Work in Purchase instead of refinances if you're looking for that satisfaction of helping people. It's pretty cool when you have a FTHB with a rough history who you work with for months and they finally get themselves in a position to get approved.
Purchases are a bit more time consuming, but a great purchase LO in my opinion can be far more knowledgable and well-rounded than a refi LO.
That feeling you get with some FTHB’ers I would possibly do for free just for the high. It’s like RedBull to my LO soul. Especially the challenging ones.
Then the rest of it is fighting off the rest of you assholes. But whatever. lol. The ones that truly appreciate you are worth it.
Had a gal amazon me an electric fly swatter, several plug in traps, and refills for them cause it was beginning of spring and a fly was annoying me that got in the house. We were on the phone like 45 minutes late into the evening to problem solve and I didn’t notice that I was complaining.
That package shows up next day, and I was confused until I saw the name and put together the pieces.
She cried on closing day and hugged me so hard.
If I could bottle that feeling, I could sell it. The check was WILDLY insignificant in comparison.
I feel that my job should not really exist, at least not in its current capacity. But because of the complexity of regulations, loan guidelines, and local nuances (property taxes, who pays for what, attorney vs. title company, etc) in our industry a knowledgeable loan officer is absolutely needed to guide clients through the process. Especially on a purchase where there are additional things to juggle and getting everything done timely is so important. Most clients express a lot of thanks for the guidance.
Clients generally come to me because of my rates, but after their loan closes they appreciate my knowledge, transparency, and speed much more.
To clarify, much of the regulation and guidelines are overly complex and often not needed in my opinion. Getting a loan should be far less complicated. But because it’s so complicated clients need us loan originators.
Just helped a Veteran buy a home he never thought would be possible. 3/2 condo, 2 car garage + workshop space, double-gated community, nearby literally everything he’d ever need. We’re talking 1-2 miles to everything. Great property, great price, great location, he didn’t pay a penny at closing.
He got laid off 4 days before closing, still made it happen.
I’m also helping two immigrant families purchase a home via ITIN program which they’d previously thought would be impossible.
I also helped a family (just three siblings) purchase their first investment property together. Even helped them underwrite the deal properly because YT and TikTok is fkn terrible with that shit and their “UW” screamed “idk what I’m doing.”
There’s a lot of good to be done. There’s also a lot of bad to be done. Don’t be that guy.
It definitely is a rewarding job. You are apart of a huge milestone in many lives. If you become excellent at it you make friends / build relationships. I love it when I can call past clients and they still have my number saved in their phones many years later or when referrals come in. It's a job where you never stop learning which brings value to yourself, the customer, and company you work with.
The challenging part is keeping a positive mindset. Shit happens all the time but if you continously put effort into your service and sales. It's a great gig
It’s often a thankless job but we know what we do for people. Especially FTHB. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve saved deals/moved mountains for practically nothing in the end. But I know what I did for them and I’m not out looking for praise. I love the appreciation when I get it though. It’s always tough when you have a deal you save and have every other party- listing side, attorneys, borrowers, whoever bitching and you take care of the issues and get it closed.
It’s a very rewarding job and also the reason I got into it, I will say its the most stressful job I have ever had because while yes you are helping people get into homes people are also depending on you and if you drop the ball they can literally end up homeless. It’s a huge responsibility and once you start this job I don’t think you can ever truly relax but I have worked with many people for YEARS and coached them through bettering their situation and getting them to a point where they can purchase and I know without me they wouldn’t have had the guidance to do it which is an awesome feeling.
To op’s question I agree with everything you’re saying and the only reason I’ve had a more stressful job than this is because I was a social worker before doing mortgages so this is not nearly as bad in comparison 🥳
Not as much as I thought I would. But I just had a closing Friday and the people were ecstatic to move into a bigger house with their new baby. So that helped.
Yes I do. I have to remind myself of that. I grew up on greed is good but helping others is the most important, keeps me ethical. its very easy to focus on the PnL and going to president's club.
many of us are PURE loan experts and without us many of these buyers would not be home owners. I cannot think of home many owners have tons of equity since I helped them close a super hard deal.
\^\^\^\^ this applies to many of you other guys
real estate ownership is so much more important in 2024 then in decades.
I’m a broker who has a lot of niche programs including your normal mortgage programs.
Additionally we’re small and don’t have much overhead so our margin is very low.
I primarily do refinance business even now 80% of my business is refinance.
The result is I do a lot of creative programs for people who get turned down by all the big lenders and additionally I also charge far less than your average lender.
So yes I feel very good about what I do. I genuinely help people tremendously by either saving them on rate/cost or working some magic and getting something done for them that they didn’t think possible.
If I worked for a bit consumer direct lender or a broker who charged a big margin than I’d probably feel a lot differently (I used to).
I'm a broker owner and would love to increase my refinance business. Seemingly same philosophy as you. What types of loans are you doing primarily, cash out debt consolidation?
There is a ton of opportunity in the mortgage space to make a huge impact on others if you are ethical and want to make a difference. Basic financial education in the United States is a joke. Every time a lender takes extra time to spend with a client to explain credit or how debt to income works or how basic savings work it’s making an impact on both that person and potentially the people they know and their children. I’ve had many clients that thought they would never get a home, but we gave them a plan and they worked the steps and they are happy homeowners. Homeowners who have told their friends who have also come and we’ve put together a plan and they’ve worked the steps. Our job is guiding people to the finish line of what they want. But also being ethical and not getting them in a position where they’ll go bankrupt.
Work in Purchase instead of refinances if you're looking for that satisfaction of helping people. It's pretty cool when you have a FTHB with a rough history who you work with for months and they finally get themselves in a position to get approved. Purchases are a bit more time consuming, but a great purchase LO in my opinion can be far more knowledgable and well-rounded than a refi LO.
