North Country Mortgages

Maybe, I haven't decided yet. I am working on a transaction with a high profile agent in the Plattsburgh, NY area; Andre LaFountain. Andre is a smart cat, he is heavily imbedded in real estate but he also has a few things producing additional income for himself on the side.

Andre has approached me about a travel agency opportunity. I am not sure of the details or of the pay structure. I do know that the business model is MLM. I'm not sure that is enough to disqualify it from being a legitimate opportunity. Of course, I have something else in mind for this program.

As a member of the orginization I will be able to give out vouchers for a 3 day 2 night vacation. The vouchers are intended to be used as bait in order to get people to attend the events that are held as a recruitment tool. It makes sense because it is a nice gift.

The cost is around $449.95 to sign up then $50.00 per month to maintain membership until you have successfully recruited someone then it costs nothing per month.

I am considering signing on for two reasons. The first reason is that if this can generate a small amount of additional income it could help to offset my advertising expenses. The second reason is because I think that A vacation voucher in the mail is a nice way to say thank you for the business; they'd make great closing gifts.

Let me know what ya'll think. Good closing gift? Additional revenue? Thanks.

Organization is crucial. This thought came to mind as I was organizing and sorting my email. I must've had about 200 emails still in my inbox. I use outlook to sort my email into folders. I keep everything, because I never know when I may need to reference it again. You know the old saying right? "If it ain't in writing it ain't".

As I sorted through my email I starting thinking about how many more prospective buyers I can turn into closed transaction with a more efficient system of organized follow up. I follow up regularly with all of my clients, but the more clients to follow up with... It can become difficult as you all know.

Still it is very much worth staying in touch with old clients. I have heard peoples success stories in where they will attribute 60-70% of their business to past client referrals. THAT IS HUGE!

"No Closing Cost⁺⁺ Home Refinance Loan.
Call Today to Combine Mortgage and Debt."

I found this enticing headline today on a one of countrywides websites. This cracks me up because I have been talking about this for some time. It makes me wonder though, if it is presented this way is the consumer happy when they get to the table?

I give quotes to people everyday and I always hear "hmm... your closing costs seem high" and it no longer blows me away when I hear this statement. My closing costs are very low compared to what I have seen out there and I have seen a lot out there. True, I am working to make a living and I do have to charge something for my efforts but I charge a very reasonable, honest, and fair fee. I usually charge my fee on the front end if the borrower can afford to do so, if not I utilize YSP to assist in covering the cost of the work that I will complete for the borrower.

No closing cost loans do not exist. Either you pay the closing cost up front and take an attractive interest rate or you take a hit on rate and pay for the closing over the term of the loan. It makes much more financial sense to pay them up front as they will be much lower than if you pay and extra .5% interest over the course of the loan.

By the way, Here's the footnote from the page that the headline was seen;

++ Affects pricing. With the No Closing Cost Option, borrowers finance the closing costs instead of paying for them at closing. Borrowers who pay closing costs at closing may qualify for a lower interest rate.  Some upfront fees (ex. credit report and appraisal) may apply and may be credited at closing. Call for details

PS: I do not charge for a credit report.

Just as I was writing my last post about the fact that referral business is far superior to internet leads I got a call from John Murphy with a referral. He said that the person whom he sent to me left a message for me. I am not sure which phone she called. I don't recall receiving a call from her on my office phone and I am guilty of not checking my cell phone messages as much as I should.

John gave me her phone number and I just gave her a call. She was inquiring for her son and daughter in law. Her son is at work bet very much wants to get qualified. She is going to have him call me as soon as he gets off of work.

I really appreciate the business that John sends me. He tells people "if you want to hear something that sounds good go to your bank, if you want to get it done go to Chris Ohlsen". People tell me all the time about how John says very Nice things about me.

And I have not heard a single complaint about John. Every single person whom we've worked with together loves John because John is out to help as many people as he can. I mentioned in my last post that if you are going to be purchasing property anywhere in the Malone area, go to John. Well, I mean it! You will be happy that you took my advice.

I received a referral from Kathy Bennett of Re/Max North Country a few days ago. I am working on the loan file now and it is a go. A couple of days later I had the opportunity to send someone her way. Then I had another opportunity to recomend her and I did. This morning I received a call from someone whom Kathy had referred to me. If you need property in or around Plattsburgh, NY go to Kathy Bennett. She is the best in the area!

John Murphy of North Country Realty is a great guy to work with. He is never pushy and always considerate and conscientious of his clients. He is my Malone connection and should be yours too. John sends me referrals quite often and I do my best to get his clients qualified. If they cannot be qualified I call him up and let him know and I give him the reasons. If you are looking to purchase property in or around the Malone, NY area I highly recomend John Murphy. He is the best in the area.

Doug Yando of Langlois Yando Realty is another great resource in the Malone area. I was working with one of Doug's agents recently on a transaction. I wrote about this transaction on this forum as it was very difficult to get to a closing. The seller kept backing out at the last minute and it was a very frustratiing situation for everyone involved. Finally after being served papers indicating that he was being sued for specific performance and consulting with a litigation attorney (who told him he had no case) he decided to finally accept the fact that he is to close or face expensive consequences. We are on for the 29th which is the last day before the loan becomes null and void after 3 rate lock extensions. This time we had the seller sign everything in advance so that he cannot slip out the back or stand us up at closing (again). Doug gave me a call yesterday sounding somewhat concerned. He informed me that the seller is trying to stiff him on the commission that is due his company. He asked me if there is anything that I can do to help. Well, our attorney is doing the disbursements so I asked Doug to fax me the bill. I faxed the bill up to our attorney and asked them to make sure that the check gets cut. Our attorney assured me that the check will be cut and sent to Doug. I called Doug and let him know the good news. He was very thankful; he said "I owe you one... or two... or three... Hey we'll try to get something going your way... Thank you!" I just got Doug signed onto the system to help him promote his properties.

