Last week I was at a seminar that consisted mostly of real estate agents. The subject of loan officers came up and the crowd actually booed. Being 1 of the 3 loan officers in the room... I just looked around in amazement. Talk about a tough crowd!

Have you noticed real estate agents get a notable twitch when the subject of loan officers comes up? I am exaggerating here... but sometimes it does feel that way.

Some real estate agents act as if they are a superior class and I the lowly loan officer need to leave them alone. The funny part is... all I did was say hi and introduce myself.

Everything was going good until I told them what I did for a living. Talk about throwing out some judgment or stereo type before you really get to know me as a person!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a salesy person. I don't care for salesy people (not matter what they are selling) and I certainly don't act that way... My Type D personality would not allow that ;). I am not going to hand you a flyer (I would rather die first)... I am certainly not going to chase you down the hall or into your office trying to get you to give me a deal. So then why when I tell you what I do for a living do you assume this is how I will act?

The truth is I don't need your business. That does not mean I don't want your business!

The fact is... we generate enough leads every month to allow us to referral clients to Realtors. One local agent received over $13,000 in commissions last year from our referrals alone.

So now that we have addressed that I don't need anything from you... Can we move on to getting to know each other as people who share a common client base and real estate market?

What if you thought about my introduction a little differently? When I am out networking, I am looking for folks who are hustling in their business. It intrigues me to find out how people are thriving in our market and I feed off their energy. I love to talk about war stories and battles won and how they are constantly evolving and growing their business despite of brutal market storms.

Why?... Because we are both in the same boat. I love the banter back in forth when you find a real estate agent in the crowd who gives you that spark. Do you know what I am talking about? When you can almost finish each other's sentences because your day-to-day life in business is parallel... even though they sell homes and we sell mortgages.

So if I don't need your business, Then why am I out networking and introducing myself?... Fair enough!

The word of the day is L E V E R A G E.

If you are kicking butt selling homes and we are kicking butt financing them... How can we work together to play an even bigger game?

I don't know about you... but our business is way up this year and the opportunities are endless. What is not endless is the amount of hours in the day.

So how can I find a real estate agent with a similar business/marketing plan who is going after the same target market then build something great. Maybe it is an event or seminar... maybe a website or blog. Whatever the thing is... it does not matter! Just two highly dedicated teams who are working together to create something bigger than they could alone.

So if you are a real estate agent and you are guilty of turning on your heels and running for the door at the sight of a loan officer coming down the hall... think about what you might be missing out on.

Have an idea of how we can work together and go after some business together? Call me to discuss the possibilities!

This blog by:

Erin Newington
Sacramento Mortgage Planners
First Priority Financial
(916) 687-6868