Success in today’s mortgage market

It’s no question that the rate hikes by the Fed, and other economic factors, are putting a squeeze on the mortgage industry. Particularly if a good percentage of your business came from refi’s and people chasing the lowest rate, your business may be suffering. But that doesn’t mean that the only thing for you to do is to lament the change in rates and hope for the day that they come down. There are actions you can take right now to expand your book of business and get back on the road to thriving, no matter what the market.

Expand your target market

Every good mortgage broker knows that you’ve got to find your clients where they congregate when they’re getting ready to make a decision about buying real estate. If you work with first-time homebuyers, maybe you’ve set up a booth at first-time homebuyer workshops, or gotten creative and gone to a bridal expo, or done workshops at your local library. Whatever you’ve done to bring more people into your fold in the past, there’s no denying that the same old borrowers just aren’t borrowing right now. So your old techniques may no longer be working.

But there are borrowers who are still in the market. Buyers who are not as rate-sensitive as first-time homebuyers and those seeking to refinance are still out there buying properties. In fact, they’re sensing opportunities as prices cool in markets that were previously tough to break into. These include investors, foreign nationals, and self-employed people who have a hard time qualifying for conventional loans. 

Reach out in new ways

Chances are that if you weren’t previously trying to connect with this market, your old outreach methods just aren’t going to do the job for you. It’s time to make a pivot. Word of mouth is a good place to start. Educate your referral network on the types of loans you can offer, such as our Lite Doc solution. Make a set number of calls per day until everyone in your network knows about these options. Then ask for referrals. 

Word of mouth alone may not jumpstart this move into finding new borrowers. You’ve got to find these types of investors where they’re spending time. Whether that means joining local real estate investor meet-ups or stepping up your social media game, the trick is to connect with new people in a positive, solutions-oriented way. Set yourself a goal for daily and weekly new interactions, then get out there and talk about how you solve problems for borrowers still looking to buy. 

Continue educating yourself and others

New times call for new methods. Sometimes that means learning new things. Your referral partners may not be aware of the different types of loans you offer, so that’s on you to help them understand that. But you’ve also got to keep your skills sharp. Whether it’s revisiting sales technique training, or setting up a new lead-gen system, it’s time to keep evolving and learning. To that end, we at Quontic offer a monthly webinar series to help brokers keep up to date on the latest ways others are succeeding in this changing market. We’d love to see you at an upcoming webinar. Click here to watch previous webinars.