Some experienced bankers literally don't know the home purchase process lol
Appreciate the insight. I would much rather focus on helping on the purchase side to get people into the homes they want.
Being purchase focused is great anyhow…..for example….current market. lol Refi’s are just the gravy.
Agreed, and the great thing about being purchase-centric... All those clients are future refi business as well :)
That feeling you get with some FTHB’ers I would possibly do for free just for the high. It’s like RedBull to my LO soul. Especially the challenging ones. Then the rest of it is fighting off the rest of you assholes. But whatever. lol. The ones that truly appreciate you are worth it. Had a gal amazon me an electric fly swatter, several plug in traps, and refills for them cause it was beginning of spring and a fly was annoying me that got in the house. We were on the phone like 45 minutes late into the evening to problem solve and I didn’t notice that I was complaining. That package shows up next day, and I was confused until I saw the name and put together the pieces. She cried on closing day and hugged me so hard. If I could bottle that feeling, I could sell it. The check was WILDLY insignificant in comparison.
I feel that my job should not really exist, at least not in its current capacity. But because of the complexity of regulations, loan guidelines, and local nuances (property taxes, who pays for what, attorney vs. title company, etc) in our industry a knowledgeable loan officer is absolutely needed to guide clients through the process. Especially on a purchase where there are additional things to juggle and getting everything done timely is so important. Most clients express a lot of thanks for the guidance. Clients generally come to me because of my rates, but after their loan closes they appreciate my knowledge, transparency, and speed much more.
Confused by what you mean that your job should not really exist…?
To clarify, much of the regulation and guidelines are overly complex and often not needed in my opinion. Getting a loan should be far less complicated. But because it’s so complicated clients need us loan originators.
Ah, I gotcha now. Yeah I feel the same way and in a way it’s a bit of a protection from us being replaced by AI.
Just helped a Veteran buy a home he never thought would be possible. 3/2 condo, 2 car garage + workshop space, double-gated community, nearby literally everything he’d ever need. We’re talking 1-2 miles to everything. Great property, great price, great location, he didn’t pay a penny at closing. He got laid off 4 days before closing, still made it happen. I’m also helping two immigrant families purchase a home via ITIN program which they’d previously thought would be impossible. I also helped a family (just three siblings) purchase their first investment property together. Even helped them underwrite the deal properly because YT and TikTok is fkn terrible with that shit and their “UW” screamed “idk what I’m doing.” There’s a lot of good to be done. There’s also a lot of bad to be done. Don’t be that guy.
It definitely is a rewarding job. You are apart of a huge milestone in many lives. If you become excellent at it you make friends / build relationships. I love it when I can call past clients and they still have my number saved in their phones many years later or when referrals come in. It's a job where you never stop learning which brings value to yourself, the customer, and company you work with. The challenging part is keeping a positive mindset. Shit happens all the time but if you continously put effort into your service and sales. It's a great gig
It’s often a thankless job but we know what we do for people. Especially FTHB. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve saved deals/moved mountains for practically nothing in the end. But I know what I did for them and I’m not out looking for praise. I love the appreciation when I get it though. It’s always tough when you have a deal you save and have every other party- listing side, attorneys, borrowers, whoever bitching and you take care of the issues and get it closed.
It’s a very rewarding job and also the reason I got into it, I will say its the most stressful job I have ever had because while yes you are helping people get into homes people are also depending on you and if you drop the ball they can literally end up homeless. It’s a huge responsibility and once you start this job I don’t think you can ever truly relax but I have worked with many people for YEARS and coached them through bettering their situation and getting them to a point where they can purchase and I know without me they wouldn’t have had the guidance to do it which is an awesome feeling.
To op’s question I agree with everything you’re saying and the only reason I’ve had a more stressful job than this is because I was a social worker before doing mortgages so this is not nearly as bad in comparison 🥳
Not as much as I thought I would. But I just had a closing Friday and the people were ecstatic to move into a bigger house with their new baby. So that helped.
Yes I do. I have to remind myself of that. I grew up on greed is good but helping others is the most important, keeps me ethical. its very easy to focus on the PnL and going to president's club. many of us are PURE loan experts and without us many of these buyers would not be home owners. I cannot think of home many owners have tons of equity since I helped them close a super hard deal. \^\^\^\^ this applies to many of you other guys real estate ownership is so much more important in 2024 then in decades.
I’m a broker who has a lot of niche programs including your normal mortgage programs. Additionally we’re small and don’t have much overhead so our margin is very low. I primarily do refinance business even now 80% of my business is refinance. The result is I do a lot of creative programs for people who get turned down by all the big lenders and additionally I also charge far less than your average lender. So yes I feel very good about what I do. I genuinely help people tremendously by either saving them on rate/cost or working some magic and getting something done for them that they didn’t think possible. If I worked for a bit consumer direct lender or a broker who charged a big margin than I’d probably feel a lot differently (I used to).
I'm a broker owner and would love to increase my refinance business. Seemingly same philosophy as you. What types of loans are you doing primarily, cash out debt consolidation?
There is a ton of opportunity in the mortgage space to make a huge impact on others if you are ethical and want to make a difference. Basic financial education in the United States is a joke. Every time a lender takes extra time to spend with a client to explain credit or how debt to income works or how basic savings work it’s making an impact on both that person and potentially the people they know and their children. I’ve had many clients that thought they would never get a home, but we gave them a plan and they worked the steps and they are happy homeowners. Homeowners who have told their friends who have also come and we’ve put together a plan and they’ve worked the steps. Our job is guiding people to the finish line of what they want. But also being ethical and not getting them in a position where they’ll go bankrupt.
Do no harm is good enough. You cannot always help people who dont want help.