What are mortgage brokers to do now to make a living?Robin GronskyMortgage brokers after sub-prime crash
Are your clients moving out of your state? Now that the housing
bubble has popped, have home sales in your area gone down? Were
sub-prime mortgages a large part of your business? Mortgage brokers
are now looking at their quiet phones and wondering how they will
pay the rent.
One way to bring in new business is to get licensed in
additional states. The license you have to do mortgage brokering
allows you to solicit borrowers only in your state. I'm sure that
in the past, you've received telephone calls from consumers who
wanted a loan in a neighboring state and you had to turn that
business away, or your loan officer has family and friends in the
state that he's from. Stop turning away business—get the
licenses that will permit you to take applications in places you
never could before.
You don't have to work where you live. You can follow your
family, friends and customers to their new state and keep their
business by getting licensed in that state. When they are looking
for their new houses, get the name of the real estate agent who
they are using. Establish a strategic alliance with each new real
estate agent. Now you have a new network that can send you
referrals that will keep your pipeline full.
Network with retirees who are moving. Typically, when they get
to a new community, they are eager to make new friends. Their new
friends also had real estate agents who helped them buy their
houses. Form another network of referral sources in those new
states.
You can become a regional company and give yourself a different
brand. If your borrowers see that you operate in other states, they
may think of other opportunities to refer business to you, i.e.,
friends and relatives they know in other states who may need
mortgages where you have just obtained a license.
This is a good time to get new licenses, because the banking
departments are not inundated with new license applications. The
ramp-up time is faster, so you can go after that new business now,
and when it gets busy again in the future (and it will), you will
have a jump on your competitors, who will just be getting their
license applications to the banking departments.
When the applications came gushing in, you didn't have time to
breathe, much less think about strategic planning. But now, when
business may be slower, it is time to mastermind the next phase of
your business plan. Find those states that have a good-sized
population coupled with high housing prices. Those are the states
that will give you the most bang for your licensing buck. Don't
just wait for the phone to ring. Create new paths to reach new
business.
Robin Gronsky is the sole proprietor of Gronsky Law Offices,
a law firm that concentrates on mortgage broker licensing and
compliance. She may be reached at (866) 821-4602 or e-mail
[email protected].
You can also visit her blog at www.mortgagelicensesolution.blogspot.com.
