An Open Letter to Mortgage Representatives and Loan Officers

A day never goes by that I don’t receive an e-mail, a postal letter, or a fax from some loan officer/mortgage representative telling me what they can offer my customers and clients. I could paper my office walls with all of the ones that I receive. But I can understand your motivation…you’re trying to solicit more business for yourself. Because that’s what I do. I’ve spoken to many of you and you ask a very valid question -

“What can I do to earn your business and have you refer your clients and customers to me?”

I can now answer that question – refer home buyers to me. Now, to better understand my answer I need to expand on it a bit more. First of all, I have not had a serious home buyer that I haven’t been able to find a home for. It may take a bit of time, but I end up finding them exactly what they were looking for. Secondly, I have never had a deal fall apart because of the house disappearing or my buyers no longer qualify to own it (different then no longer being qualified to acquire the funds to purchase it).

With that said, I can now more fully explain my perspective and you can better understand where I’m coming from. I spend a considerable amount of time, money, and effort to attract home buyers to our business. These buyers are very precious to us so we aren’t going to be quick to throw them away. If they don’t have a mortgage representative and ask us who we would recommend, do you think we are going to recommend -

1. Someone we’ve never worked with and just wants us to give them a try, or
2. Someone that we have worked with before and has demonstrated that they will makes sure that the deal goes to the settlement table.

I think that you’ll agree that it is a no brainer, we’re going to go with the proven entity. So, how do you start a lucrative business relationship with us? Send me serious, qualified buyers. If the buyer comes from you, then they are your client. However, when they come to me through my efforts then I will recommend services to them that will insure that the deal goes to the settlement table. Essentially, look at the situation in a logical manner -

• Every buyer working with a real estate agent does not need a mortgage (buyers with cash do not need to get a mortgage). I can find them a home that they can buy.
• All mortgage applicants need a home to use the funds from the mortgage loan on. As a mortgage represenatative, unless you have a real estate license, you can’t locate a home for them.

Because all mortgage applicants (excluding those seeking refinancing) must become home buyers, not all home buyers must become mortgage applicants. So, the fastest way to garner business with us in giving you a shot is to use your buyer as the test and not ours.

Terry Iwaniw
REALTOR Associate
First Time Home Buyer Specialist
Foreclosure Prevention Consultant
RE/MAX Home Team
609-417-1086
http://www.terryi.com/
http://www.snewjerseyhomes.com/

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Tags: advertising, mortgage loans, mortgage reps, mortgages, promotion

Experience does not mean that you are GOOD!

It amazes me as to how many agents are putting out ads telling everyone how experienced they are.  They all tout it as if that is the same as being good.  Well, it’s not.  Being an experienced real estate agent does not make up for any lack of marketing skills or customer service abilities.  We’ve heard about agents who have been in the business for 10, 15, 20, 22 years who do not return their clients calls.  Who do not bother to keep in touch with their clients, EVEN WHILE IN THE PROCESS OF MARKETING THEIR HOMES!  Yes, these are “experienced” agents who have been in the business for many years, who keep touting how experienced they are.  But they play a numbers game.  To them the most important factor for any potential customer has to be the number of years they’ve been in the business.  Not how many satisfied customers they have.  If they relied on this number only, it would be considerably LESS then the number of years they’ve been in the business.  The number of years experience means that they’ve had more time to play the gimmicks to get you to sign on with them.  If you could follow their “years of experience” you’d see that they’ve been -

1.  First Time Home Buyer Expert
2.  New Home Expert
3.  Foreclosure Expert
4.  Short Sale Expert
5.  All Around Real Estate Guru

Hmm, Jack of All Trades…Master of None.  All they have to offer is the number of years they’ve been in the business.  They have no comprehensive marketing plan, they have no idea of how to market in the New Age of the Internet, all they can keep crowing about is the number of years experience.  Which would you choose, a doctor with 30 years experience but everything is from the 1970’s and 1980’s or a doctor who has only half that amount of years experience that is up-to-date and current?  See?  Experience isn’t the absolute factor.  You have to know how to market, yourself and your clients’ homes.  When I see these ads from many of my collegues in the business I have to laugh myself silly.  These ads speak volumes about them.  And if their web sites mimic their ads (that the only thing they tout is their experience) then using these agents are NOT in your best interest. 

My strong suit is internet marketing.  How long have I been doing it and how long have I been on the Net?  Well, I won’t state specific years (because then I start sounding like all of the other agents), but I use to access the old BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) and participate in the USENet groups via those BBS’s (we didn’t have the newsreaders they have now).  You had to TCP in to access any existing web pages. 

Essentially, I am a 1) business man (my business web site is still on the web), and then 2) I am a REALTOR.  There is an old saying among business people – - all business owners are salesmen, but not all salesmen are business owners.  When you own your own business you have to know how to market…your whole existence depends on it.  But if all you are is a sales person, you play the numbers game…to sell a certain number of homes you have to have a larger number listed.  Why?  Because of the Wall Effect.  What is the Wall Effect?  Well, it goes like this…if you fling enough things at the wall, something is bound to stick.  These agents don’t discuss things with you, they don’t inform you, they just say whatever it takes to get you to sign on the bottom line.

How many people have run into the agent that doesn’t listen to what their customers tell them they are lookng for, but instead push the homes that would pay them the most amount of money?  These agents are the epitome of a sales person -

1.  Sells you something you don’t want.
2.  Sells you that something at a price you don’t want to pay.

When the customer says No, they feel it is their DUTY to sell them.  There is an old saying in Salesmenshipland that goes like this – “Salesmanship starts when the customer says ‘No’”.  To me, Customer Service starts when the customer says ‘No’.  I need to understand what I need to do to get my customer to say ‘Yes’ and to be happy about their choice.  I don’t try to sell them something, I facilitate and help them make the best investment in their new home that they can.

If you buy into the “Experience Count” garbage, then know that it is the ONLY thing they have to offer you…the fact that they’ve been at it for a long time, but not very good at it.

Terry Iwaniw
REALTOR Associate
RE/MAX Home Team
http://www.snewjerseyhomes.com/
http://www.i-teamhomes.com/
http://www.terryi.com/
609-417-1086

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Tags: advertising, agent, marketing, promotion, real estate agent, realtors, self-promotion