Loan Agent Strategy That Works With Realtors
If you’re looking for a tried and tested system that brings fast results, then continue reading this article. More often than not there’s loan originators who are newbies in the real estate industry and are pressed to make some immediate income or who came aboard when everybody was looking to refinance and now need to adjust themselves to getting more buyers.
In any case, this method has been proven by lots of loan agents who have had fantastic results. Basically, it’s one of those ideas that’s widely recognized, but is not widely utilized by many agents.
With the housing market slowing down in numbers of transactions and inventory going up in many cities throughout the United States, it encourages agents to start holding more open houses. This is excellent news for you, because it means they’re more approachable.
Trying to get the agent’s attention at their office, could be challenging if they suddenly become busy with a client. On the other hand at an open house, you’ll find their attitude is more attentive and cheerful. Speaking of cheerful, I recently saw one flyer for an open house n L.A. serving soft tacos and margaritas.
So your initial course of action is to block out some time on Saturday or Sunday and visit some open houses that fit the loan products you offer. Make a route of the homes you’ll view a day or two before.
Your Objective
So your plan is to visit open houses to put you in front of the realtor:
Schedule Appointments -Your main objective in going to open houses is to arrange appointments, not to convince the real estate agent why they should use you for clients. You’re not there to socialize longer than 20 minutes. If you’re staying longer than that, you’re giving up too much information.
Grow Your List of Prospects – For every open house you visit, one out of four should result in an appointment. For the agents who don’t give you an appointment, ask them if they are open to receiving info about your services in the future.
An easy way is to ask is to say this. “If you’re like most agents I meet with, you have an interest in how to increase your income. If I come across strategies every now and then that can help you do that, would you be annoyed if I send it to you?” As you can imagine, only a small number will say no and now you’re building a list of partners who have given you permission to send them information.
If you find yourself rapidly amassing an opt-in list, think about doing a regular email campaign so you can build trust and expertise, which ends up with loans in the future.
Show Your Professional Commitment – Simply by turning up on a Saturday or Sunday, you’re telling the agent you are available when they are and not just Monday through Friday.
The idea of visiting open houses offers you a quick jump start to introducing yourself to agents, developing a business or personal relationship and a real chance to interact with agents who could send you business and vice versa.
If you’re brand new in the mortgage profession or haven’t truly promoted your services to real estate agents before, it’s a strategy worth attempting. You’ll discover that it’s not very hard, and agents understand your time and effort involved since they’re in the business, so they know firsthand.