NAMB Central: The Digital Magazine for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers

CENTRAL

The Digital Magazine for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers

A Look Back at How I Handle Rate NAMB National Shoppers 2020

The True Foundation for Success

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WINTER 2020 | NAMB.ORG 1

NAMB BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Kimber White, CRMS RE Financial Services, Inc. President-Elect: Linda McCoy, CRMS Mortgage Team 1, Inc. Vice President: Michelle Velez, CMC Loan Depot

Message from the President

Treasurer: Wayne King, CMC, CRMS Encompass Lending Group

The year 2020 has been one of the most dynamic and

Past President: Rocke Andrews, CMC, CRMS Lending Arizona Director: Arthur Carrasco Creative Lending Corp.

Director: Michael Desantis American Mortgage Resource

challenging years in the history of our industry. 2020 has been the best of times and the worst of times. It has been the best of times because of our many successes that include: • NAMB’s members, the broker channel, represents 22% of the $2 trillion originations market – the highest it’s been in more than 10-years.

Director: Damion Hughes Amerifirst Home Loans, LLC

• NAMB membership has increased by more than 15%.

Director: Ernest Jones, Jr., CRMS Lend Smart Mortgage, LLC

• NAMB education and training have reached tens of thousands of brokers

Director: Paul Marsh, CMC, CRMS Encompass Lending Group

• NAMB member engagement and volunteerism - from NAMB Now Townhalls, committee meetings to virtual conferences – is at an all-time high.

Director: James Nabors, CMC, CRMS Civista Bank

• NAMB VA certified hundreds of Loan Officers • A new NAMB.org was launched, including NAMB 2 NAMB.ORG | WINTER 2020

Central, a hub of all industry information, including COVID and a direct line to Congress within the Legislative Action Center. You literally can send a letter to your congressperson right from our website It has been the worst of times due to Covid-19. Thankfully, the housing industry was in a unique position to pull through. For example, many Americans took advantage of forbearance, and NAMB was a leader through it all. We’ve rallied together. It is incredible how NAMB members – brokers, small business, men and women, lenders and partners – from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Worth, from Cleveland to Council Bluffs, from Phoenix to Fresno – all come together to make sure the housing industry stayed protected during this pandemic. And most importantly, we made sure our borrowers were protected. That’s NAMB for All. When COVID hit, NAMB, our two lobbyists, a republican and a democrat, and our members sent over 55 thousand petitions to Congress, and NAMB joined forces with 20 other organizations to: •Amend the Cares Act and its negative impact on homeowners’ credit •Require the GSEs to purchase deferred loans

•Withdraw the refinance fee NAMB has been at the center of it all, making sure Washington hears our voice. Through it all, NAMB has always been the glue that binds us together. Since 1973.

Founded by members for members. Bottom line, this year, we turned a crisis into an opportunity, and we are thriving.

Our broker channel is 22% of the origination market.

Another silver lining of 2020, families have rediscovered the joys of home again. And together, we continue to help them achieve and maintain the dream of homeownership.

To close, as I start an exciting year as NAMB’s new President, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your membership, friendship, and support of NAMB. I look forward to the year ahead.

Sincerely,

Kimber White Kimber White NAMB President WINTER 2020 | NAMB.ORG 3

contents 7

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NAMB CENTRAL MAGAZINE | Winter 2020

Advertiser Index 6 NAMB Plus 8 Flagstar Bank 16 Civic Financial

02 Message from the President Kimber White 07 How I Handle Rate Shoppers Carl White 09 Lessons in Cultivating Relationships Ralph LoVuolo Sr. 13 The True Foundation for Success Ski Swiatkowski

21 NAMB National Exhibitors 23 AmeriHome

19 A Look Back at NAMB’s First-Ever Conference and Trade Show & The Grand Prize Winner Kelly Coggins

24 Plaza Home Mortgage

22 Realtor and Rocket Frank Garay 24 Upcoming Training

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Education

A NAMB membership means FREE continuing education from industry leaders across the country. NAMB also offers a variety of certification opportunities.

Advocacy

When you become a member of NAMB, you have an organization dedicated to protecting and advancing your needs as a mortgage professional.

