First, and let’s make this very clear, this is a post intended for fun. But underneath the fun there is definitely some truth. And I’m posting this to get the loan officer’s side of the story. 
I was reading Jeff Brown’s post Beware - Time Is Not Always Your Friend - Tick Tock and even left a comment the other day. In my email I saw a follow up comment that made me laugh out loud. It is from Sean Purcell:
I work with a Realtor that believes every real estate agent should be given two tags (renewable yearly) which allows them a “two lender” limit per year. (Yes, he means hunt them down and kill them!)
Now, obviously, this is more figuratively than literally… or so I hope. But once again we are faced with that dynamic where both the loan officer and the REALTOR are supposed to be working for the good of the client and yet somehow find themselves in contest with one another.
I want to tell you, from my perspective as a real estate agent, that the problem almost always starts with a lack of communication. It’s not interest rates or points or credit scores. It’s almost always me wondering what the hell is going on because neither myself nor my client can get an answer from the loan officer or the mythical underwriter.
Chris Johnson wrote a piece called Set Expectations for Your Clients and Realtors all the way to Closing right here on Lenderama. I thought it was an excellent post and I even commented that I wasn’t so sure he was setting expectations at all. He was just communicating with people in need of current information!
There is no doubt in my mind that Todd asked me to be a part of Lenderama because he wants the perspective of a real estate agent. You need to know what I think, what I hear and what I experience. Please learn from it. As I have learned much from you.
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10 responses so far ↓
1 Diane Cipa // Feb 22, 2008 at 7:51 am
Good point, Chris, and for the peace of mind of those out there in escrow and title, may I add, please don’t forget US!
If you plan to change the terms of a sales contract, the person who will actually draw the transaction documents needs to be in the ole loop.
2 Robert D. Ashby // Feb 22, 2008 at 8:31 am
Excellent point on communication being key. As Diane said, everyone involved in the transaction needs to be in the loop and I would say the LOs out there should be the central point of that communication.
3 Gina Gardner // Feb 22, 2008 at 8:39 am
The best transactions take place when everyone–lender, appraiser, real estate agent, escrow / title officer–works as a team. It was always a pleasure to find myself working with people I respected and had closed successful transactions with before.
And you’re right about communication–my old branch manager’s policy was that all LOs had to return calls within an hour or they could find themselves fired. A little coercive, but it helped us all develop good communication habits and discipline ourselves to keep communication open, even when we occasionally had to give someone bad news.
When there is a real estate boom I think the influx of unprofessionals lowers expectations and makes the career pros look pretty good–people are astounded when you return calls and keep your promises.
4 KC Investments // Feb 22, 2008 at 8:52 am
Diane - How could I forget about the likes of you? I guess because we have an in house title person by the name of Jana. I’ve used her for years. And if I don’t do something right she is right there to smack me around. You simply cannot replace a great title person.
Robert - Like it or not I believe you are right about the LO being the center of it all.
Gina - Another example of people understanding it’s all about communication.
5 Sean Purcell // Feb 22, 2008 at 10:40 am
Chris,
The best part about the story I left out of the comment. The agent who believes in renewable tags and I have a great relationship: we send each other clients and we have partnered together on another venture. Yet his admittedly figuritive little joke stil pops into my head EVERY time I am gifted one of his clients to help.
I have always coached real estate agents, when interviewing loan reps, to ask one simple question: “Tell me why I can trust $10,000 ($15,000? $20,000?) of my money with you?” If you do not get an answer that lights you up, don’t let them hold your money and CERTAINLY don’t let them hold your clients’ dreams.
6 Jeff Brown // Feb 22, 2008 at 10:45 am
Kinda disappointed people. I thought for sure we’d hear at least one great hunting story.
7 KC Investments // Feb 22, 2008 at 11:17 am
Sean - I’m relieved it was just figuratively.
Jeff - There is always later…
8 Jeff Brown // Feb 22, 2008 at 11:46 am
I had faith you wouldn’t let me down, Chris.
9 Rob Lusk // Feb 22, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Chris,
It’s sad, but you’re right. Most lenders have not put the systems in place to generate great communication with all parties.
I’ve got a system I have in place with ACT that taps on everyone involved. I’ll be the first to admit that we don’t nail it every time, though we try.
I’ve heard of websites that can be generated to post the status. Does anyone know about these?
10 Rich Vosler // Feb 22, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Chris, excellent post. I too enjoyed Chris Johnson’s post-especially the part where he calls all his people by 7:30 a.m. who he knows will be looking for answers. Communication IS key.
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