Mortgage Brokers and Todays Regulations, What does it mean?

Intended Consequences is what most NAMB members would claim! The FED needed someone to pay for the market meltdown and Mortgage Brokers were the target. The past meltdown in the market happened on the FED's watch and they did nothing to stop any of it. The NAMB made repeated efforts over the past 2 decades to get someone's attention about the lack of enforcement of the rules and regulations to no avail. As we can clearly see now the NAMB was clearly ignored despite having nearly 38,000 members with control of well over 50% of the market. The result now is consumer oriented groups, regulators and members of congress work harder to try and pass even more regulations for the industry.

The Mortgage Broker industry has been blamed unfairly for the entire mortgage meltdown resulting in us becoming very small in numbers and gave us fewer resources. In another words, we were a very "soft" target. Why do you reference "Unintended Consquences"? Because this industry has consistently tried to shed light on how regulatory efforts have always significantly hurt the consumer.These regulations can be summed up to say " there is a significant segment of consumers who are incapable of making their own financial decisions." The regulators believe there job is to protect this populace by not allowing them access to credit. The unintended consequence is clear the FED has lumped the entire Mortgage Broker industry with the bad subprome brokers, who burned and pillaged everyone they could, with those of su who do and have always done business the right way. The mortgage meltdown has given the fed a tremendous opportunity to accomplish there goal of pushing brokers out of the business.

So will the Mortgage Brokers survive. Yes! The level of greed and arrogance displayed by the FED will indeed lead to higher cost from lenders to consumers, as monopolies inevitably do. This will provide Brokers an opportunity to capture business with wholesale models of smaller lenders with significantly lower cost to the borrower. The NAMB is still strongly fighting these regulations and have survived regulation changed and targeting for over 20 years. In the end the Mortgage Broker will offer the most access to consumer choice and credit and continue to be profitable and stay in business. So the question is... is this the intentions of the fed? Are consumers knowledgeable enough to have a variety of credit opportunities and choose the best? Or will we be forced to move to a market with 1 product? Opinions and speculations may vary however, the resiliency of the Mortgage Brokers whom are still in business honorably serving consumers will reap the reward in the long run and help borrowers along they way.

Do you have a good AQ???

We have all heard of IQ (Intelligence Quotient) however, have you heard of AQ? All masters exhibit a deep sense of self-worth, focus, and generosity that becomes integral to their success in selling. AQ measures a person's ability to perform at his or her optimal level consistently and authentically, it measures masterful people by their prevalence of abundance aptitudes, patterns, and beliefs.
MASTERFUL SALES PEOPLE HAVE A HIGH AQ!!
There are seven key aptitudes that clearly define a position of AQ or Abundance Intelligence. Sales people with these aptitudes excel at their craft by asking for more customers and closing more sales, while building their own social capital.

1. Self-worth. Abundant salespeople understand their uniqueness by how they add value to customers during the sales process. They confidently use sales strategies and tactics that allow them to comfortably express their values and beliefs to the prospective customer.

2. Empathy. Abundant salespeople do their best to understand and then serve their customer in any given situation. They know that if they are severely distraught, tired, or stressed, they will not be able to give their best, so maintaining a healthy attitude is critical.

3. Self-expression. These people are convinced that they are the best with whom to do business. They retain a professional posture of sticking to their personal standards, which pulls people to them. When they ask for the client's business or referrals, their quiet inner confidence puts people at ease.

4. Actualization. Abundant salespeople don't sit on the sidelines, waiting for things to happen. They take actions consistent with their skills and talents. They accept responsibility for their own actions and don't blame others for shortcomings.

5. Significance. Abundant salespeople are confident about their uniqueness, knowing they are the best person for a particular job. They demonstrate self-confidence when asking for business, building their social capital, and following up.

6. Surrender. An abundant salesperson doesn't view surrender as a form of weakness, rather a sign of letting go to old habits, attitudes, and behaviors that don't serve them in a healthy way. They see potential opportunity in everything that passes by.

7. Inquiry. High Abundance Intelligence means high openness to other points of view. Uncertainty is a reason to thrive and be curious. Security in their curious a creative aptitude enables these people to more through all challenging situations. Learning while acting keeps them growing and improving while being pioneers in their industry.

Can you see any of the above characteristics in your own persona? Find forward momentum in your immediate surroundings and adapt the skills of an Abundant Salesperson. Kimberely George

Rates on the Rise?

Rates on 30yr fixed mortgages have risen above 5 percent this week due to a Federal Reserve program in order to keep interest rates low coming to an end. Currently the average rate on 30yr fixed mortgages is 5.08 percent versus last weeks rates of 4.99. Last year in April 30 yr fixed rates were at 4.78 percent. What does this mean for mortgage interest rates? I think now is the time to refinance for everyone holding back.

December 2009 was the record low for 30yr fixed mortgages at a rate of 4.71 percent and have been lingering around 5 percent since. Rates have been held down by the Federal Reserves 1.25 trillion dollar program to buy mortgage backed securities. Unfortunately this program ended on Wednesday and rates have seen the result this week.

In the month of April rates will be very volatile and may continue to rise throughout the second quarter. Many individuals have put off refinancing or have been denied due to poor choice in lender. The percentage of Americans who's loan amounts are more then the value of the home is rising. Now offered by The Mortgage Concierge is refinancing up to a 105 LTV and unlimited CLTV. This gives these types of borrowers the ability to refinance before we continue to see rates rise. Now is the time don't resist the ability to find out what your options are in today's market.