Networking

NAMB offers invaluable industry networking through events offered around the country.

Discounts By joining NAMB, you'll be able to take advantage of partnerships through the NAMB+ Endorsed Provider Program.

Learn more @ www.NAMB.org WINTER 2020 | NAMB.ORG 5

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How I Handle Rate Shoppers

By Carl White

I

was on a group page on Facebook and one of the loan officer members were telling a story of how a prospect said he was being quoted some super low rate at another mortgage company.This loan officer was looking for scripts to reel the borrower back in because he was seeing this as a disaster in the making.

I had a question and a thought.

The Question: “How’s everything going with the other 39 people that you have pre-approved this month?”

The Thought: “this is too late in the process for a script to work, we need to address this on our first conversation with them” (I’ll give you a script for this in just a minute).

First, let’s cover the question. I have found that as a general rule, for every 4 leads, I have one closing. (my team and I have closed 10’s of thousands of loans…. literally).

How that works is approximately half of the referred leads we get are “approvable” and we close about 50% of those. So if we get 100 referred leads, 50 of them are approvable, and we close 25 of those.The other half of those either end up not buying, refinancing, or shopping with us.

We understand that matrix and instead of focusing on trying to change an industry wide matrix (that is very likely not to be changed on any large scale), we focus on getting more referred leads. You see, shoppers are going to shop. So instead of spending a ton of time chasing those shoppers, which is like herding cats, we focus on getting more high quality REFERRED LEADS. How do we do that? We have 4 different strategies that we strategically implement that does just that, I call it the D.S.P or The Daily Success Plan.

That plan includes zero cold calling, and not a bunch of magical fairy dust widgets that promise the moon and deliver only a “money

sucking noise out of your wallet.”

Now, to address the rate shoppers.

There is a script that we use on these rate shoppers, but we use it BEFORE THEY START SHOPPING US. It’s called the “If I can <insert in blank> will you commit to me being your lender on this purchase/ refinance?” It sounds like this, “Ok Bob and Sue, so based on our conversation and preliminary information, it looks like your monthly payment is going to be <insert in number> with a down payment of <insert in number>, and funds to bring to closing will be <insert in number>.

So if I can have <insert in number> as your monthly payment with you bringing <insert in number> to the closing table, will you commit to me to be your lender so that I can commit myself and my team to start working on it so that we can close on time?”

Once somebody verbally commits, it’s against human nature to go against that.

And if somebody says that they won’t give that commitment, well then, you WINTER 2020 | NAMB.ORG 7

have identified this person as a shopper and it will likely not be a good use of your time. I get it, there are some scripts and spreadsheets, things like mortgage coach, and other great products that do help. We use all those things too, but if somebody won’t commit on that initial call, then we know what to expect and are not disappointed when they do what we know they are likely to do- shoppers are going to shop.

The true key to all of this is, GET MORE REFERRED LEADS! It’s way more likely that you’ll close more loans when that is your focus. Once you have more high quality referred leads, no one individual deal going sideways won’t ruffle your feathers as there are so many of them and only one of you.

Carl White is the Founder and CEO of Mortgage Marketing Animals. You can reach him at carl@themarketinganimals. com.

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Lessons in Cultivating Relationships

By Ralph LoVuolo Sr.

I

magine yourself as a Loan Officer who is desperate to establish a new, beneficial relationship with a referral source that you have yet to meet. Can you imagine that?

As a salesperson, can you speculate in your mind and then write out a plan of what you would do to engage in conversation with that person? You know “of” this person. You’re familiar with the fact that they are worthy of your professional services. After all, you consider yourself a professional. You might have even done enough homework to know how many properties they’ve listed and how many they’ve sold in the past couple of years.

Let your mind wander a bit into this territory and think how best to approach said referral source. Is that possible for you? How about that CRM that your company is paying for? How about that! Do you really know about the wonderous capability of that intricate system? You’re too busy? Bad excuse. Terrible reasoning. Just the other day I had a conversation with a business developer from Top of Mind (Surefire). I wanted to know if they had a texting service as part of their system. Voila! Absolutely!

Absolutely! So, we went on to discuss how many people I coach who have their system and don’t use it properly.

