Here's a Great Article to Pass Onto Your Clients

After the fall of Bernie Madoff, Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers and all the others that have gone belly up, it has become blatantly obvious that you need to be extremely careful from you accept advice.

I hope that when are in need of advice regarding mortgages and loans that you think of me. I don't offer other financial advice and I stay weary of recommending other professionals unless they have proven their worthiness over time.

With that in mind, I want to recommend an article. There are literally thousands of financial advisors. Most are behind the scenes business people. But lately, a number of supposed financial gurus have infiltrated the popular media. Is their advice any better than your own local banker, mortgage broker or financial advisor? Probably not.

Which of these mainstream "gurus" are the worst of the bunch? Take a look here: http://www.billshrink.com/blog/worst-financial-gurus/

-Ron Borg

A Mortgage Assessment Letter For Your Clients

So, a referred home buyer called me yesterday. I found out she has gone through 2 pre-quals already. So I'm wondering why she's still calling around and asked her point blank. She said, "Well, the others told me what I should be shopping for but I'm still feeling confused."

I asked if it would if she received something with everything written out... seeing it in writing...in black and white... would that help you?

She said "Absolutely!"

So I created this letter for people like that but truthfully, I think you should use this letter after every consultation you do. It really looks like a lot of thought and effort was put into it your consultation and once your client receives it, it should pretty much close the door on competitors.

I am also recommend sending a home-buyers handbook... that should ice the deal. Take a look at the letter... notice that a lot of it stays the same from letter to letter...only stuff under "Our Assessment" gets changed... maybe 15 - 30 minutes per client.

I definitely think it's worth it, don't you?

Download the letter here: http://www.easy-share.com/1903548085/Mortgage Assesment Letter.doc
Just click on the free version... download it from there. It's a Word doc so you can edit it to your heart's content.

If you have a Google account, you can get it here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgzbx7v9_159hgrgd6gw

Listen... this letter will work wonders for your clients that you have not established a track record with. trust me... it's extra work but it will be worth it!

Are You Being "Played"?

Always remember that even under the present conditions in the mortgage market, good projects can usually get funded. But we must ascertain how good the project is before we start searching for the funding. If I were to contact a lender and ask them if they do spec funding, their 1st question will be "Well, tell me about the project". And I would say umana-umana-umana....

You have a good quality in you - you don't want to waste anybody's time. But doing initial legwork to determine if we can help fund a deal is not a waste... see, many people will throw out scenarios as a carrot... they may be serious, they may not be... we dont know until the legwork (document gathering) is done.

If people are serious, they will happily give you whatever you ask of them. So do a sit down or telephone application, ask them for 2 years business & personal tax returns, run their credit, take an an app fee...these are the things that determine their level of seriousness. It's like saying "Oh, you want to dangle a carrot? Then take a small bite and dangle it right back..

You need to show people you come in contact with that you cannot be "played". You want to establish that you are a serious player... It's like in a poker game... all the good players know who the patsie is... the inexperienced player that will lose all the money. You are not the patsie... but you have to prove it.

I usually say it like this... "What you are asking of me will take some time to research. I don't mind doing it for you... I WANT to do it.... but I need a much better understanding of the (loan, project etc) and I cannot begin without supporting documents. I can meet with you on... and then give them a day and time... make them be ready for you. This is establishing yourself as professional and they'll see right away that they're not getting anything without some effort on their part.

Sometimes, you'll say this and and get the brush off... GOOD!

Those brush offs establish that your prospect was not all that serious! But see, most loan officers get brushed off like that a few times and that plays on their sub-conscience. So, next time, they think "I'm not going to lose this one like I did that last guy". And they'll do a whole lot of work for nothing.

Look - it's way better to get brushed off from the beginning than after you have done all the work. Involve your prospects. Make them invest some time, some effort. If they give you that, well, then you have a serious prospect. And they will know up front exactly how you do business, which will make them a better client once you decide to accept their business.