Take It From The Old Timers

Buehler says that he stuck around in banking management for a while working at places such as CitiFinancial and Wells Fargo before moving to New York in the early 2000s. There, he started working at Anchor Street Mortgage and, shortly after, Manhattan Mortgage, which Guaranteed Rate ended up purchasing.

Buehler said that when he transitioned from a consumer finance-focused managerial role into making loans, he took what he learned at Greater Western and applied it to draw in an entirely new book of business. “[I] had to go out and develop contacts for banking needs and I tried to cross-sell other banking needs. Back then, you literally hit the streets and cold [called],” he explained. “ There was no [contact] database back then, I had a Rolodex of contacts and did fliers and documented everything in handwriting … it was the best training I could have gotten because I knew how to do the whole loan and marketing and do it face-to-face.”

Watch it on The Interest: Tried And True

Online Shift

Buehler says that Guaranteed Rate is “number one or two in mortgage technology” and most of what Buehler does is automated now. But he admits that he often reflects on the days of manually writing loans and before email was a means of contact. “The newcomers aren’t taught sales skills over the phone or how to approach someone face to face. It’s easy to get lazy,” he said. “Nothing has changed with how I develop those relationships. I prefer in-person and I believe in the value of an in-person dinner, drink, lunch, or coffee. You get interpersonal skills and bonding and it’s not done over Zoom.”

The beauty of now, Buehler says, is that he has a huge database of customers and can automate emails when there are any special promo offers, or if it’s a client’s anniversary or birthday.

Buehler commented that a lot of the younger LOs are almost “afraid” of the phone and much prefer the online shift that the industry seems to be taking. “They have low confidence,” he said. “The top originators do both [online and in-person marketing]. And it’s not because they have the largest database, it’s because they have an old-school approach of developing relationships,” he said. “It’s not just email blasts: let’s host an event [together] or do business over dinner.”

And Buehler worries that tech has set back younger LOs’ learning and information retention. The main difference between the generations of LOs is the way they understand the path of a loan. For example, Beuhler says that he understands liability, comp factors, and what a good-performing loan is, and he’s used to dealing with 15 different lenders with different policies and procedures. Newcomers are less keen on memorizing every program. “Tech has taken [the younger generation] away from knowledge around lending. They don’t truly understand the loan process and structure and how to present a good loan to an underwriter,” he said. “There’s a lost skill set as to how to package loans. Even underwriting is automated now. From an efficiency standpoint, it’s outstanding, but younger generations don’t know what a good loan looks like.”

Lynne Kirby agrees. A 30-year industry veteran LO currently working for Connecticut-based Rize Mortgage, she says that today’s lending is easier to do than before — even when a borrower didn’t even need a credit score to apply for a loan. “There wasn’t internet so we didn’t advertise the same way [as today]. You would walk into offices with printed materials if they let you in. You had to drive to pick up loan packages because even a fax wasn’t a thing,” she explained. “Technology has made everything uniform and automated for the process. Heck, FICO scores didn’t exist back then.”

For Steve Grossman, owner of NJ Lenders Corp., an online shift isn’t scary. Grossman’s been in the industry since 1991 and has done strictly residential mortgages for 32 years. “I’ve dabbled in doing videos, but other things like TikTok and Instagram Reels aren’t for me,” he said. “A lot of top LOs have tons of followers. I believe in it [because] it hasn’t been proven to me that you could grow a tremendous amount of business from doing that in a purchase market.”

Consistent Marketing Tips

One pro that Buehler shared was that automation is second nature to younger LOs. “Technology will do nothing but help. It used to take me 30-45 minutes to handwrite a manual application and manually pull a credit report. Now it takes me less than 10 minutes,” Buehler said. “If I were to sit down with a 25-year-old new to the biz, I would say to utilize tech for time management.”

Consistency is key, especially when it comes to marketing yourself, Buehler says, adding that he used to make “at least 100” calls a day in the early 1990s for business. “You need to be good at marketing, sales, administration, attention to detail, discipline, and good follow-up,” he noted. “The gifted [LOs] can call 10 people and get five loans, but some people have to call 100 people for three loans. Natural salespeople will win. Top originators have built those databases and have been consistent with calling, emailing, marketing to, and coordinating in person. That model hasn’t changed from 1990.”

Grossman says that like Buehler, he’s keen on the old-school ways of doing business and marketing himself. “Back then, you had a designated town and you tried to connect with all the local Realtors. It was before the internet and cell phones,” Grossman explained. “It was office presentations, buying the bagels, sending postcards, newsletters, and mailers to stay in touch.”

Although those traditional marketing methods have aged, Grossman says that the value of being in-person won’t fade in the business. “What became harder is that over the years between technology and covid, fewer agents physically come into an office,” he said. “I used to do open houses to meet borrowers and agents … but the old school way of walking into a real estate office? That world doesn’t exist anymore.”

Although the days of chatting up Realtors and referral partners in real-time are seemingly gone, Grossman says that technology has helped him decide who out of the agents he knows should get his attention. “The good news is that today you may not have the same accessibility but there’s better data to know who the players are,” he explained.

On the flip side, Kirby simply misses the days of in-person meetups and a boots-on-the-ground approach to generating leads. “Doing everything over the phone is nice but you don’t get the same connections,” she said. “This used to be a handshake, in-person type business.”

Kirby said that what got her the best results was getting herself out of her comfort zone to establish referral partners. “With every transaction brought an opportunity to touch four people at a minimum and I had to be good about keeping all those people informed,” she said. “I used to seek out top performers and ask to be introduced to them because when those people trust you and others see that, they’ll be encouraged to do business with you.”

Rising above the youngsters

Grossman says long gone are the days of showing up to realtors and saying that you can close their loans on time and that you have great rates. “That’s your job,” he said bluntly. “That’s like going to a restaurant and [the waiter] saying that they’re going to bring you hot and fresh food … like that’s what you expect. You can’t go up to a realtor and say that you’re a great guy and would like a shot at their business.”

That’s why Grossman says that it’s important for the newer and younger LOs to find ways to show their value. Grossman says that he always tells loan officers to stay in touch with their databases, as it’s proved to bring him continual success in the business.

But he’s also learned that seasoned industry pros like him can’t ignore what the youngsters bring to the table. “I can be at a ski chalet and run a customer’s credit and send them preapproval on my phone,” he said. “I don’t have to run back to my office or wait three hours for a credit report now. Technology has made this job easier, but at the same time, people now want — and expect — immediate results.”

And to compete with the younger generation, Grossman says that there is an expectation to be in constant contact with clients. “Technology puts handcuffs on you but also gives you freedom. The freedom is that you don’t necessarily have to be in an office, but the handcuffs are you’re expected to respond nearly 24/7,” he explained. “At the end of the day, it will always be a relationship business. And while accessibility is harder, information now is better than it was when I first started in the industry … and if you leverage it, you can use that to your advantage.”