Geez, that texting service would make it so easy to get

to know a Realtor if my clients sent a weekly helpmate message or video to all the realtors they want to meet, right? Well, here I am telling you that you should start that TODAY. That will put you months ahead of your peers.

Or are you like me when I was a “Mortgage Solicitor” in the seventies who had no knowledge of sales and could have cared less about their production value. Yes, the seventies. It was just after President Nixon, the Director of the Watergate scandal, who, in one very short appearance on TV followed by a stroke of his pen, changed my life forever. His presentation to the nation took place on August 15, 1971, a sultry Sunday evening. Nixon had determined that our country was in dire financial straits (inflation was over 6%) and needed the intervention of his power to put it right. That weekend the President had surrounded himself with 15 close allies including Fed chairman Burns, and future Fed chairman Volker. The result of that weekend at Camp David was that Nixon issued Executive Order 11615, freezing wages and prices for 90 days.

His appearance on the tube that night was for one purpose and one alone: to change the life and fortune of one Ralph LoVuolo.

I know he told Chairman Burns, “I’ll get that little SOB. (Tapes of his conversations confirm this). Surely, he WINTER 2020 | NAMB.ORG 9

can handle this. I’ll show him “what for” and make sure he knows who’s the boss.” And then he did it. He got me! I sat in my living room with disbelief pouring out of every pore in my body. What I did not know for sure, but the President did know was that my boss, Bill Schor, had a confirmed raise signed by the Chairman of our parent company that awarded me a raise from $12,500/year to $15,000/year, effective immediately.

The phone rang almost immediately after Nixon said “Thank you and good evening .” Bill called me pretty quickly. He didn’t say why, but he told me to be there early the next morning for our Monday morning sales meeting. Those meetings started at 8 a.m. sharp. One should not be late for a meeting. If even a minute out of synch, it would cost money dependent on his mood.

Well, he opened the conversation by showing me the approval just to prove what he had done. But quickly appended to it that he couldn’t put it into effect because of Nixon. But that little round man, that excellent boss of mine, he had a plan. Paraphrasing the rest of the conversation and knowing how quickly his mind worked, he laid out a plan. I’m sure it was well planned. He explained that what I could do would be so much better for me. I’d make more money and have more freedom, and since he had spent money to have me go to special training on perfecting my “smile”, it would be best for me to become a “solicitor”. Yes, it’s true, that’s what we were called. Bill agreed to turn over a couple or three house accounts and give me full commission. Of course, in addition I’d have to develop my own accounts but with the smile training that should not be difficult. He would become my mentor.

Within about 15 minutes I had transitioned from the title of Assistant to the President to Mortgage Solicitor. He’d give me a draw and a full-time processor. Everyone in the office plus the six member sales team would be on board with his plan, help me develop a serious presence and make more money than was anticipated, not to worry.

It probably wasn’t that day, but soon thereafter it hit me. A $200/week draw would be sufficient to account for the additional bills that two children produce. But what about the future. Well the future was to do as I was told and not question the instructions. “Ralph, you’re going to see 20 realtors a day, five days a week.”

That wasn’t 100 people a week, that was 100 offices. Just do as you’re told. So that’s what I did. I asked the other 10 NAMB.ORG | WINTER 2020

salesmen “what do I say?”. They shrugged and said, “just get to know them and get them to like you and talk about how much experience you have.” Well I did have that on my side, I’d been working “inside” for about 5 years and thought I knew what was what. Intimidated? Absolutely!

Frightened? More than I have time to discuss here! It took months to figure out that what the other salespeople for the other companies talked about, how they talked about how great their turn time was and their competitive point structure. Rates were determined by FHA or VA. We had no way of changing them unless the government changed them in reaction to the bond market. I talked about our service, the fact that I was new and hungry and would hustle like no-one they had ever met. It kinda worked. It got some new deals outside the ones that came from Bill’s house accounts. Then one day I said to Leo Solomon, a broker that I saw every week, “Hey, you got a new listing.

Can I go look at it? Maybe I’ll see something that needs to be fixed before you have the appraisal done.” That worked like well, a charm! I tried it with more people and it helped me get to know some of them better.

