Savage Insights

Happy Holidays!

As the year winds down, I just want to take this opportunity to thank all Mortgage Coach members and blog readers for your business and your loyalty. When you look back at this year, I hope 2007 brought you many valuable experiences using Mortgage Coach and reading this blog.

I wish you all a healthy, happy, safe and profitable 2008.

Best,

Dave Savage

7 new loans yesterday. 17 loans taken over the past 3 days. 38 loans approved so far in December. And to top it off ... He has 25 leads he hasn't even had the time to follow up on!

Who says you can’t be a powerhouse success story in this market?

If you’re looking for inspiration to find the “half-full glass” in today’s marketplace, you don’t need to look any further than Jeremy Forcier of California Mortgage Advisors. With 17 loans taken in 3 days and already 38 loans approved for the month of December despite the difficult times, how could anyone not be inspired by this story?   

Not to mention, Jeremy has only been a loan officer for three years.

Jeremy has several innovative ideas that are driving his success. One of the biggest secrets to his success is that his clients trust him so much that they are giving him written permission in advance to lock them into a refi rate when the opportunity presents itself for that client to benefit from existing market conditions.

By regularly managing his database, Jeremy was able to uncover a hidden opportunity for this client and lock in a rate on a refi loan that helped them save a considerable amount on their principal. Showing the benefits of the new loan in direct comparison to other appropriate loans, generated unquestioning trust helped Jeremy close the deal.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CALL:

• Learn how Jeremy is mining his database in today’s marketplace.
• He knows up front that almost everyone is going to rate shop — but learn his keys to avoiding it. Hear how he stops customers from rate shopping and wins 97% of the time.
• He shows customers how choosing the lowest rate with the wrong fit and wrong loan amount can cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of their loan.
• Learn the critical first question that Jeremy opens every loan appointment with.

Jeremy Forcier is a mortgage professional who is consistently hitting it out of the park at a time when many other loan officers are not even motivated enough to step up to the plate. Because of his masterful focus on the right strategies, he’s achieving great success. Jeremy is an awesome role model for all LOs.   

Click on the player below to listen to this interview between Dave Savage and Jeremy Forcier.

or you can download grab the 32Mb file here

Click here to download the sample of the report and proposal that he gives to every client before he quotes a rate.

Click here if you would like to contact Jeremy with questions.

Wake Up Loan Officers! You Need to Raise the Bar and Increase Your Sense of Urgency!

In this market and season, I’m shocked by what I’m seeing and hearing. Many loan officers are pulling back by 20% to 30% because they’re unmotivated or confused. They’re not confident. They’re not feeling good about the market, themselves, or their customers.
Look, in this marketplace, you have to work smarter, you need to work harder and yes, it takes extra effort. It’s not raining loans anymore, so easy loans aren’t just walking in your door without effort and focus.

And this might be my harshest message of all: The market is the ultimate equalizer; it always pays us what we’re worth. What do you feel you’re worth? Guess what, whatever you think that is, that’s what you’re getting paid.

If you are in the mortgage business and you aren’t going to increase your effort by 20% to 30% and you aren’t going to get more focused on the best strategies, then your business is going to continue to go from OK to bad and even bad to worse.

The leads are right there in front of you, as are the tools. You can conduct annual equity reviews…ARM reviews, seller buydown analyses…monthly rate reviews….divorce planning…recast reviews… and more. Every single loan officer in the business today is sitting on dozens of hidden opportunities for generating new business. You simply need to uncover those that are being overlooked by homeowners and other loan officers.

I’ve been talking to people who are saying that they’re not ready to make the investment in their business right now. In this market, how can you afford not to?

Cold call direct mail pieces don’t generate trust, and trust is critical today. When you contact people who have been referred to you by someone they trust, that trust is automatically transferred to you. Are you willing to waste $1,000+ and your precious time on a less than 1% response rate? Do you really think that’s going to keep you afloat right now?

I’m baffled. Even people who are networked in the community and are members of their country club aren’t putting forth enough effort. Just having a good relationship is not enough anymore. You need to deliver something valuable and uncover the opportunities that are not obvious — that your competition can’t see and can’t reach. Those are the golden nuggets.

And it’s not going to get easier any time soon. You need to have more energy, put forth more effort and deliver a higher caliber of service. To succeed, you’ve got to increase your activity by 20% to 30%.

We have weekly recorded case study calls you can listen to where Mortgage Coach users explain how they are thriving in this marketplace. These MC users aren’t paid. They agree to be interviewed because they want to share their success with their fellow LOs. They weren’t prompted or prodded in anything they say and each one has a unique spin on how they are succeeding.