I wrote a blog just before this one about how difficult the month has been. I believe that A big part of what made it so difficult for me is that I focused less on my own personal marketing and I wasted a lot of time chasing down internet leads that don't pay to chase down. Most people submitting inquiries on the web are looking to be told what they want to hear. I've heard it all! "I have a 6% rate on my first and an 8% on my second, my home is worth $160,000.00 and I owe $155,000.00. I want to combine the two at 5.5% interest rate or lower and little or no closing costs". This is not a specific scenario that I am referencing, but the undertone to many of the conversations that I had with people who inquired on the internet with one of those lending tree clone lead gen. companies was the same. "I want an unrealistic loan that can't be done and I want it at the best rate and term anywhere on the planet".

I have done less business and made less money this month working these internet leads and I am grateful that the deposit on our account for the leads is just about spent. I've heard many of you say that referral is the way to go. This month I truly put that to the test, and guess what... Ya'll are right! it is a waste of time to chase down the uneducated easily impressionable consumer bent on media mumbo jumbo that unbeknownst to them does not mean anything to their unique situation.

I will stick with referral business exclusively from here on out.

I feel that my efforts are really beginning to pay off. That being said I have had a very rough month this month. Forever I have been seeing the media paint a devastating picture of the housing crisis and credit crunch. I saw all of the media, but I felt inwardly that it did not matter as it does not affect me. I know that certain markets are suffering because of some poor investment choices that investors in those regions made.

The Power Option ARM created a lot of buying power for individuals who were banking on the continuation of a Fluffed Up housing market. The demand was there so the prices kept increasing and as we went on it became obvious to everyone involved that our economy cannot sustain the growth that many of us benefited from during recent years.

I assumed that there was a lot of hype about what is going on and I also assumed that we were near the end of the bottom a few months ago. Well, I was wrong! We have not seen the bottom and I no longer believe that we are even close to it. As time continues to go on I realize that things are getting harder every day.

Guidelines still keep changing at a rapid pace in an attempt to correct a corrupted market. I have definitely felt the pinch this month in my business and in my income. Only a select few can survive in this market and I plan on being around for a while.

I really look forward to the "break" in the market. After having gone through this kind of a market I can get through any market conditions.

I mentioned above that I feel that my efforts are really beginning to pay off. While my month has been difficult I did aquire 2 new referral sources, 3 FSBO buyer magnets, and a couple of Realtors whom I've been in touch with constantly over the past 3 months have finally begun sending me business.

I have had many, many referrals this month and unfortunately I could not give a decision to lend in many of the cases. Some of the lenders whom I work with are now issuing a hit to rate for having a 680 credit score or lower. 680 used to be pretty good!

So, while I have had a very difficult month I am also confident in the fact that I am going to have a great year. Its all about keeping a positive attitude and being persistent! I wish you all continued succes. Have a great day!

 I never really got the point of marketing to FSBO's until recently. I know that it makes great sense for Realtors and real estate sales people to market to FSBO's, but why would a mortgage pro do such a thing?

After hours of brainstorming last night I think that I have come up with a good reason to market the FSBO arena.

For me the properties are an integral part of my buyer lead generation efforts. As Chris Bates says "use the homes to do more loans". I am finding this to be true; the more buyer prospects that I am able to generate the more business I create for myself and the more referrals I am able to give to my Realtor partners.

I decided to hammer FSBO's because they want to sell their home and they do not want to pay a commission to a Realtor. Most FSBO's are happy and sometimes even eager to hear from me. While working with FSBO's to help get their properties sold I am also building rapport with them.

Most FSBO's do end up listing with a Realtor. Since I have an inside track with many FSBO's I can easily make a referral if and when the FSBO decides to list. The other piece that makes this such a nice niche to market is that the buyer clients that I am bringing in are sometimes in need of an agent. Also FSBO's often times need a loan once they get their property sold.

There are many advantages to marketing the FSBO arena, and these are just a couple.

You may have read my blog post asking about whether or not letter's work. I posted that blog here on AR to get some feedback with regard to a marketing campaign that I built in order to tap into more of a referral based business as opposed to a lead sifting business.

I got a lot of great feedback and I really refined my approach. I have been getting referrals pretty steadily for the past several months and now I am back to the drawing board. Referral business is great! If I can do the loan then it is most often a done deal, third party endorsements go a long way.

I am back to the drawing board because I believe that good steady follow up converts more business and I could use some advice again.

What I have in mind is a 5 point system. What I mean by that is 5 points of contact 5 times each. So far I have Phone, Email, Mail. These are the obvious ones and I am straining my brain trying to think of 2 more points of contact that are common and easily accessible to many people.

I am writing a series of letters which will be a 5 piece mailer that will be a part of my latest marketing campaign. As always I am very open to suggestion and I welcome input. Thanks for reading and stay updated as I may post some of my material here for the valuable input that I have come to depend on from this great social network.