking about other lenders/brokers she stops them right in their track and says, “You mean to tell me you went to Ken’s seminar … for free … you asked him a thousand questions about real estate investing and you are even THINKING about talking to someone else? Shame on you!”

Now let me tell you about Juanita. Juanita saw an add about us in a newspaper about 6 years ago. She was new in town (from Cali) but worked for one of those big names that rhymes will Feller Nilliams and they had an “inhouse lender” (one of those who paid $3000 a month for a desk and a phone if you know what I mean) but she refused to use them because they wouldn’t even try to find 100% investor financing. So she brought a client to me. We closed the deal and everything was very smooth.

A couple of months went by and my phone rings and it was Juanita who only said, “Okay. I have another one see if you can do the same thing.” I did and we did.

Within about 2 days I had a new client from advertising, prequalified with great scores, assets and income. I gave him Juanita’s number and 18 days later we closed on an apartment building. EIGHT TEEN DAYS!

But let me tell you about Marian. Marian calls about once a month or so. If Marian doesn’t call one of Marian’s prospects call. Now I see that Marian has about 2 dozen listings and most of them are in the $350k to $800k price range. Even so the people calling me are looking at $125k homes, have credit scores in the low 500′s IF that, have been in their line of work for 3 months, have no savings, blah blah. I can do nothing NOTHING with these people without major long term work (which, by the way, I have done and will do). Then Marian says to me, “Ken, I bet I have sent you thirty referrals and you’ve never closed one. Besides, you have never sent me even one referral.” (What Marian doesn’t add is “I sent them to you after they were turned down by five other lenders – I can tell because it’s ON THEIR CREDIT REPORT MARIAN!)

Yes Marian – this is true. Don’t expect one anytime soon. Marian also takes my wife and I to lunch once a year. Thing is, as a person, I like Marian. But Marian shows me absolutely no respect in the industry. All he would need to do would be to even let me put a sign in the yard of one of those bigger listings. That’s all.

So if there is a broker in your area doing 40 to 60 units per month and you want their referrals; Earn them and don’t burn them. Never bite the hand that feeds you and don’t throw all your trash on one plate.

Now then, let’s go eat!

— Ken Cook NMLS ID 208452