Here’s what I figured out, and you need to imprint these little ditties somewhere you’ll see them every day for the rest of your life. “NO” doesn’t mean “NO.” It meant and means “MAYBE!” It means you haven’t yet given me a reason why I should say “YES!” So, I learned to ask about listings and it helped.

I remembered that way of doing business when I started my own shop in the early 80’s. It was just me and a couple of greenies calling on brokers all over Nassau County Long Island, New York. There had been a lot of water that went under the bridge in the years between Bill and me being on my own. But I never forgot the asking if I could help the broker do something that the other salespeople couldn’t do. Then computers. Then some salespeople froze. I still had the guts to call on people, but many of my greenies didn’t. So, I had to figure out a way to get them in the door. Sometimes I went with them. It helped.

But I noticed that other salespeople were still talking about the same things we talked about in the ‘70’s- rates, points, programs, service, and competition. It wasn’t yet in my vocabulary to eliminate those five words, but stick with me here and you’ll see where I’m going. Every computer had Microsoft Outlook. Nobody knew how to use them. In the weekly sales meetings, the brokers still talked to their troops about their new listings and not a word about staying in touch with previous customers.

A recession hit in the early eighties, and interest rates started to fall. My son told me I needed to learn how to use a computer. I put together a bunch of ideas and discovered that Realtors were not computer literate. I was barely, but I was light years ahead of my own stable of sources. It dawned on me that if I could teach my salespeople how to use Outlook, they could show it to their sources. And sources quickly became Attorneys, CPA’s, Insurance Brokers, financial advisors and of course, Realtors. We started to offer to them the value of staying in touch with their family and past and present clients. It worked again. What amazed me was that so many other salespeople were still stuck on the five words. We started to go to closings and almost every time we did that, in the run up to the late eighties, the Attorney’s wanted to know why we were there.

My idea has developed into a philosophy. It doesn’t matter what you sell, you need to help the person you want to do business with do better at THEIR business.

HELP THEM. Now when it comes to Realtors, that is the most effective use of this thought process. Most Realtors are hired and told they must join the MLS. Most realtors get almost no instruction on sales or marketing techniques from their Broker or Manager.

Why? You know why. They’re too busy doing their own business to spend time to teach the salespeople what they need to do to be a success. That has left the entire marketplace open to the insertion of the salespeople I coach. Help the people you want to do business with do more. Show them computer tricks. Show them marketing ideas you learn. Help them become more successful. Show them the value of staying in touch with their database. Show them how to use their CRM to develop new clients. Show them how to develop a set of goals and a plan to reach those goals.

Ralph LoVuolo Sr. is known as the Mortgage Godfather. He can be reached by email at ralph@mortgagegodfather.com. Email him for a list of 80 Ideas that will open doors. As a bonus, Ralph will also send you a previously written article on how to overcome call reluctance.

Vist his website Mortgagegodfather.com to learn more about him.

The 3 things today’s MLO needs to do to originate large volumes of business: 1. Show your referral sources how to be better at what they do This requires that you study what they are supposed to do. You need to discuss IDEAS with them about ways to become more effective, better organized, and more focused.

2. Explain that you will continue to assist them

Once a week is not too much if they are producers. If you’re effective with giving them helpful ideas, they will easily open their business to you.

3. Be persistent

See them regularly. Overcome “NO!” Study marketing techniques. Use your CRM. Remember that their managers are, for the most part, not coming up with interesting ideas to help them succeed. It is painfully true. Never give up on worthwhile sources of business

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The True Foundation for Success By Ski Swiatkowski

A

ttitude is everything. You have no doubt heard that line before. I know that I have seen at least two books with that title. And there are probably tens of thousands of articles on the subject.

The message of all this content is that your attitude about life or work situations and circumstances, about people and relationships, about your efforts and struggle, will determine your actions, your habits, the results you produce, and your level of happiness regarding these things. More specifically, the core principle within most of this material is that a positive attitude will guide us to what we want, and a negative attitude will prevent us from achieving it.

Let me clarify something about this subject. I am not implying in any way that a positive attitude will make our challenges magically disappear or that it will create a fairytale world where everything works out exactly as we planned. That is not a positive attitude- that is delusional thinking.

