I got interested in the loan business after teaching myslef the basics and learning how to raise my own credit score (quite effectively - avg of 70 pts in less than a MONTH) and I just saw being self employed how tough it can be to get the refi you want.
Recently I met with a good guy to refi our home, he was mildly impressed with how I learned my way around fixing credit and my general knowledge of knowing different programs as he offered them.
By the time he left, he had offered to set me up out of my home to start, in loan originating. Im currently self employed in a completely different line of work, but it only takes up 2 hours avg of my day.
I wanted to ask advice from the loan people on here, whats the best way to go about starting into this business? I honestly dont even know what kind of money is made doing this, money isnt the issue for me, I pay my bills with my current job, I just think being able to help a tough luck family or hard working family get into a home when they thought they couldnt would be a great job.
I guess my question is: What is the best way to break in to this line of work and get some business? I know referrals begin to get the ball rolling after due time but not at first…
This is a tough business to get started in. You need to have a company that will provide some kind of lead source that is consistent. There is a lot to learn in this business, so it may take you awhile before you are profitable. You will need to have some reserves to fall back on unless you are lucky and get off to a quick start. Also, there is less and less business these days, and when rates go up there will be even less. A lot of people who are in this business now got started in the refinance boom of 2002-2004, but that business is no longer strong. Good Luck.
The mortgage industry is not what it was even a year ago. The Refinance boom is over and business is getting harder to come by. I have seen at least 6 broker offices in my area close within the last year.
My office works primarily off of referrals and we have stayed busy. The lead sources have “dried up” or are reselling old leads. So it is a waste of money.
As I see it, the only ones that will survive are the ones that have built a strong reputation with their clients over the past several years .
I get job offers mailed to my home almost every day from Brokers/Lenders looking for LO’s. Most of them want you to bring your own lead sources as they do not provide them.
This is definitely true- there are very few mortgage companies who can offer a legitimate lead source although most will claim they have good “leads.” The best way to build a business as in any sales related field is as Mark said above- referrals and repeat business which only comes after at least a year or two of building a client base. Without a lead source, the only way to build a client base is by pounding the pavement, but with business drying up, the competition is fierce, so you have to really stand out from the crowd.
In response to mdhaas,
: I’m rollin my eyes at ya cuz you’re just plain silly. You have GOT TO BE the site’s BIGGEST SPAMMER ON THIS WHOLE DAMN SITE! LOL!
Look at you scouting the site for leads and responding to every single one of them with your little business card! You’re killing me, and probably the rest of the regulars!
Getting into the business now will take 40 hours a week of learning and 40 hours a week of marketing.
Probably the worst time to start. However it can be done providing you have a little cousion in the bank to deal with whatever the market brings this winter.
Good Luck
I work from home already in an unrelated business. So its not an issue. I work about 10 hours per week at my current gig. Im getting the vibe of “its too crowded, get out”
I know how to market, I know what works, I know what people respond to. Ive been in business for myself for 7 years learning service skills, Im sure I’ll do fine. I also dont need the job to pay bills, which is already putting me 1 step ahead. People can be comfortable knowing Im not out for a kill.
My area has shitty brokers, I know because Ive dealt with most all of them. Im not worried a blink. This outfit setting me up is great because theyve got a massive amount of options and specialize in tougher loans.
Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.
Spamming? Advertising? Its all over the place here. When i sought advice on a refi a month+ ago I got about 20 emails. Gimme a break. All is fair in love and war…
I think that if you took a few moments to clean your glasses off…you would find that I very rarely ask someone on this site to contact me directly. This site was designed for individuals, I would assume such as yourself, to ask questions and receive quality answers from people with experience. If this is SPAM then we are probably all guilty.
If you watched the site at all you might notice that even the moderator’s have business cards attached to their responses :brow2:
Look at you scouting the site for leads and responding to every single one of them [b]with your little business card![/[/b]quote]
Hey JP…I’m going to assume that you didn’t get the “Sunshine” part because you blow it up anybody’s you know what! I read some of your old posts and more than a few made me laugh…as some old timer said to me the other day…you’re a real pistol! I think I’m gonna start using that again…it cracks me up. Anyway, I’m passing the time until my third child is born…7 more weeks…sooooooo bored! Figured I could learn some things…after 20 years as an L/O, there’s still more to learn. Saved the YBLost.com site to check out…wasn’t that one of your posts? Thanks. Hey, if nothing else, I definately get a clearer picture on what the problems are out there and how people perceive them. Here’s my advise to L/O’s starting out. Find the problem, solve it and then target your market. You can’t help someone if you don’t know how to solve their problem. Their problem might be as simple as needing the lowest rate (if you want to run with the pack) or it can be far more complicated like solving seasoning issues, or helping to sell through Land Trusts. Figure out what problem you want to solve, and then focus your attention on finding clients that have that problem. Your back might be up with JP, but it would do you some good to read his last 10 posts. He knows how to target his market, and more importantly, that targeting is the real secret in a nutshell! The whole “working at home” thing stinks by the way. This from a L/O that works from home. Great for me, stinks for the beginner. Thing is, I don’t need help often, and have solidly built relationships with my ops staff and co-workers, so help is never far. How can you do that from home if you’re just starting out…you’re potentially going to flounder, make promises you can’t back up and burn bridges. Find a local shop with great ops and go there…daily…you’ll do alot better alot faster, and hopefully won’t hurt anyone in the process! Part timers do ok in a refi boom, but don’t make it in a normal market. Be educated before you make promises! Good Luck! Sandra
I recently joined this site and have been surfing all of the responses that were relevant to me. There is so much good information here!
