You Walk Away: The *Real* Answer for Originators

I made a rare trip into my office the other day, and by the time I got done, I felt defeated and confused.  From my way in the front door back to my office, I heard 4 different ‘the sky is falling,’ conversations: 

“The guidelines have changed and they won’t take a good deal anymore.”

“Flagstar didn’t like my appraisal,”

“That’s bull***, the Realtor referred MY client to the in house lender.”

We have a smallish office–about 15 originators.  In all of these instances, there was a conversation involving at least one other originator.  This was all at 10:15 on a Tuesday morning.   At the very least 9 people were having a conversation together, so about 60% of our office was in a pity party, and I think the LOs in my office are way more proactive than most.  But what good can be had from the conversations above?

Look, I’m never going to say ‘be a Pollyanna,’ by any means.  But there is a radical difference in being a ‘victim,’ and being a ’survivor.  A survivor is a powerful and elite warrior.  A victim?  Not so much.   We can observe and predict the future.  If we see a guideline change, it can be an excuse to whine…

Or an excuse to call our clients to lock another loan, or call our Realtors to amp up the urgency for our deals.

We can survive with the assumptions that product guidelines are going to be MUCH tighter today than they were six months ago, that deals will take longer, and that appraisal guidelines are tighter.  All that stuff is true.  You can do three things:

1. Whine to other people and screw up their mindset, too.
2. Feel defeated and take an early lunch because it’s march madness
3. Prepare to survive the new rules.

It doesn’t really matter why it happens.  Loan Officers (and Realtors) congregate and complain.  The market has changed, it’s not 2004 anymore.  It might even get ‘worse.’  Individual deals will get sideways for any number of reasons.  You don’t have time to dwell on it.  You’ve got your own goals to achieve, and none of them are advanced by the hashing of bad experiences.  I’m guessing that in your office, most loan officers are going backwards.  I’m guessing that, in your office, most people are not succeeding.  (That’s a national trend, it’s safe to say at this point). 

You Walk Away.   Seriously.  Be polite if you can, but make it seriously clear that you’re not on this path.  Do not let them suck you into adult failure spiral.  Do not catch their disease of victimhood.   Do not associate yourself with losers.  And do not let them to manipulate you.  They will call you names, because you’re not failing like them. Consider the source before you take it to heart.   If you need a peergroup, Lenderama, Bloodhound, Agent Genius, The Cicerone all have great sidebars and people that are standing up in this industry and surviving.  But walk away from people that are bringing you down.

Chris Johnson is an Originator in Columbus, OH. 

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