It's (Not) Up to You
How many of us have ever worked with a professional on a highly important matter where, regardless of the issue at hand, we reached that critical inflection point, the one where we needed help and answers the most? What happened when the advisor in whom you put your trust looked back at you and said, "It's up to you."? How did that make you feel?
We are about to go into the height of the spring buying season here in the San Francisco Bay Area, competition is fierce and inventory scarce and a question that many of our buyers are asking us in order to make their offers stronger is, "Can I waive my financing contingency?" Now if you are working with me on your home mortgage, the simplest and best response I could give you would be, "It's up to you." But that's not why you're asking in the first place. As a reputation-based lender, it's also not an answer I can expect to give --- and still expand my business at a time when many buyers have very real concerns against competing with all-cash offers and multiple bid situations.
I want to examine, just for a minute, the service we provide and why I feel a strong responsibility to never turn critical decisions back to the customer. Now, this is not to be confused with an attitude of making a choice for the client. Absolutely not. Instead, it's a focus on providing informed advice, a wealth of experience and a sense of the risks associated with any of the technical aspects of the loan process. These are things that we know better than our clients. These should not be "up to" the client. They, more appropriately, fall into the realm of our expertise.
So let me let you in on a secret. The large, retail banks don't have to answer this question. Whether or not they lose you as a client, the next account-holder will be in through the same door that hits you on the way out. Why take such risk when you know that even with poor customer service, your institution is still the path of least resistance for the vast pool of those who sense false comfort in name recognition? And the large call-center mortgage operations? They don't need to answer the question either. Many of them do not have "boots on the ground," and their business model is driven by cost competition. Your loan advisor may not have the authority to make such a decision, assuming, of course, you're even dealing with the same person on each call. And while we are all for technology and efficiency, accountability is not something that our company believes can be automated.
A question we get as much as "Should I waive my loan contingency?" is, "Why should I work with you and not my main bank?" And the two questions are related in many ways. First, you should work with me because I recognize and understand the need to have questions of this importance answered --- and as an extension of this, that answering may happen in the evening or on the weekend or whenever it you find yourself most stressed out and needing help. You shouldn't need to go these choices alone. Second, you are dealing with a real person, and not an institution. My reputation and the service I provide to each client is my biggest value proposition.
So, yes, your choice of mortgage professional is entirely up to you. But should you choose to work with me for your purchase or refinance needs, know that those really tough, loan-related questions and problems don't have to rest exclusively on your shoulders. All I do is mortgage and I'm up to the task of helping you navigate the choices and decisions that will be critical to your success.
Your move,
Robert J. Spinosa
Executive Loan Advisor
NMLS: 22343 CalBRE: 01297944
Cell: 415-367-5959 Fax: 415-366-1590
rspinosa@rpm-mtg.com www.rpm-mtg.com/rspinosa
1058 Redwood Highway, Frontage Road, Mill Valley, CA 94941
RPM Mortgage, Inc. – NMLS#9472 – Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the Residential Mortgage Lending Act. Equal Housing Opportunity.
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