This is related to my earlier post Are you being seen? Mark Brinitzer asked about realtors having less opportunity to refer business out, and that promted this post.
I have heard this too many times from too many realtors. I know that since the internet has changed the world, the power in real estate has shifted to the buyer from the realtor. Consumers have more power and knowledge than ever before.
However, in my opinion, realtors not "being able" to refer buyers to us lenders is BS! It seems to me that there are a couple of simple explanations for this.
1) They may not recognize the opportunities as they present themselves. This is our (lenders) fault. We need to educate realtors on how to refer us. They need to be trained (sorry realtors).
2) They are afraid of "rocking the boat". Many realtors are so happy to have a live buyer, that they don't want to scare him/her off by offering an opinion about the lender.
3) They don't believe that we are different than the internet lender that has done the preapproval in the first place. This too is our fault. If we can't communicate our value to a realtor, how can we expect them to know what it is. Know what makes you different, and tell everyone.
4) They just don't "get" the referral dynamic. They don't realize, or haven't experienced a good lender who can and does refer business back to them so they get paid. A lender worth working with should have at least 6-10 deals a year that he/she can refer out. If they don't understand, teach them!
I have plenty of realtors who refer buyers to me. Both people who have no lender affiliation, and those who are already preapproved, but my realtor convinces them to call me for "a second opinion". You can have these relationships also, but it takes consistent work on our part, and some benefit (i.e. genuinely better service) to the realtor. Make them look better and they'll send you more work.
It's amazing how this happens. You make a realtor look better, and miraculaously enough, they "see/find" more opportunities to send clients. Try it, you'll see.
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As a Realtor and having to deal with THOSE internet lenders my clients have found I have actually become almost pushy about them using the lender I refer. To me good service makes all the difference in the world. I especially like to be able to contact the lender when I need them.