All Forum Posts by: Wyatt Wolff

 What makes you think it's adversarial? I have lenders call me relentlessly and I typically just tell them that I already have a team and wish them luck. They call me back the next month and we have the same conversation. No big deal. 

LOs and agents should be/are bunsiness partners and there have only been a couple times in my professional career where LOs totally blew it and made it on to my "list."

If you are feeling that way, maybe it's your approach?

I've never felt like there is an adversarial relationship.   We're in the same business, same customers, same goal....so I'm shocked to hear you say that.

Now if you're cold calling or emailing me wanting me to feed you business, that's another story. I have my lenders that I've worked with for 20+ years. They have my trust and confidence. So if you want business from me, then you have to offer something different. Don't tell me you are a jumbo specialist. Tell me you're an expert at 100% financing doctor loans. Or tell me you're a second chance lender, and you will follow up for a year with all the bad credit clients to get them on the right track to qualify for lending. Tell me you're an expert at doing mobile home loans, lot loans, land loans. Be different, do something different, offer something different. Everyone offers conventional and FHA. EVERYONE.

How do you bring value to me:
Prospect for buyers, and bring me those buyers, don't expect me to feed you.
Have a follow up system for loans to tell me your completed milestones every step of the way.  Almost no lender does this.  Application complete, appraisal ordered, appraisal received, property made value, in underwriting, exceptions needing to be cleared,  exceptions cleared, in final underwriting, at documents dept, docs sent to title, CD sent, CD signed, etc...probably a few more in there.   If you can automate that, even better.
Have education classes, probably at least every two months.
Be an expert in a specialized product....whatever that is you or your org want to offer. Renovation loans, investor loans, DSCR loans, reverse mortgage, 14 day close, etc.
Work open houses with a realtor every single weekend, be the bad guy asking everyone to sign in and not let them enter the house without signing in.
CLOSE on time every time, no excuses.....if you don't close on time it costs me 100 phone calls with no value add.  All my lenders close every loan on time every time.   If you don't close on time, you probably get no more business from me.
Provide marketing materials.  Today all your realtor clients should be getting 3-2-1 buydown flyers for every listing they have if you offer that product.  If not some other info to put in the listings.   Can you/do you provide them with financing info for every single listing, maybe a brochure rack with your business cards....and make their life easier by doing a listing flyer and info for them too, providing the brochure rack for the property.   Don't email it, print it out and deliver to the property if you can, or at minimum to the office.
If you're marketing to realtors that don't know you, bring it to the open house....visit at least 5 a weekend.  I've had lenders stop and solicit business..and open houses are not typically good for that.  I'm trying to connect with clients there, not loan officers.   Bring financing flyers, water, or candies, or something else to add value.

Met a lender at a meetup the other day for a totally different situation. He's dressed like a slob, looks like a slob, kind of had sleezy approach. I'm not interested at all, until he tells me he can do foreign national investor loans with 10% down or whatever his pitch was. Now he has my attention. His company does all the weird stuff. That's interesting. If he had told me he is an expert at FHA loans I would have blocked him.

Hope this helps.

I would love it if an LO came to our office and held an educational session on the different loan products out there. This knowledge equips me as an agent to better help my clients, and its a win-win for everyone involved when my client discovers a new way they can purchase a property they wanted but didn't think they qualified for. 

Other than education, I look for a lender who is responsive (replies within 12-24 hours) and doesn't delay closings. Someone who stays on top of the ball and doesn't wait until the day before closing to gather information they need.

Communication with us and the listing agents of any offer we submit.  All my preferred lenders do an in-depth approval before I show property and when we make an offer, my lenders reach out to the listing agent to talk about how in depth they have approved my client to make our offer look as good as cash.  We have gotten properties up to $7000 under the best offer because of how we presented it.  Be a team member with your agent and show your value.  I love my LOs

Absolutely, building a stronger partnership between RE agents and LOs hinges on congruency, going above and beyond, and effective communication. LOs can make a significant impact by aligning their efforts with the agent's goals, ensuring a seamless and consistent client experience. This congruency not only enhances the transaction but also reflects positively on the RE agent, making them look good in the eyes of their clients.

Moreover, going above and beyond means exceeding expectations. LOs can do this by providing exceptional service, being responsive, and proactively addressing any issues that arise during the lending process. Going that extra mile not only adds value but also strengthens trust and collaboration.

Communication is the linchpin of a successful partnership. LOs should keep RE agents well-informed about loan progress, updates, and potential challenges. Regular, transparent communication ensures everyone is on the same page, helping to avoid surprises and frustrations.

LOs can contribute significantly to making the RE agent's job easier and enhance the overall client experience. This collaborative approach benefits everyone involved.

Any lending product that I can offer to my buyer clients where they couldn't get into their house they wanted before and now because of your product, they can is how a loan officer can help us. 

If you reach out to me and your product is the same thing everyone else is offering in terms of rates and origination fee then I'm not that interested. 

Yes, some LO who lacks products and would like to sell their good services but to me, that's more icing on the cake than the necessity, and a good service should be the standard, not something you advertise to stand out.   

Same standard should go to realtors. The job is to help buyers find deals they can't find themselves and market/sell houses they can't sell at the price they want within reason. Good services and smooth closings are icing on the cake and should be the minimum standard. If a Realtor can't find deals or sell houses, the rest doesn't matter.  

At the end of the day, we are helping people solving problems. That's what's most important and separate the pros vs the noobs. If I have a problem and you can solve it for me, you are my favorite person. 

If you're going to cold call an agent (warm lead/referral is always best) make it value added (unique loan products are best - HELOCs and construction loans are things that seem to be more rare in the lending community for most brokers; offer to host an event with (or for) them (open house for agents or the public is most common but you could do a first time buyer happy hour or something like that too); helpful rate information; information on the opportunity cost of waiting to buy in this ever increasing market is always good as well. At the end of the day, it takes some unique rate or loan product to really get my attention and certainly a warm lead b/c we do get so many cold calls from loan officers.  Especially now that the refi business has dried up.