The few times that I have seen your post they are pretty negative. I do not see how you are helping anyone. :
You accuse one person of spamming when most of the responses that I have seen from him/her have been very informational/helpful. The only ones that I have seen from you, are complaining about something or someone and do not have any informational value at all.
Maybe you are confused as to the definition of SPAM.
Mom always said ," if you can’t say something nice…then do not say it!"
I want to say that I have learned alot just in the short time that I have been on this site. I was on a similar site for awhile but no longer. The advice is great.
Keep spreading i[/i] the wealth of info, mdhaas, SandraRostek, rbaxter and others!
I think JP is just trying to get a rise out of someone. Maybe business is slow. My $.02 is that this is a great site and I love all the information; whether I agree or not. It is great to have this forum and I for one am appreciative of the time and effort that goes into so many of the responses.
Believe that was also the attitude of JP back in June when he was starting out; at least according to your first post–right JP? Everyone keep up the good work and when I get my business going this September you can be assured I will be “spamming” with the best of them.
And for Straight–doesn’t look like you are really wanting advice on breaking into the business; since, by your response, you dismissed the advice you are being given, from more than one source I might add. If you just want an “atta boy” (or girl, of course) then ask for that. I admire the self confidence and the drive; but if you are concerned about starting the business and you have no referrals or contacts – and the advice is that the ONLY way to get it off the ground is through your current referrals and contacts – maybe there is a message there. Go for it; but at least acknowledge that there may be a long road ahead. Reminds me of the adage - “If you don’t want the answer, don’t ask the question.”
Good luck to you, just keep it real. Everyone here wants everyone else to be successful.
If your motive is to help “needy” folks, consider that it takes a relatively inteligent rookie loan officer 6 to 12 months to learn the basics of the business. I see commonly new loan officers prequalify prospects at wholesale lenders, getting preliminary approvals, and promising the consumer loans without a good understanding of key issues the borrower may have. Brokering loans can sometimes be a little tricky, and it’s common for new loan officers to put customers on emotional “roller coaster rides” as they learn the business at the expense of “would be” customers.
I have relationships with 600 or so lenders, only likely 15 or so who I do business with at any given time. Each of these lenders has differing loan programs, guidelines, rates, and tendencies. To be a “part time” loan officer could be doing an injustice to your customers. You’ll need to find a broker to work for who is willing to be a true mentor, reviewing every prospect’s loan application with you one on one. I believe this is the only way you’ll be able to give the customers reasonably good service and learn the business over time.
Think it through, though. Those who have told you you won’t likely make a quick living are telling you striaght! You need a nestegg or another source of income if you’re working on commission.
There are probably a segment of the World Leadership Group somewher in your town. They are a group of individuals headed by Hubert Humprhrey who will take you by the hand and lead you through being a loan officer from home. They have offices set up all across America by now and you can go get trained and find out exacly what this business is all about from a rather “different” point of view. if you will PM me I will give you the website.
Loan Officers earn anywhere from $3,000 and up to “do” a loan. It is probably the best kept secret in real estate. While agents are running all over town showing houses, the little ole loan officer is sitting in his air conditioned office making phone calls earning about three times in one day what the agent will earn that month… go for it. The refi boom is NOT dead it is just beginning… the glass is not half empty,… it is half full.
Through experience I know that WLG has a hard time closing loans, and many of the loans that do survive the process take well over 30 days to finally close. The training is ok…but nowhere near complete enough to give the average trainee (newbie) confidence in pursuing business and submitting loans.
Awhile back I joined, went through all the training, and submitted about 15 loans with them. Only a few funded, and there were tons of dumb mistakes made throughout the process because of poorly equipped and overwhelmed processors. (My opinion)
About 44% of loans submitted make it to closing. Blame it on the processors, the concept, the LOs, … I honestly think it’s a mix of it all. When you mix hordes of complete newbies with average processors, no matter who’s at the helm, I feel sorry for any borrower who gets caught in the middle.
In theory, I love their concept, but I know it isn’t working. My advice would be to look at something other than a Mortgage MLM if you’re serious about getting into the business and being sucessful.
I see someone mentioned WLG/GEL and have to add my 2 cents. WLG has a killer business model and outstanding web-based training tools. The only problem is, they can’t close a loan to save their life. My company’s submitted on the order of 12 loans, 0 funded. One cost me personally about 12K since it was one of my personal REI deals. The borrower had a 780 mid-score, full doc 80% LTV. Should have been a laydown…My personal loan, I was looking for stated/stated at 85% LTV with 680 mid…told me they couldn’t get 'er done. I call “BULLS**T!!!”
I fully agree with the poster’s comment about poor loan coordinators…If you decide to go this route, make sure your upline has good LC’s in-house.
Regards,
Dave
I will echo Dave. World Equity Lending/Global Equity Lending will do everything it can to collect money from its MLM members, but can’t seem to ever fund a loan. Incompetence would be too kind a description. In all my experience, this company is the most inept (corrupt?).
The way that I started was working as a loan officer for a large bank.
Not in the branches, but in the mortgage department. It is a win/win situation to start out with. They will train you, give you a draw, and feed you leads from their branches. The flip side is that you are working for less basis points on a tiered system. However, if you look on monster for mortgage jobs Countrywide, BOA, and Wells Fargo are always looking for people. Stick around for a year and a half or two years and learn the business; build a client base (make sure you use a database to keep track of everyone you ever speak with), then break out and go be a broker or a “banker” somewhere esle.
I’m rollin my eyes at ya cuz you’re just plain silly. You have GOT TO BE the site’s BIGGEST SPAMMER ON THIS WHOLE DAMN SITE! LOL!