Savage Insights

Last Chance to Reserve Your Seat in Todd Ballanger's Mentor Program

Todd Ballenger's Mentor Program is taking place this Thursday, March 6th in Dallas, TX, and there are only 6 seats left!  This is a great opportunity to learn from an industry expert some key concepts on how to thrive in this market. I highly recommed listening to this call with Todd Ballenger explaining the program.

Click here to listen to this call.

Click here if you are interested in enrolling in Todd Ballenger's Mentor Program.

Communicating and Helping Past Customers Is More Critical Than Ever

This latest article from CNNMoney.com about the housing market — “Home Price Plunge Accelerates” — shows that purchases are at an all time low and values are dropping. 

That means that it’s now more important than ever to reach out to your past customers. With rates dropping and real estate in the news headlines daily, you’re likely to have dozens of past clients who would benefit from some type of liability restructuring ranges for rate and term refis to debt consolidations to equity restructuring.

There’s no time to waste if you want to thrive in this marketplace and help your clients in the process. I recommend that you start with these action steps:

1) Immediately send out RateWatch to your entire database
2) Analyze the existing mortgages of every client to uncover opportunities to save your clients money, starting with the oldest mortgages first
3) Pick out the 10 most likely to benefit from a refi and call them

By uncovering unseen opportunities in your database, you could be meeting with clients as early as today and closing within a couple of weeks.

Click here to read: "Home price plunge accelerates — 2007 year-end results are in and the news is bad: Major housing markets were down even more than anticipated," from CNNMoney.com.

Dylan Kramer’s Three-Step Process Stops Client Payment Shock

This is the perfect case study to follow up my interview with professional coach Daniel Harkavy. In my recorded interview with Daniel, he emphasizes that now is the time for loan officers to reconnect with referral prospects that you couldn’t get you’re your foot in the door with during the refi boom and who are now looking for ways to increase their business.

Dylan Kramer did just that, and it immediately generated him a new client. A 12-year veteran of the mortgage industry and veteran Mortgage Coach member, Dylan recently took some time to analyze his business and realized that he wasn’t getting as much business from financial planners as he used to. That prompted him to start making calls and presentations to referrals that had gone cold. Within just a few days, he had his first referral.

PROBLEM/SOLUTION:
This particular client was in a tough financial situation. They had a mediocre credit score and some late payments on their credit history. They were in a two-year adjustable sub-prime ARM at 9-7/8ths that was going to adjust in a few months. They had no escrows and were behind on their property taxes.

Many loan officers would take a look at this client’s situation and think, I can’t doing anything for them. But Dylan took a very creative, unconventional — and very successful — approach. He used three different versions of the Total Cost Analysis report to first win the client’s trust and then help them make the best decision for their long-term future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CALL:
* Dylan first presented a 12-month analysis to show them how they could stop the short-term bleeding with a $4,400 savings the first year;
* He then presented a 24-month analysis to get them thinking about their future and how the savings would add up to $20,000 in just two years;
* Finally, he showed them the opportunities they would have if they improved their credit and refinanced again at a lower rate in just 6 to 12 months;
* He even offered to do the second loan for free; the first loan had a $5,200 commission built in so it was an attractive offer;
* In the end, he won their trust and put them on the path to a more secure financial future.

These are tough times and tough times call for creative thinking. This is the perfect solution for a client stuck in the wrong loan program. Dylan won the client over by first taking the time to build their trust and then dollarizing the cost and savings over time in a way they could clearly understand.

As a result, Dylan now has two raving fans — the financial planner he reconnected with who looks like a hero in the client’s eyes, and the client. No doubt, Dylan will be seeing more referrals from both parties.

Click on the player below to access this 20-minute interview between Dave Savage and Dylan Kramer.

Or you can download this 28MB file click here.

Click here to access Dylan Kramer's 12 month analysis.

Click here to access Dylan Kramer's 24 month analysis. 

Click here to access Dylan Kramer's 24 month analysis with credit improvements. 

Discipline: The Difference Between a Good and a Great Originator

Discipline. It’s the key to being the best originator you can be. Any leader, any athlete, anyone who has ever worked hard to achieve anything has always had a high level of personal discipline. It helps keep them focused and keeps them on track with their goals and commitments.

It’s the same with loan officers. Discipline can make the difference between a good originator and a great one.

That’s the message that Daniel Harkavy is delivering to loan officers in today’s interview. As the CEO of coaching firm Building Champions and author of the book, Becoming a Coaching Leader, Daniel helps executives, athletes and sales producers to focus on success and achieve their goals.

