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"If you go online and look at 200 web pages in one day - which is a simple task when you think of email, blogs, YouTube, news sites, etc - you'll see about 490,000 words; War & Peace was only 460,000 words."
Nick Bilton, Head of Usabilty, New York Times
"Do or do not... there is no try.”
Yoda (But it could have been Jeff Brown too)
While reviewing several of my favorite pearls of wisdom, I came across a post written last year by Jeff Brown. This diamond is a masterful piece Yoda (I often refer to the Balwd guy as our industries Yoda) shared with the world on BloodhoundBlog. While he writes it from a Realtor perspective, the principles apply to mortgage origination. If you are new to the business and/or your business is down and your feelings get hurt easily, you might cringe reading Jeff's post. However the lessons he shares are invaluable and serve a clarion call to all. If you are a successful veteran, you will be shaking your head in agreement and smiling as you read the post.
If you are serious about your career, click the hyperlink below and read Jeff's sage advice.
Principles of Flight and Real Estate — Getting Off the Ground
A New Post By The Mortgage Cicerone
A Guide for Mortgage Professionals
Read other posts by The Mortgage Cicerone.
It has always amazed me how ignoring "common sense" and the reality of a situation always kicks you in the arse!
When I first started this blog, I posted (to this day) one of my more popular posts "Do You Ever Feel Like Michael Jackson's Plastic Surgeon?" While the article was specifically directed towards consumers, I have found the message transcends perfectly to mortgage and real estate professionals.
Bottom line originators...the mortgage market is back to embracing common sense underwriting standards and thus our mortgage product mix again will most likely resembles that of 1998 instead of 2006.
In the book, Good to Great, author Jim Collins states people fall into three different categories:
What Is The Stockdale Paradox?
A New Post By The Mortgage Cicerone
A Guide for Mortgage Professionals.
Read other posts by The Mortgage Cicerone.
Bottom line...I love being around mortgage professionals. Subsequently, it should come as no surprise, I'm often referred to as being an originators originator.
Fortunately my job allows me to talk to literally thousands of mortgage originators each and every year. That said, I have developed an ability to predict with uncanny accuracy the production level of an originator after speaking with them five minutes or less (without broaching their production numbers).
Do I have a sixth sense...heck no. Rather, it's a recognized pattern how an originators attitude plays a critical role in either their success or failure. I call it "The Attitude Factor."
The Attitude Factor
Continue reading "Geez...Get over it, accept it and expect it " »
A New Post By The Mortgage Cicerone.
A Guide for Mortgage Professionals.
Read other posts by The Mortgage Cicerone.
"If I work on a certain move constantly, then finally, it doesn´t seem risky to me. The idea is that the move stays dangerous and it looks dangerous to my foes, but it is not to me. Hard work has made it easy." -- Nadia Comaneci
"Be a problem detective; look for customer problems that your product or service can solve." -- Brian Tracy
"A professional is a person who can do his best at a time when he doesn't particularly feel like it." -- Alistair Cooke
"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live." -- Goethe
"One must be fond of people and and serving them if they plan on being successful long term in the mortgage or real estate profession." -- Dennis Geist
"A man who doesn't trust himself can never really trust anyone else." -- Cardinal De Retz
"Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"A person will not buy from you until he is convinced that you are a friend and are acting in his best interest. You must make this clear." -- Brian Tracy
"We have not wings we cannot soar; but, we have feet to scale and climb, by slow degrees, by more and more, the cloudy summits of our time." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist." -- Louis Nizer
"People who have good relationships at home are more effective in the marketplace." -- Zig Ziglar
"It isn't the people you fire who make your life miserable, it's the people you don't." -- Harvey Mackay
"Lack of homework shows up in the marketplace as well as in the classroom." -- Jim Rohn
"Some people serve with pride -- because they 'want to' do and be their best; other people serve with disdain because they 'have to' do their job. Which person do you think will end up running the show?" -- Jeffrey Gitomer
"Take time to listen to your people when they want to talk. This is a real motivator." -- Brian Tracy
"People are your most valuable asset. Only people can be made to appreciate in value." -- Stephen Covey
"Good people are found not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, 'We don´t teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice people.' Wow! What a clever short cut." -- Jim Rohn
"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him." -- Booker T. Washington
A New Post By The Mortgage Cicerone.
A Guide for Mortgage Professionals.
Read other posts by The Mortgage Cicerone.
Note: Nighttime satellite photo of Korean Peninsula and the contrasting illumination between North and South Korea.
I'm guessing Milton Friedman would have loved this picture.
In fact, this satellite picture provides a powerful metaphor highlighting the difference between two deeply contrasting political. social and economic systems. Subsequently, it also represents the difference between individuals who are self-reliant/industrious and those who promote entitlement policies that eventually subordinate personal freedoms and produce a citizenry dependent upon the state.
Back to Korea.
While North Korea is ethnically homogeneous with their brethren in the South, there are stark gaps between the two countries separated since the Korean War (1950 - 1952). For example, North Korea developed into a communist dictatorship with a strong centrally planned economy while South Korea became a democracy with a thriving free-market based economy has thrived domestically and globally.
In addition, isn't it amazing even the fishing fleets in the waters surrounding Korea throw off more light than all of North Korea.
It is my sincere belief we as individuals, an industry and nation can learn from the example of these two countries. It is up to us as citizens and mortgage professionals to take responsibility for both our actions and that of the industry we operate.
A New Post By The Mortgage Cicerone.
A Guide for Mortgage Professionals.
Read other posts by The Mortgage Cicerone.
This speech given by Charlie Paparelli provides perhaps the most provocative and useful thoughts I have heard regarding both the economic and consumer driven shifts shaping our marketing environment. While the video is 57 minutes in length, your business decisions over the next decade MUST embrace the principles laid out if you plan on thriving over the next decade and developing a business model of positive cash-flow.
Unfortunately, most readers will not take the time to listen, much less absorb and implement the millionaire maker fundamentals provided by Charlie Paparelli. Yet, if you do heed the advice, you are going to charge ahead of the rest of the field in your chosen niche.
Go ahead and invest the next fifty-seven minutes and be sure to take copious notes and then IMPLEMENT!
A New Post By The Mortgage Cicerone.
A Guide for Mortgage Professionals.
Read other posts by The Mortgage Cicerone.
Ok, I'll be the dummy and open Pandora's Box.
From what I'm hearing across the nation, underwriting turn times are excruciatingly slow.
As has been communicated to me by several extremely successful and reliable loan originators across the country; on average it is taking anywhere from 18 to 22 days to get their loans through underwriting.
The Issue
Realtors and Clients don't want to hear the truth and insist other lenders can do it in 2 to 3 days. Oh yes, they also want you to take an application this afternoon and close on their short sale in seventeen days.
Sound familiar?
I would really appreciate your feedback regarding turntimes and your strategies pertaining to this issue.