I am referring to a mindset that dictates our behavior and prepares us to handle whatever life throws at us and a belief that we can make the best of any situation as we forge ahead toward our goals.

Also, your attitude does not just affect your own goals and objectives. Whether you are in loan originations or mortgage operations, whether you are a manager or team member, you need to be aware of how your attitude impacts the performance of others with whom you work.

So, with no shortage of content on the topic and the importance of it, why are people not happier? I see people out in the marketplace who seem to have it all but are still negative.

Most attitudes are situational. When things are going well in their business or personal life, when they are getting what they want, they have a positive attitude. However, when challenges and problems show up, when they are WINTER 2020 | NAMB.ORG 13

experiencing resistance and stress, they If you are putting garbage into slip into a negative attitude, bemoaning your mind, which includes a good their struggle or misfortune. portion of the content produced by mainstream media (television, online We are seeing this right now with sources, social media), you are laying the incredible refinance volume that the foundation of negative thinking, has resulted in clogged pipelines for or stinkin’ thinkin’, as legend sales so many companies and their loan trainer Zig Zigler would say. And that officers. The situation has turned on will yield a negative attitude. the negative attitude switch of many loan officers. They are whining and complaining about the inability of their company’s operations team to get loans closed promptly, spewing their negative attitude everywhere as if they were intentionally being victimized.

In trying to understand this subject, several factors fuel or foster a negative attitude in people. One is the lack of understanding that our thoughts determine our attitude. Earl Nightingale, in his 1956 recording, “The Strangest Secret,” stated it best. He said, “We become what we think about.” My first mentor, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, said, “if you think in negative terms, you will get negative results. If you think in positive terms, you will get positive results. Believe and succeed.”

Our minds love that we can bring such an order to our world. The problem is that is not how the world works.

Issues are more complex than we want to admit. There are many shades of grey.

We develop a negative attitude because we are convinced our binary way of thinking is an accurate reflection of reality. When this way of thinking doesn’t achieve good results, we assign blame.

Blame does not help solve the problem— it perpetuates it.

A good example of this is the political discord we have witnessed in our government in recent years. Each side thinks they are right, and the other is wrong and blames them for problems.

Next is unrealistic expectations. When we create in our mind an expectation for specific results and insist on having that outcome, we set ourselves up for experiencing negative feelings when we do not realize those results.

As I said, life does not always Another element that helps produce cooperate with us in the ways we a negative attitude is binary thinking. want it to, but that does not stop some Binary thinking is where we reduce people from insisting on trying to the things we experience and think control an outcome. When they do not about to an either/ or choice. That is: achieve the outcome they want, the right or wrong, yes or no, good or bad, negative attitude materializes in their Unfortunately, most people do not start or finish, etc. personality. realize that their thoughts determine their attitude. If they did, they would Binary thinking makes life feel simple Similar to unrealistic expectations be more careful about what they watch, and safe. It essentially creates for is the inability to accept change. As read, and listen to as the eyes and us a world where things are black or humans, we like certainty in our lives. ears are the entry point to our minds. white. This type of thinking is linear. We want to know what will happen Whatever information we consume It quickly moves us to what we believe next for us and that everything will be becomes the source of our thoughts. is clarity. fine. It is a safe, comfortable feeling 14 NAMB.ORG | WINTER 2020

of control. However, like it or not, change is a part of our world, and it is accelerating at an incredible rate.

When circumstances in our lives change unexpectedly, we go through the stages of experiencing change - shock, denial, anger, depression, acceptance, and integration. We experience each stage to one degree or another. The first four can trigger a negative mental response in most people.

Next is a lack of gratitude. I believe we, the people living in developed countries, have a general lack of appreciation for the incredible wonders in our lives. We take things for granted, setting our expectations for more of the same. I am not saying we should not expect more and strive for more. That is what has driven us to achieve the standard of living we enjoy today. But it is this constant striving, constant wanting more without an appreciation for what we have accomplished or our good fortune. It is this lack of gratitude that sets us up for a negative attitude when things go sideways as they inevitably do. It is appreciation or gratitude that grounds us and frames everything, even our problems, in a positive context.

