How to Heat Up
As Loan Officers, surviving a downturn in the real estate market as a loan officer demands adaptability, resilience, and a proactive approach. When the market is cold (or cold), we must build, and live with, key strategies to thrive:
1. Diversify Your Clientele: Don't rely solely on traditional homebuyers. Explore opportunities in niches like refinancing, rental property investors. This diversification can help stabilize your income, and help you build referrals for future markets.
2. Enhance Expertise: Stay updated on market trends, regulations, and financing options. If you are not spending an hour a day learning, start. Specializing in unconventional or government-backed loans may set you apart when traditional mortgages are harder to come by. Down payment products, Broker out products, MI options, are all ways you might set yourself apart.
3. Strengthen Relationships: Nurture your current network of realtors, builders, and clients. Word-of-mouth referrals are invaluable in a downturn in the market. These are the people that already know, like, and trust you.
4. Tighten Credit Analysis: Learn how to correctly assess borrower creditworthiness meticulously to maximize the borrowing power of each client, and to become known as the “expert”. Knowledge = power, and you will receive referrals based on your ability to close loans others cannot.
5. Educate Clients: Be a source of guidance for clients navigating uncertain markets. Explain their options and provide realistic expectations. Use the tools you have: MBS Highway, Mortgage Coach, List Reports, MMI.
6. Improve Marketing: Invest in targeted marketing efforts to reach potential clients through as many means as possible: Use Total Expert, Marketing, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn to let people in. Get your brand out there, have your face recognized, build the Brand. Showcase your expertise through content marketing, continuing education, or Fairway seminars to build trust.
7. Build a Cash Reserve: Every time you close a loan, set aside some amount to savings. This will allow you to weather the lean periods and ensure you can meet personal and professional obligations. Even $50 per loan, or paycheck, can help in the long term.
8. Adapt Quickly: Be prepared to adjust your marketing and call strategies as market conditions change. Flexibility is essential for survival. When rates go up – you adapt. When rates go down, you adapt.
9. Persistent and Consistent: Understand that mortgage rates and real estate markets are always cyclical. Surviving a downturn as a loan officer requires consistent learning, patience and a long-term perspective. Sometimes, we just need to learn to take a breath, and think about what we need to do to be prepared for the market shift – because it will come. Those that are ready will succeed.
Those of us that have been in the market since electricity was invented have seen these market shifts, and survived them by doing the above.
This too shall pass. Will you be ready?
Written by Brian Cantrall
Brian Cantrall has been in the mortgage business since 1995. In that time, he has been: a Coach, a Regional Manager, an Area Manager, a Branch Manager, a Sales Manager, and a Top Producer for 15 of those years. As a producer, Brian has originated over $500,000,000 in loans. Since joining Fairway in 2019, Brian has focused on being a Coach with Fairway Ignite. In that time, he has been recognized twice as being one of the best in the group, most recently as MVP of 2022. He continues to find ways to enhance his skills and knowledge regarding Coaching. Brian is married to an amazing wife, a great daughter, and lives in Arizona. Brian was born and raised in Lakewood, Colorado, and is an avid Colorado Avalanche and Denver Broncos fan.
