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NAMB president's corner: 2008-2008 President Marc Savitt, CRMS
Mortgage technology and beyond: LoanMagic V4.0John D. Svirskymortgage technology, mortgage software, marketing comparison reports, point of sale
So many readers call or e-mail me asking what contact manager I
use and if it helps with marketing campaigns. Brokers are finally
awakening to the power of working their database. I have found most
of us are really good at selling, assuming we still have a product
to sell and an institution who will buy it. Over the next several
months, I will be reviewing programs that help us get the lead,
turn the lead into a client, close the deal and market to that
client for years to come. Each program has its own respective
strengths and, from what I see, no one program will be right for
everyone. Rather than bemoaning the market and my lack of closings,
there are actions I can take and software available to help me do
it now.
LoanMagic V4.0 is point-of-sale software for the rest of us. The
company that makes DocMagic introduced it about a year ago. That is
important because they know the industry, they know just what the
lenders and brokers want and need, and they have been providing
closing docs and doc preparation for more than 20 years. Now they
have expanded to help the broker get the loan and move it to
closing. I was not thrilled with the previous version; hence, I did
not review it. LoanMagic 4.0 is now definitely worth a try. It is a
good program. According to their public relations people, they have
been adding between 300 and 600 new licenses a month ... quite
impressive numbers!
LoanMagic is a nifty program at a phenomenal value. It is only
$395 a year, and you can try it for a month for free. It is like a
Swiss army knife, it does so many different functions well.
LoanMagic is easy to use and intuitive, and although it is not as
robust as some of the standalone programs, it just might be the one
program you use, replacing ACT! or Outlook, your lead management
software like Leads360, your loan comparison software and your
marketing software.
When times were affluent and promising, I would buy any software
that looked good, rationalizing my purchase by stating that if it
helps me close one deal, it is worth it. The problem became that I
rarely used most of the software; it was either too complicated,
too sophisticated or did not work with my other software. It was
not intuitive, nor user-friendly. So I would have several great
programs that would do more functions than I would ever use and, to
make matters worse, they didn't talk to each other, sound familiar?
So they sat on my hard drive, unused.
LoanMagic combines a calendar program and contact manager
software with David Bartels' Selling Smarter interview scripts,
pre- and post-closing marketing modules, 27 different calculators
and loan comparison software, which includes a full interview and
comprehensive analysis and written plan of action for those who are
into mortgage planning. Most importantly, it works well with Point
and Encompass. LoanMagic and your loan origination software might
be the only programs you use on a regular basis. A great feature,
for example, is that when you buy a license, it works on all your
machines. So if you do some LoanMagic work on your home computer,
take your laptop to a client's office to take an application using
LoanMagic and then go to the office and work some more on your
office computer, LoanMagic's server syncs the data from all three
machines; therefore, you will have the same data online and
offline.
Enough talk, let's look at the components. The initial screen is
the dashboard, which shows the calendar, the "My Tasks" component
and the pending marketing campaigns. The mortgage market indexes
can be defined from the last seven days to the last 30 years; so I
can graphically, and in color, show how an index has fared in
comparison to other indexes, a pie chart showing the breakdown of
contact status, and a pie chart showing the source of my new loans
and leads, referrals, business partners, etc.
The dashboard navigates to the following options: calendar, loan
comparisons (arguably the most powerful feature of LoanMagic),
interviews (based on David Bartels' Selling Smarter, which helps
you ask the lead or prospect the correct questions to bring it from
lead to close), leads (if you are buying lists or using a call
center, this is the place for you), contacts (a full-featured
contact database with all the information from the 1003 so that it
is more than names and addresses, it has all the financial
information also, which can come in useful later on, plus a place
to track all your loans in process), marketing (a built in
marketing module with a whole bunch of templates that run at the
frequency of your choice based on your criteria). There is no limit
to the number of campaigns that you can be running simultaneously.
Within the marketing module, there are also 27 different financial
calculators to easily show "what if" scenarios; you can get these
at a lot of sites, but it is very helpful to have them as part of
your marketing point-of-sale software. There is a helpful section
called "Community" where you can go online with questions and get
support from other users, as well as from LoanMagic peoplenice
tool.