Hit Gold With Social Media Marketing

The real estate market we are currently in is entering a new voyage for homebuyers. While home buyers search for good homes they want to find professionals they can trust. The first time homebuyers tax credit is prompting a younger demographic of buyers to enter the market. Accourding to the National Assiociation of Realtors states that 51 percent of first-time home buyers are between the age of 25 to 34 in 2009. This demographic of home buyers rely heavily on the Internet to dig up answers and information on homes. With this being said now is the perfect time to begin social media networking and marketing for your career by utlizing the online community in oreder to gain consumers trust and build relationships.

The main question is how do you take advantage of social media opportunity to connect with potential and current clients? To recieve the best results you need to combine a strategy that combines social media with traditional marketing. Utlizing soical media, advertising and public relations techniques sot hey work together builds stronger perceptons in the consumer's mind.

Social Media marketing tools assist you in :
-connecting with potential and existing customers
-creating interest in your company and services
-influencing perceptions
-monitoring customer satisfaction

Word moves very rapidly on the internet and social media gives us the opportunity to easily get the message across. Being able to constantly display relevant information to your industry and recieve comments in regards to your posts creates effectiveness to your message.

Some awesome strategy tips for Social Media Marketing:
Always clearly identify your purpose for going online and understand what you expect to gain. Then next step is to conduct a competitior review. Check out your competitors online activity and determine how consistent they are with marketing.

Content is also King, the number one reason for losing online followers is giving them information they don't car about. Some ideas for content are informative information on your industry, providing links for contacts to read regarding different industry topics . DO NOT USE SALES PITCHES BE INFORMATIVE!. By connecting with people and gaining their trust, a social media strategy definitely pays off it will help you strike gold in your industry and its FREE!!!

Jumbo Mortgage Market

Two weeks ago, the average interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate jumbo dropped to 5.79% , a nearly five year low. This average is also down from 7% in late 2008. Would you think you can get rates on jumbo mortgages that are even lower? Well you can! Rates are even lower on hybrid adjustable mortgages, which the rate is fixed for a period of time and adjustable there after. Banks are beginning to relax slighhtly on their requirements for jumbo loans. These lower rates are reflecting the banks increasing confidence in the housing market.

The Max loan amount alowed for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae "conforming loans" are set by congress and for a single family home is 729,750 in high cost areas. At "The Mortgage Concierge Group" we also work with investors that are portfolio lenders, or lenders that service there mortgages and do not sell to the secondary market. These portfolio lenders will make mortgages that are higher than 1 million dollars.

In 2005 to 2006 the difference in interest rates betweend conforming and nonconforming or jumbo loans were only a quarter percentage higher on the jumbo mortgages. In early 2009 the spread widened to 1.7 percent difference. However, this year the rate spread has narrowed to less than a percentage point and can shrink even more after a new Federal Reserve program.

Not only are rates and requirements lowering but the are said to possibly continue to do so. Now is the time to call us and figure out your options in regards to refinancing or consolidated debt. It is great to see some relation in the market, especially in the jumbo sector.

The world is all gates, all opportunities.

At "The Mortgage Concierge Group" the world is all gates and all opportunities for borrowers. It is important that in a lending market that is becoming more regulated as the days and weeks pass, that you work with a BROKER that is consistently staying up to date with these regulations and signing on less regulatory lenders. We pride ourselves on working for the client and not for the bank.

“All gates and all opportunities”. It is just as important that in life you never close any doors or subject yourself to one method of doing something. Variety is so important. In business you need to build relationships, market, network, called call, stay in touch with past clients, and consistently stay attune to new strategies that can help grow your business. This in a nut shell is what we do every day! We make sure that our clients are offered the products that are not only the most competitive but that will get them qualified, we make sure that we present our clients with VARIETY and OPTIONS, we consistently stay aware of changes that can affect a borrower in today’s market, we make sure that we are accessible for our clients and business contacts at all times.

There is no better way to put it then "ALL GATES, ALL OPPORTUNITIES". A combined 30 years of knowledge and expertise in wholes sale, retail, commercial lending will leave all opportunities open for our borrowers. The opportunity to own their first home, refinance a high interest mortgage, or consolidate the ever rate changing credit card bills.

We are here to help and to get the job done. We will always place a client’s interest before our own!!! Visit us today and give us some feedback on your experiences, let's continue our relationship in 2010 and continue to grow together!!

"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value."

How do we create value to clients, business contacts, friends, and associates? The answer is simple, there are many successful people however not many of much value. Stand outside the box, take advantage of all that is offered to amplify your value to the people in your network. Be valuable is defined as "having qualities worthy of respect, admiration, or esteem." You may all be thinking am I respected? admired? . In order to create respect and admiration among your piers is simply realizing that being valuable isn't being ordinary.


This gentlemen to our right is certainly not ordinary, but is he respected? There is a fine line I'm sure we would all agree. My thoughts on not being ordinary are more along the lines of "going the extra mile to stand out by marketing, continuing to stay knowledgable in your industry, being reliable (a qualtiy sad to say, most dont have), offering solutions to help grow business's, networking, and realize you must give in order to gain."


As a Mortgage Broker I immediately knew when I entered the business that I would not be like everyone else (my competition). How did I set my self outside the box? By staying open to opportunities that cross our desks, emails, and paths everyday. Opportunities such as active rain. We are lucky to be in a world where there is a constant stream of information consistently being sent to us, being able to take advantage of all of these opportunities and delegate your time is what gets difficult.

My system does exactly that "strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value". My main stream of business is referrals as many professionals would agree. However, when you get a referral it means you ARE of value to the individual that entrusted in you to take care of their client, friend, or family member. Creating value is being honest, being reliable, being punctual, understanding you must give in order to gain (if you want someone to help you grow your business, help grow theres as well). With all of this as well as taking advantage of all of the different "outside the box" ideas there are, you will undoubtably create respect, admiration, and esteem; You will be of value.