(TheNicheReport.com) -- I think it’s safe to assume we are all very frustrated by the industry’s fluidity of change. As one of my Loan Originators often says, “The only rule is that all the old rules are gone.” I recognize that change is difficult, especially if you have been in this business for a substantial amount of time, but at a certain point you have to accept that these are our current working conditions.
As a loan officer, you only have so many hours in the week (more perhaps if you were actually in the office 9-5, but that is for another article). If you spend even one hour a day discussing all of the lending guidelines that do not make sense – and yes, by discussing I mean complaining – you have lost 6.5 work weeks by the end of the year. You don’t think this is you? Think about how many times you re-tell a lending horror story to anyone and everyone who will listen.
Furthermore, clients do not need to hear all things that could go awry during the course of their loan experience. Though they need to be given a healthy dose of realty (“I understand that you’ve agreed to a two week escrow. I will do my best, but it will be very hard to perform in that time frame”), they do not need to be fed more of the hype that they already hearing on the news, internet, and radio (“I had a borrower with $10 million dollars in the bank whose loan was declined because his FICO score was 1 point too low”). Does that instill their confidence in you? Does it prove you are professional? Or do they walk away from the conversation wondering if their story will end up being retold in the future?
Don’t get me wrong, I sympathize with you because I am right here in the trenches with you. I hate that we can not always fight and win for an exception for a loan that “makes sense” just because it does not fit exactly into a lender’s box. I hate that some lenders take almost a week after submission before we are be able to order the appraisal. I hate that a GFE has to be re-disclosed when a loan is locked even if nothing has changed, and believe me, I probably hate this more than you, since I am the one re-disclosing!
My challenge to you is to spend less time trying to understand why the rules are what they are and spend more time simply learning the rules so that you can play within the boundaries and ultimately create more business, because, after all, both of our livelihoods depend on it.
By Amie Wills; Amie is an independent loan processor, working with both wholesale brokers & retail branches. Comments to this article can be sent to Amie at [email protected].