KEY TAKEAWAYS OF THIS CALL:
* Daniel will explain how “discipline” is the “difference maker” in his clients’ businesses;
* He’ll explain the concept of “on” time and how it’s critical to success;
* He’ll offer steps for setting up your own “on” time and sticking with it;
* Through his concept of “over communicating”, he’ll explain how to uncover new hidden opportunities with partners and referrals that had previously gone cold.

Following Daniel’s coaching techniques can make the difference between a good originator in today’s marketplace and a great one.

To listen to this 18-minute interview between myself and Daniel Harkavy click on the player below:

Or you can download this 9MB file click here.

To access his website:
www.buildingchampions.com

To access the website for his book:
www.becomingacoachingleader.com

To contact Daniel Harkavy, call 573-670-1013.

Three Must-Do Strategies for Surviving the Mortgage Meltdown

If you haven’t read my latest article in Mortgage Planning magazine — “Three Must-Do Strategies for Surviving the Mortgage Meltdown” — I strongly urge you to read it today.

This article is a basic primer for any loan officer who is new to the Mortgage Coach member or reader family and a refresher for experienced originators.

Key takeaways from this article:
- Work your database of past customers with regular contacts such as recast reviews, RateWatch reviews, free credit reviews….the ideas are endless. If you have a product that provides value, offer it. I’ve conducted two interviews recently with loan officers who are actually earning consulting fees on top of loan commissions. Anything is possible if you provide value.

- Look for hidden opportunities – of all the blog posts I’ve written in the past few months, none are more valuable than the ones that show how loan officers have uncovered hidden opportunities in their market. This is huge.

- And finally, say no to fast, marginal deals. This can be one of a loan officer’s worst mistakes – making loan promises that you end up not being able to keep because you spoke before you asked all the right questions or looked at their credit. There is a right way and a wrong way to handle this type of situation. The right way will keep this customer for life and produce valuable commissions when their situation improves.

Click here to read the article.

Part II: Answering Loan Officers’ Questions About Scott Nicholson’s Seller Buydown Strategy

On December 7th, I posted a blog entry about my interview with Scott Nicholson, in which he talked about how he helped a Realtor sell a home that had gone cold with a seller buydown strategy. 

Scott and I received so many comments and questions after that post from loan officers interested in his strategy that we recorded a follow-up call so he could respond to the inquiries.

Key questions answered in the call include:
- who gets the tax deduction in a seller buydown?
- what is the tax credit that they get?
- what is the biggest buydown we can get?
- what lenders are the best for this strategy?

…and many many more.

If you haven’t listened to my first call with Scott Nicholson, I strongly recommend that you do so today. Scott’s unique strategy is exactly what originators need to uncover the hidden opportunity of helping Realtor partners move real estate that has gone cold. This is a win-win opportunity.

Click on the player below to listen to the follow-up call and hear Scott answer originators’ questions.

Learn how one of the nation’s top MEGA Producers Mark Klein turns a Rate Shopper into a Raving Fan

Mark Klein, owner of Pacific Coast Lending in Agora Hills, California, closed $225 million in production in 2007. Why is he so successful in a market where so many others are struggling or even leaving the business?

The answer is simple. He leverages his database and always dollarizes the total cost of every option so his clients can clearly see which solution is right for their unique situation and their long-term goals.

PROBLEM/SOLUTION:
Mark received a phone call from Greg, a past client. He hadn’t heard from this client in 10 years. Even so, Mark did the smart thing — he continued to maintain the relationship. Greg was a partner in a big four CPA firm who had just been relocated to Mark’s area. The relocation company had a bank lined up for him to use but Greg wasn’t satisfied with the rates he was being offered. So, he came to Mark as a RATE-SHOPPER — he wanted to see if Mark could do better.

Greg had his mind made up on a 30-year fixed loan until he saw Mark’s unique total cost analysis.   By listening to this call you will learn how Mark helped this client make a truly informed decision and branded himself as an expert in the process.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
* Learn how Mark clearly illustrated how different loans impacted this homeowner’s long term goals and their freedom point
* See how Mark presented visual evidence with his advice – this is one of the biggest mistakes most loan offers miss out on
* Learn how Mark’s presentation was totally different from the typical loan officer

The relocation lender was selling a specific loan, while Mark was helping the client make a truly informed decision and branding himself as an expert in the process.  By listening to this call you will learn exactly how you can also become the obvious choice in the eyes of your clients and referrals partners.

Click on the player below to listen to the interview between Mark Klein and Dave Savage.

Click here to download this 2MB file.