Hey, it is easy to have a positive attitude and be happy when things are going your way, and when you are making a lot of money from a windfall of closed loan volume. What will happen when the rates move up and the refi’s disappear?

Okay, we’ve discussed the causes of negative attitudes.

Hopefully, you are on guard for those negative attitude elements. Now, let’s talk

about how to create and maintain a positive attitude.

Steps For Maintaining a Posititive Attitude 1. Make having a positive attitude a priority. Once you realize how important your attitude is to your success, you need to ensure your attitude is positive and stays that way.

Commit to maintaining a positive approach regardless of what happens, put it in writing, and tell your coach, manager, or someone close to you.

2. Realize that YOU control your attitude. Your attitude is a choice.

When you let other things or other people dictate your attitude, you give up personal control to them. Take back control of your life by choosing to be positive.

3. Form beliefs that give events a positive context. Find positive aspects of a situation. This can be tough. But if you look back on your life, you can even find some positive results from difficult situations. Be a good finder. And, believe that good things will eventually surface. This may take some practice.

4. Introduce positive content into your mind daily. Your mind is like a garden. And the things you input through your eyes and ears are like seeds that grow into thoughts. The thoughts and ultimately the attitude you have are a result of the type of seeds you plant in your mind. Watch, read, or listen to information that stimulates positive thinking. Only plant positive seeds.

5. Eliminate negative media and public information. Television and the internet, especially social media is a cesspool of negativity. Stay away from things that take your mind in a negative direction. You may have some long-standing habits around these sources of negativity. They are ruining your life- get rid of them.

6. Avoid whining and complaining by you and from others. These are the signs of a negative attitude. You have a choice. You can allow yourself to be a negative Nellie, spreading negativity to others, or you can take control and take responsibility for what you do. Choose to be a purveyor of a positive outlook.

7. Use positive talk. One way to be a positive purveyor for yourself and others is to speak positively in your communications with people. Look at the bright side and point out the good aspects of things and situations that appear negative.

8. Hang out with positive people and avoid the negative ones. If you are around negative people, you are exposing yourself to a source of negative thinking. You already know how that affects your thinking. You can not afford to allow this regularly.

Stay away from these people. If you can not avoid them, nicely tell them you do not want to participate in any negative conversations. Locate and make friends with people who have a positive approach to business and life. You will be amazed by the compounding effect that multiple positive attitudes have on any environment.

9. Be thankful. Instead of focusing WINTER 2020 | NAMB.ORG 15

on what is not working, take a few minutes to think about all of the people, experiences, and material things you have in your life. Count your blessings. There are so many people in the world who have far less. Reflection gives you a better perspective on your business and life, a good reason for having a positive attitude.

Improving your attitude and becoming a more positive person can be challenging during difficult times, such as the period we are currently experiencing in our country.

Monitor your attitude, and use the ideas you have just learned. Imagine that your success depends on it - because it does.

Ski Swiatkowski is an author and speaker who has 36 years of mortgage industry experience.

He is the founder of Radical Performance, a consulting and coaching firm focused on leadership and performance improvement. His new book, which he co-authored with Jim Donovan, is titled: Create the Change You Want to See: Key Strategies to Fuel Your Success. Contact Ski at ski@ radicalperformance.net.

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(877) 472-4842 © 2020 Civic Financial Services, LLC. All Rights Reserved. This is not a commitment to lend. Restrictions may apply. LTV limit is based on current, accurate appraised value. Civic Financial Services, LLC reserves the right to amend rates and guidelines.

All loans are made in compliance with Federal, State, and Local laws. Civic Financial Services, LLC is a California Finance Lender under NMLS 1099109 and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation License #603L321, AZ Mortgage Broker License #0928633, FL Mortgage Lender Servicer License #MLD1536, ID Mortgage Broker/Lender License MBL-9610, NV Mortgage License MB4419, NV Broker License #4443, NV NMLS ID #1410002, OR Mortgage Lending License #ML-5282, UT DRE Mortgage Entity License #10570639. Civic Financial Services, LLC is an equal opportunity lender.

