Mortgage Banking Magazine: Feb 2015

Are you bored with your same-old, same-old mortgage company? Then, get creative.

READ THE ARTICLE: So Change Already

 

It was 25 years ago, and I didn’t know a keystroke from a backstroke. My wife, Cathy, and I, had just started a mortgage company in Detroit, MI, and thought we were on our way to fame and glory. What we did not realize at the time was lending can be fickle, and so are some of the clients that can come your way.

We had brand new Herman Miller furniture, a great location, and a state of the art phone system. Business cards were in hand, some fliers had been posted in Realtor’s offices, and we anxiously awaited our first borrower. Sitting in our ‘spiffy’ well lit office on a Wednesday morning, (shuffling meaningless papers), the phone rings and we jump with joy. My wife answers the phone and begins with; yes, yes, yes, okay, thanks. I look at her in anticipation of a jumbo loan client, and she smiles and says, “We’re pregnant”. Oh, boy, did we step on the gas pedal then!

It took me awhile to learn the ‘math’ side of the business, as I am a right-brained person. I have lots of creativity, but little number sense. The idea of ratios, LTV’s, debt-to-income, percentages, and the big one, SELF-EMPLOYED, almost drove me batty during my learning curve. But, as we all know, being a loan officer is not rocket science, so I finally reached a point of being comfortable with the process…I thought.

Two weeks into our business our third client calls to inquire about a mortgage. I am the lucky recipient of the opportunity, and schedule a meeting for six o’clock on a Friday with the Taylor couple. I’m nervous as heck, but anxiously await my first encounter with a prospective loan…followed by a closing…and a much needed commission check. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor arrive with their little three year old son (of a gun) Will. Immediately, I am unnerved as Will is already running around like a Snicker crazed gerbil.

I invite this nice couple, who both are engineers at Chrysler, into my brand new beautiful conference room, with the elegant mahogany table, special cloth chairs, and fancy vases with flowers (you see where this is going?), and we begin to exchange information. Meanwhile, ‘Wild’ Taylor is literally crawling across the table, dragging his shoes, kicking the paper work, and screaming for something to drink. Mrs. Taylor has one hand on her son, and Mr. Taylor is trying to tell me how much he makes, with overtime, bonus, and so forth. I don’t hear a thing…as sweat is pouring down my face and back, while trying to assess this whole situation.

It gets worse! Wild Taylor gets off the table, starts running through the office with a crayon, and begins to scribble images on the glass of the doors, AND a brand new framed picture I had on a pedestal in the lobby. Mrs. Taylor excuses herself and tries to chase him down while shouting her income and debts to me on the run. I don’t know what to do, save the office, the loan, or my sanity. Finally, from out in the hallway, I hear Mrs. Taylor, in a gentle ‘guilty’ whisper, say “Oh, oh, Wild Taylor poopoo on the floor.” I snapped and said, ‘sorry, but I don’t think you guys qualify’!

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, gathered up junior, apologized, shook hands politely, and made their way out of my office. I will never forget that evening and have told people that story numerous times. I know in this business we have to take a lot of ‘crap’ sometimes, but we all have our limits.

(33 years later) Bill Early is a now a speaker and consultant with BillEarlySpeaks.com
He is also the President of PlumDog Financial, a mortgage lender in Asheville, NC.

Mortgage Banking Magazine: Nov 2015

“Looking for another channel of business for your company? Or, as a loan officer, are you interested in reaching out to some affinity groups that might really find you and your services valuable? Well, I’ve got an unlikely niche to run by you that you might not have thought about in the past-but…”

READ THE ARTICLE : The Mortgage Lender’s Lender

Scotsman Guide: Dec 2014

“Financial planners can be one of your most lucrative referral sources.”

READ THE ARTICLE : Selling Wealth Creation

American Banker: Aug 2014

 “Picture this: a family is new in town and drives down Main Street checking out the local shops. Wow, they realize, there are a lot of banks! Which one should we choose? The…”

READ THE ARTICLE: Why Banks Need To Be More Like Carrots

Mortgage Banking Magazine: June 2014

“This is a product re-engineering idea you won’t want to ignore. It could ramp up your volume – and save you money.

Invariable: in•var•i•a•ble (adj.) not variable; not changing…”

Read the article.

Have you ever known something to be true, I mean to your bones, and you just couldn’t understand why everyone else didn’t see it? And it becomes your mission to show people the light?

There’s an old Yiddish expression for just these moments, “To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish.” And for Bill and Cathy Early of PlumDog Financial, selling mortgages through their brokerage in Asheville, NC, has been their horseradish for the last 30 years.

READ THE ARTICLE : 7 Reasons to Get Your Mortgage From a Broker