There is a reference section, which provides Web sites for
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of
Mortgage Brokers, National Association of Realtors, U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs and Federal Housing Administration. It is an
easy portal to get to, but you don't really want to go. (Sorry, I
am just being cynical.) The training section is really good. I like
it because it is not just words; they are automated tutorials and
Webinars35 of them to datewhich help you through most of the user
questions you might have. For example, there are two 12-minute
tutorials on how to prepare advanced reports for strategic equity.
There is a 10-minute tutorial on doing loan payment comparisons, 12
minutes on customizing reports and & you get the idea. And of
course, there is a frequently-asked questions section. They also
have live help online and via telephone.
As with any all-in-one program, you will use certain sections
more than others. If you do a lot of cold calling and dealing with
new clients, the interview section is great. The Selling Smarter
sales process is incorporated directly into the interview, giving
you the scripts and letting you fill in the blanks. When you are
finished going through the script, you have most of the 1003
complete, and the borrower felt that you were more than an
order-taker.
A great selling tool is marketing comparison reports. Prepare a
report with various options; I usually do threeone I know is an
automatic no, one is a definite maybe and one, I think, is best
choice based on client's input. While the client is on the phone, I
e-mail or fax them the comparison report, and we review it
instantly on the phone. This breaks through a tremendous amount of
resistance. In the past, I would send it to the client and wait for
a response. Sending it while I am on the phone permits the client
to digest the information, ask different questions, which many
times leads me to sending different reports, and then coming to a
conclusion right then and there. The client visually sees the
options, then makes his own decision. My next question to them is,
based on your decision, may I send you an application package along
with the disclosures and estimated closing costs? I can do this in
four seconds with LoanMagic and e-mail a hyperlink to the client
while they are still on the phone. They log in, and I help them
through the process; they sign and return. It is instant,
eliminating a chance that another broker could steal my deal.
There are some flaws in the program that I know they are working
on, and hopefully by the time you read this review and try
LoanMagic they will be fixed. I would love to see seamless
integration between Point/Encompass and LoanMagic. Presently, you
take the application, export it to Point/Encompass and after you
close, you update the final closing information back into LoanMagic
for the marketing campaigns. Eventually, you won't have to do that,
but today you do. Also, getting your previous information and
closed loans into LoanMagic requires exporting all your files into
Excel and then into LoanMagic. If your files are already in Fannie
Mae 3.0 or 3.2, then you can import right in. There is a good
import feature to bring your ACT!, Outlook or Mortgage Coach
contacts directly into LoanMagic.
Bottom line, I like this program and recommend it. It is a
no-brainer since you can use it for a month for free. I suggest you
try out its various features and see for yourself if it works for
your personality. Some will prefer having several programs that go
into depth in their respective area. For most of us, LoanMagic
provides everything we need, without going too deep or being too
overwhelming. All the features we need are in one program that
works together, making this an excellent option as a point-of-sale,
loan comparison, marketing campaign, database and calendar program,
all in one. If you want something that is easy to use, intuitive
and, most importantly, something you will use, LoanMagic is worth a
try.
John D. Svirsky has been a Mortgage Broker for more than 25
years, doing both commercial and residential mortgages. He is also
a volunteer firefighter, avid cigar enthusiast and cook. He may be
reached by phone at (845) 424-3388 or e-mail [email protected].
Product Summary Product name: LoanMagic V4.0
Web site: www.loan-magic.com. Make sure you use the hyphen;
otherwise you will go to a Mortgage Broker's site.
What is it: Point-of-sale software. One program that combines a
contact manager, calendar, interviewing client scripts, marketing
campaigns, loan comparison reports, financial calculators, lead
management system and more.
Do I like it: Yes, I think this is a remarkable software
program, and for the price, it is phenomenal. It is truly worth
many times the price. Most importantly, it is easy enough that you
will want to use it, and as it makes you money, you will use it
more and more.
Price: $395 a year. There is a one-month free trial; so if you
don't like it after a months use, no charge.
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