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18 NAMB.ORG | WINTER 2020

A Look Back at NAMB’s First Ever

CONFERENCE & TRADE SHOW

W

hen COVID hit this Spring, all of us at NAMB came to the decision very quickly that the conference must go on- and go on it did in one of the most dynamic and challenging years in the history of our industry. By coming together, we were able to make this year’s NAMB National one of the best in recent memory.

In two days, we hosted over 25 great speakers, presented over 30 informative streaming sessions, and recruited over 50 industryleading exhibitors and sponsors. It was a huge success, and NAMB is incredibly proud of its first-ever fully virtual NAMB National.

In order to encourage attendees to visit our virtual booths, NAMB had some nice prizes up for grabs. NAMB awarded Jackson Ball of Indian Rocks Beach, Florida with the grand prize of a drone for visiting all the virtual booths. NAMB’s Communications Associate Kelly Coggins talked with Jackson to learn more about him.

Tell me a bit about yourself.

Jackson: I am a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the United

States Army. I have spent the past two decades successfully moving in and out of jobs and new communities. Understanding the process of moving affords me the opportunity to understand WINTER 2020 | NAMB.ORG 19

Jackson:

the importance of time, speed, and accuracy when it comes to moving. My mission in the military was to take care of people and now my mission is to help my community realize their dreams of home ownership and financial growth that comes with home ownership.

I had a very pleasant experience with the exhibitors. I either jumped in on most of the virtual booths that were open for a few quick discussions or I requested additional information from many of the booths that were not manned at the time. All my questions were answered.

I work at the Indian Rocks Beach Branch at Pioneer Mortgage Funding Inc. I’m licensed in Kentucky and Florida and have been in the business since June of this year.

successful. One of the best segments I sat in was with “The Mortgage Godfather” Ralph LoVuolo. After Ralph’s segment, I had a couple follow up questions. There was absolutely no hesitation or delay’s in him answering. Additionally, he provided a couple suggestions that helped immediately boost my branding and operational thought processes.

How did you learn about NAMB and how has NAMB helped you professionally?

Jackson: I learned about NAMB while I was taking my Pre-Licensing course. During some of the coursework I had a question about professional networking and one of my mentors recommend I join NAMB as soon as I became licensed. My mentor stated that NAMB would enhance and expand on my initial education and help gain instant creditability in the business. Being in the Army so many years I have found networking is the #1 thing that will set one apart from other others in any field. As such, NAMB has provided me an opportunity to expand my network and be able to reach out to others for information, guidance, mentorship, etc.

What are some of the specific takeaways from NAMB National that you plan to implement?

Jackson:

This was my very first conference with NAMB, and as strange as it was to do virtually, I believe it was still successful. One of the best segments I sat in was with “The Mortgage Godfather” Ralph LoVuolo.

After Ralph’s segment, I had a couple follow up questions. There was absolutely no hesitation or delay’s in him answering. Additionally, he provided a couple suggestions that helped immediately boost my branding and operational thought processes.

Tell me about your experience with the exhibitors?

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Tell me about your experience with the exhibitors?

Jackson:

I had a very pleasant experience with the exhibitors. I either jumped in on most of the virtual booths that were open for a few quick discussions or I requested additional information from many of the booths that were not manned at the time. All my questions were answered.

While NAMB is proud of its first ever all virtual event, it does miss seeing everyone in person. NAMB is already planning NAMB National 2021. Save the date for October 9thOctober 11th at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Just like in 2020, NAMB National will focus on the 5 key pillars of success: shop local, operations, voice in Washington, perks, and technology. In addition, there will be networking opportunities at the soon to be sold out trade show as well as the out of this world Great Gatsby Style Saturday night pool party and more! Exhibitor registration is now open. We hope to see you there.

Kelly Coggins is the Communications Associate for NAMB. Contact her at kelly.coggins@namb.org.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OUR NAMB NATIONAL 2020 VIRTUAL EXHIBITORS!

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Realtor and Rocket

By Frank Garay

I

f you haven’t heard the news yet, you will. It looks like Realtor.com and Rocket Mortgage are teaming up on the Realtor.com website.

This is obviously a major win for Rocket Mortgage. What mortgage company wouldn’t want to be on a website that gets 145 million visits a month from prospective home buyers?

