Mortgage Brokers partnering with Realtors on open houses

This weekend I helped my referring Realtor with two of her open houses.  Her first home had limited walk-in traffic and the second home was pretty steady.  Not a bad day and each home had a couple of interested buyers come through.  Hopefully, a contract will come from one of the interested parties.

Why would I, as a mortgage broker, want to waste my weekend helping out on an open house when I'm not guaranteed the mortgage?  Simple, I make myself available to any of the local realtors who would like a hand.  Even just being that "second person" to help guide traffic, put signs out, blow up ballons or make up flyers helps her out.  Also, I view my Realtors as my most important partners.  I try to do anything I can to help them get their sales and it gives me the opportunity to market myself to potential clients.  With all the changes constantly going on in the mortgage world, realtors and clients can't keep up.  I'm there to answer any questions they may have. 

With the limited sales happening in our area, we cannot rely on traditional marketing.    We all have to work together as a team.  I am very thankful I was invited to help out and enjoyed working together to get her homes sold.    I've done other open houses and always appreciate the offer to help.  By helping her, it helps me to build creditability in my knowledge of the current lending guidelines.  With stricter lending guidelines, it helps to avail yourself to a knowledgeable mortgage lender who has the option of seeking loans from different lenders.  I love teaching and educating my Realtor base and clients on what's available for lending.  Not every client can get a vanilla loan, you have to know who has what and what each bank's unique guidelines are.  You may have a home that requires some repairs where a 203k rehab loan would help you sell it.  It's nice having someone available to answer the clients questions in regard to current requirements.  With the 203k rehab loan, it gives the client a chance to envision the home complete.  This makes it easier for you to get the home sold. 

So for every mortgage broker out there - step out of the box and volunteer to help out your realtors in any way.  It's good for both of you.  You may get someone needing to be preapproved for a mortgage who didn't already come with one.  And Realtors, if you are currently using a preferred mortgage broker - don't be afraid to ask them for help with your open houses.  It gives value to your clients to have someone there who can answer the financing questions.  

If any of the Realtors in the Osceola/Orange County would like help on their open houses, I'm available.