Written By: Kim Payne, President, Folsom Mortgage (KimPayne@FolsomMortgage.com)
"Here", the bored cashier said as she handed me the receipt. That's all she said. I looked around the counter, found my shopping bag and left the store. And I got to thinking…did basic courtesy and building customer relationships and loyalty go the way of the dodo bird?
I was struck with the fact that we probably all miss these opportunities, and often. A slight shift of viewpoint toward including generosity of spirit, interest in our fellows, good old common courtesy and good manners would expand our businesses and personal reputations. The logical end to that expansion is more and better business for us.
A perfect example of a missed opportunity for us brokers has to do with loan modifications. The loan mod companies are everywhere now and their ads claim high success rates. Some pay high referral fees to loan brokers (many of whom helped create the troubles some of these borrowers are now facing.) I know for a fact that some of these companies tell borrowers to skip a mortgage payment or two and use those funds to pay the loan modification company instead.
I wondered, "How can a borrower afford to pay $4,000.00 to a loan mod company when they currently cannot make their mortgage payment?" It seems to me that this is really taking advantage of the hard times of others, and I have difficulty reconciling myself to this high cost for the borrowers. After all, shouldn’t a loan mod be a win-win situation for both the lender and the borrower?
As a mortgage professional, you can help explain to your clients how to do their own loan modification that does not cost them one thin dime. And I do this for people, for free, whenever I get a call asking for advice on this. It’s so easy and I will share with you exactly how you can help your clients (free) to get their loan modified.
But first, here's a story about my daughter and her experience about how a "win-win" situation went bad—and what could have been done differently if only the players had taken the time to look at the big picture.
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