Hearing this kind of news, can sometimes be deflating as an originator.

Seriously, who can stand against these types of lending giants? Currently Rocket Mortgage does 9% of all mortgage loans in the US. Their stated goal is to grow that number to 25% over the next decade. Wow, seems pretty overwhelming for all of us local mortgage brokers doesn’t it?

kind news, I suggest taking a different approach. Copy them. Yep, copy them.

Have you ever heard the old saying “There’s no need to reinvent the wheel”?

Have you ever noticed the main way Rocket gets their business? Sure you have, because it irritates you every time you see it. It’s just advertising.

They literally advertise everywhere.

Getting together with Realtor.com is no different. It’s advertising.

How much advertising do you do? How much do you spend on advertising? Probably not that much for most of us. On a side note, did you know that Dan Gilbert started his mortgage career as an average everyday “mortgage broker” just like you. His rise to greatness was all done through consistently reinvesting in his business through consumer direct advertising. He was an advertising Instead of getting down in the dumps, machine. You can do the same thing or all fired up and angry about this in your local market.

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Hear me out on this. I’m not talking about spending thousands of dollars on this at all, but I do have a way that you could make this happen, and you’ll get a steady stream of consumer direct transactions regardless of what Rocket Mortgages market share is or will be.

Take close note of Rocket Mortgage and how they get their leads. When you get to their website, it’s a “mortgage calculator”. That’s it. That’s what people want. They want to know what their payment is going to be and they want that information as fast as possible. Guys, that’s all it is. Once the consumer gets the information they want they get invited to go further.

Pretty simple if you think about it.

I’ve taken the time to look at some mortgage broker websites just to see what’s going on. Most of them have a calculator that is hidden in a menu under one of the navigation tabs at the

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Relationships. Reliability. Results.

Correspondent Investor in the Nation! * Website: correspondent.amerihome.com Email: CLsales@amerihome.com * According to Inside Mortgage Finance 8/21/20. © 2020 AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC. Information herein intended solely for mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, financial institutions and correspondent lenders. Licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act, License #4131116.

NMLS #135776.

top of their page that literally NO ONE is ever going to look at, and even if they did, they are pretty lame calculators. Want to do yourself and your company a favor? Pay a good programmer to build an easy to use, accurate mortgage calculator that simply walks a prospective customer through a process to give them the answer they’re looking for. Then once that answer is delivered to the customer, invite them to “continue” down the path to completing the application.

I understand that you can’t literally copy Rocket Mortgages’ website, but I hardly think you can “copyright” a mortgage calculator. So, walk through their site/calculator and learn from it when you’re building your own. Ideally you’ll want your company’s pricing to flow through to the calculator so the consumer is getting an accurate quote.

So how does the consumer find your calculator? Google of course. Google is so great for this kind of stuff. Get a Google Ad’s account and run an ad for “Mortgage Calculator | Your City | Lowest Rates” or something like that. Run it only in your City or County to start. Pick a budget and see how it does. $20 a day is only $600 a month, maybe start with that. If you get a deal or two, reinvest in yourself, just like Dan did, and bump it up to $1,000 a month. Keep going from there and start expanding your reach to your entire State. From there grow your advertising to the other States you can lend in.

You WILL get deals from doing this. People will click on your calculator especially if you make note of being a local lender in the ad. Not sure how to do Google Ad’s? Google it. If you do this, it simply isn’t going to matter what market share Rocket has or who they’ve partnered with. Most of us aren’t looking to originate thousands of loans a month (today), we’re just looking to do 20? 50? you tell me. Get an excellent mortgage calculator and advertise it. Copy the big boys, don’t reinvent the wheel, it works.

Frank Garay is Co-Host of The National Real Estate Post.

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Upcoming Webinars & Events 12/15/202012/18/2020 Every Wednesday

Certified Veterans Lending Specialist Class

Weekly Lunch and Learn with Carl White and Frank Garay 12/17/2020 Introduction to the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) First Monday of the NAMB Now: A Monthly Townhall Meeting with Month NAMB Members 10/9/2021-10/11/2021 NAMB National 2021

Register Today: namb.org/events

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