Click here to listen to the success stories of your fellow loan officers who are selling advice through the power of Mortgage Coach.

Remember, if things are good, they’re going to get bad. If they’re bad, they’re going to get worse if you are not taking advantage of the strategies we evangelize.

Stop making excuses! Start making the necessary investments and changes you need to win in this market. Remember, the only market we have to work with is this one. In the words of Nike, just do it! Your future depends on it.

Listen to Todd Ballenger and Start Preparing for the “New Millennium” of Loan Sales

We are all busy, and with everything going on in our industry these days, the natural tendency is to keep our heads down and focus on filling the loan pipeline. This is understandable. But this also is a time when those that can take advantage of this trough in the mortgage cycle are going to school and preparing themselves for the next wave of the cycle. It is said, “a good frost kills lots of mosquitoes.”

Those who survive this mortgage industry frost will need to be prepared for a new lending environment. A continuing education — through seminars, conferences and self-paced training materials — is the best way to ensure that you are prepared for the “new millennium” of loan sales.

Of all the conversations taking place in the industry now, I am convinced that the convergence of the liability and asset sides of our client’s balance sheet is one of the most important. Todd Ballenger, of KendallTodd, is a thought leader in this area and, if the response of the audience to his presentation at the recent Sales Mastery 2007 Conference is any indication, Todd’s message is ringing true with the industry’s top producers.

Todd Duncan has been kind enough to share a video of Todd Ballenger’s presentation with us and I am providing a link to you:

http://toddballenger.typepad.com/borrow_smart_blog/sm.html

I urge you to take the time to review Todd’s talk and PowerPoint presentation.  This is the time to be learning the new approaches to lending, such as “Liability Management”, which will transform your practice and differentiate you in today’s marketplace and to help you uncover today’s hidden opportunities.

CASE STUDY: How Scott Nicholson Helped a Realtor Sell A Home That Had Gone Cold With a Seller Buydown Strategy

Scott Nicholson of South Pacific Financial in Brea, California has a failsafe method for selling houses that have gone cold.

BIG IDEA:
Increase Commissions With a Seller Buydown strategy
Scott recently conducted a seller buydown that saved a buyer $1,444 per month, compared with a $30,000 price reduction that would have only saved the buyer $150 a month. In this call, Scott reveals how he structured the deal.

THE CHALLENGE:
This home had been on the market for 7 months. The seller had already reduced the purchase price by $75,000 and was getting ready to reduce the price by another $30,000.

THE SOLUTION:
With Scott’s unique seller buydown strategy and the way he packaged it, they were able to sell the home in just two weeks. In addition, by applying the $30,000 to a buydown rather than a price reduction, the Realtor was able to sell the home quickly and double-end it in the process. In this type of scenario, everybody wins. Scott won new referrals by bringing innovation and leadership to his Realtor. The seller sold the house without a price reduction; and the buyers saved $1,319 a month, which allowed them to afford a home they might not have been able to otherwise.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CASE STUDY:

• Learn how Scott started by calling on a realtor partner who trusted his advice. This helped him get a face to face meeting and present his idea.
• Learn how Scott packaged a presentation for a specific listing that wasn’t selling, Scott showed the realtor how he could save the buyer 8 times more money per month over a price reduction — a $1,444 savings — without sacrificing the selling price or the realtor commission.
• The net result: the house sold within days using Scott’s buydown strategy.
• In addition the buyer benefited from the tax deduction of being able to write off the prepaid points to buy down the interest rate.
• See examples of Scott’s brochure and strategy in the accompanying PDF. You can follow along and see the difference in the three options he presents in the Total Cost Analysis report and hear why the third option is the clear winner. 

With Scott’s strategy, you’ll be able to help Realtors sell more homes faster during a challenging marketplace, resulting in new commissions for yourself and your Realtor partners. In addition, buyers’ agents can also use this strategy to help their home buyers purchase homes that they previously would have been unable to afford. It also increases the cash in the homeowner’s pocket with the significant tax benefit of having the seller pay for the buydown.

Bottom line: In a marketplace where success doesn’t come easily, this strategy will give you the ability to have more control. Master this strategy and start controlling tomorrow’s success today.

Click on the player below to listen to the first interview between Dave Savage and Scott Nicholson.

Click on the player below to listen to the follow-up interview between Dave Savage and Scott Nicholson.

or you can download grab the 17Mb file here

Click here to download a sample of Scott’s actual presentations.

Click here to contact Scott Nicholson with follow-up questions.