Mr. Petrowsky, You were highly recommended by a co-worker of mine. He shared with me that you handled their mortgage and couldn’t say enough good things. I recently read an ad that said “You’re approved”. The reason that statement got my attention is that I would love to buy a home instead of paying rent, but my credit is pretty bad. Should I contact them anyway or can you help me? Jason XXXXX
Jason sent me a copy of the ad that he saw; sure enough advertising like this is harmful to the public. The specific … (6 comments)
There is a very good chance! I do preapprovals for clients all the time. Less than 50% of them have a Realtor, so that means many will go online looking for mortgages and real estate. The most typical buyers in the market place right now are Millenniums and they are very commuter literate. They are online, checking out everything, especially checking reviews, recommendations and testimonials.
A few days ago I got a call from someone who told me that she had done numerous searches for mortgage information and I showed … (51 comments)
In 1970 I opened a real estate company, Petrowsky Real Estate Company. The place to advertise at the time was two local, throw away, weekly papers. I noticed at the time that I only read about certain properties that were for sale. I quickly recognized that it had everything to do with the title and looked to emulate what was getting my attention.
I decided, I was going to focus on listings. My mission was to have more listings than anyone else in the area. So, how do I get the attention of … (50 comments)
Are my standards just too high? I have been looking to add a couple of additional loan officers and I have been extremely disappointed. I will often begin an interview asking what questions they have for me. It will normally tell me if they have done some homework on me. Here are some of the questions I have been asked.
1) Where do you advertise? 2) How much can we charge the customer? 3) How much do we get paid? 4) Can I get a draw? 5) Is an assistant available? … (30 comments)
advertising: “Preparation for an Open House”
- 07/01/13 03:41 AM
“Preparation for an Open House” Many of you may know that I have been flipping homes for many years. We will do an open house for each home and they are extremely successful and the main reason is preparation. It takes us about a week to prepare for each open house. Since all the homes are unoccupied, we partially stage the home, primarily the kitchen and bathrooms. All of the properties are promoted on Craig’s List. Thus it is always our marketing tool for attracting new clients to the open house. We will do a colored property description … (44 comments)
The last time I did any print marketing was over 10 years ago and I wish I would have stopped even before that. For a number of years I would do direct mail pieces to folks I didn’t know and didn’t know me.
I used professionals to design the pieces they guaranteed 1-2% results. I designed my own, same types of results 1-2%. We purchased lists that were for specific zip codes, broken down by various categories, those that owned real estate and those that didn’t … (10 comments)
Sara sent me an email with copies of direct mail pieces that offer interest rates that don’t exist. I hear this all the time. It must pay for these companies to make some of these outlandish offers that just aren’t possible, otherwise why keep doing the bait and switch game with people.
I explained to Sara, these rates just aren’t out there. It is not that she doesn’t believe me, but there is this little thing, if it is in … (10 comments)
advertising: Bad Advertising or Marketing Hurts Every Business
- 01/16/13 04:28 AM
“Bad Advertising or Marketing Hurts Every Business” Unfortunately, misleading advertising goes on all the time. VA clients are constantly telling me about ads and telemarketer that are constantly holding themselves out as experts, only to find out, they are just the opposite. No different than clients that are considering a reverse mortgage. Their job is to sell the folks a reverse mortgage, even though they should never be doing this type of mortgage. Most loan officers I know would never do misleading advertising or marketing, but unfortunately there are a few bad apples, that create a bad name for an … (9 comments)
As I have shared many times, I am not a fan of over-regulations of anything, but we are presently stuck with Dodd-Frank and that is the way it is.
OK, since we have these regulations and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, then do the job you were supposed to do. We have had laws in every state about misleading mortgage advertising, long before Dodd-Frank, that is supposed to protect veterans, the elderly and the consumer in general.
If their job is to protect the public, then why aren't … (10 comments)
“Bait & Switch Advertising is Illegal”
;)
;)
;)
