In our newsletter last month in Part 1, I discussed several of the reasons that have lead the residential real estate mortgage industry to the crisis it faces; at it's core in my view, is the whole notion of originators being commissioned sales type ‘closer' personalities, a relatively recent concept.

As we work our way through today's industry wide mess, out the other side should emerge a wiser group of survivors, hopefully YOU will be one of them.
The benefits of replacing LO's and AE's ‘big fat commissions', and instead offer a more traditional salary + modest bonus structure, will result in a great number of improvements to the new organizations that ‘make it.'

Considering all that went wrong these past several years since ‘big fat commissions' were common, history won't repeat itself with the absence of such available excessive personal gain as has been commonplace, plus the positives will be numerous. On the plus side we have:

A). The effect of better management control over it's employees, since as W-2 salaried people, owner/operators and managers will be more careful on who they hire and how much they'll invest in training and how closely they'll supervise their activities. Not so many loose cannons poking around in the unsupervised darkness.

B). With this payroll structure, those LO's & AE's won't be so quick to "close' every applicant on a STATED Wage Earner 100% Option Arm with a 4 point YSP; this difference will surely result in overall better quality originations in the long run.

C). These better trained and now salaried employees, will work towards creating an improved credibility environment for themselves and their employers, and move away from the ‘big fat commission' concept of putting their own selfish interests ahead of the customer's.

D). There will be far fewer thinly capitalized organizations, as this payroll structure will provide for a larger remaining checkbook balance for employers after payday. With that they can/will have better furniture, fixtures and equipment for their employees, better employee benefits and significant cash available to advertise their products.

E). This model also insures that new owner operators will begin their operations with a significant financial investment. Therefore their outlook will be to establish and maintain at the core, a more ethical and solid company than many of the fly-by-night operators we can see today on both the wholesale and retail sides.

This list I'm sure you can add to as well as I can. What I describe here isn't a ‘pipe-dream" it's what I saw with my own two eyes, my first 30 years in this industry; it's how my first employer operated, and how I operated for several decades also.

Returning to this way of operations naturally is not the solution to all our problems, but it will mitigate future ones a great deal; as well as help restore the former luster we all had as home loan providers.

If on the other hand, you're left standing after this cleansing is over, and you are in a position within your own organization to make these payroll changes and you don't, then you can expect to not receive the benefits A thru E above (and others), but instead you'll be part of the problem next time. CLICK HERE to tell us your views on our Discussion Board

We provide mortgage broker banker training, education, information and solutions at Secret! University. You'll discover many solutions at our learning center. Utilizing several delivery systems, we have services & materials available for everyone, regardless of your degree of skill or know-how, take a look at our website just Click Here!

There's a whole lot of moving parts in the entire mortgage process you need to know a lot about; we have a wide range of materials and services available to support your efforts, so you will achieve improved results utilizing one of more of our Services. To discover which ones can help you right now Click Here!

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Our Campus Store is now open; offering Secret! U Logo specialty items. You're invited to Learn More - we're excited about our collegiate quality 'limited edition' gear!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

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According to dictionary.com, a goal is:
"the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.

If you are still struggling to achieve the goals you set at the beginning of this year, here are some simple, common sense ways to move your goals from the "to do" list to done.

Write it down (and be specific).
For this example, let's say one of your resolutions is to increase your production to 10 loans per month. This is good, but not good enough. There's a big difference between closing 10 loans per month for homes in the $100,000 range and closing 10 loans per month for homes in the $300,0000 range. Keep rewriting the resolution until it is specific.

Calculate the cost of the status quo.
This takes some guts. Be brutally honest, and record the pain associated with not meeting your goal. This list is for your eyes only. Continuing our example, the list may include: the stress of dealing with "feast or famine" syndrome and not being sure whether you'll be able to meet payroll.

Know what it takes.
Write down the activities associated with closing 10 $200,000 loans per month. How many calls will have to come into the office? How many applications will you have to take? How much marketing will you need to do in order to get those calls? Which marketing tactics will you use? Where do you get most of your current clients? Is there a way to increase the number of clients from that source?

Focus on the activities.
Let's say you'd like to increase the number of referrals from current clients and real estate agents. One of your activities may be to place a call to a client or a realtor each day.

Visualize it done.
Make a list each day of your resolutions as if they were already complete, for example "I close at least 10 $200,000 loans each month while working less than 30 hours per week." Rewrite this list when you wake up and before you go to bed. Read each item out loud and visualize it done. Yes, I know some of you are rolling your eyes as you read this – but trust me, this works! Try this for 3 weeks, and I promise you things will start to change.

Get help when you need it.
Using our case study, let's say you decide to send an email newsletter to help you consistently keep in touch with your referral partners (agents, CPAs, etc.). Doing it yourself may take several hours, or you could hire someone else to get it done.

Set yourself up for success.
Get the tools you need and remove roadblocks and distractions.

Statistics say less than 10% of all goals are achieved. Hopefully, these ideas will help all of us stay on track. Article by JC Kadii http://www.close-more-loans.com CLICK HERE to give us your Two Cents on our Board