With the negativity, the job losses, the collapse of some of our largest banking institutions out there, is it a wonder that we have been able to keep our sanity?
For all of you, whether you are a realtor, loan officer, appraiser, escrow officer, or inspector, I am sure we can all agree that 2008 has been one of the most, if not the most challenging year in our careers. There is a very small minority that has seen their income stay the same or increase, but for most of us, our income has declined considerably, especially over the last 6 months. To make matters worse, many indications predict unemployment will rise in 2009 to above 9%, and their is an expectation of even fewer home sales in 2009. What is frustrating for most of us who have been in this industry for a while, and really are trying to make it work, is that we are losing transactions not due to poor service or to competion, but to external factors such as customer losing job right before closing, appraisals coming in low, D/U getting run again during the Quality Control and the decision changing from an Approve to a Refer, and the debt ratios being too high for a manual approval These are just a few of many factors that are causing us to lose deals. How do we keep our chins up?
I have been able to keep my chin up because I remembered why I got into this business back in 1997 and have stayed in this business. The reasons are below.
The income potential(and income I made that first year) was enough to allow my wife to stay home with our two children(and she still does). That, of course, may be subject to change in the near future
The flexibility we have. Isn't it great that, in our professions, we don't necessarily have anybody to answer to? Even with the present market conditions, we still have the ability to make as much(or little) as we want. Even though I work for Wells Fargo and have a supervisor and do have a minimum of 3 loans to close every month, I don't really answer to him since we are on commission-only. If I need to leave a little early that day to pick up my sick kid from school, then I do. If I decide I want to work from home that day, then no problem. That has always been the beauty of our professions: The ability to come and go as we please with nobody to answer to. Face it, who wants to work for a micromanager boss?
What comes down must go back up. We know the market will return. It is a question of when. Realtors and loan officers are dropping like flies. Here in Washington state, the number of licensed loan originators dropped by 60% from 2007 to 2008, and there will be more. There will certainly be realtors not willing to pay their licensing fees in January this year when they come due. There have already been many realtor offices that have closed down and consolidated due to slow volume. When the market comes back up, we will have so much less competition and the ones that stick it out will get a bigger(or as big) a piece of the pie that is out there.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, for the past 6 months I had been actively looking for employment outside the industry, something "safe" and something that pays a base salary with really good benefits. The result is below.
After months and months of interviewing with different companies and speaking to people that have left the industry, I have realized that a lot of these jobs outside the industry are no better, no more secure, and if you have been making reasonable money, not any better-paying than what we have been used to making. Face it, we all got spoiled from 2002-2006 and made great money, and it came way easier than it did now. The fact is, we are having to work harder and smarter just to stay afloat. I can tell you that my friends who have gotten out of the real estate industry who have alleged "safer" sales jobs that pay a salary seem to be no happier than they were when they were in our industry. They are working for bosses that are micromanaging them, have very, very strict quotas to hit, are more subject to losing their job than ours, and maybe have a base salary but are not really making large commissions due to economic conditions, so the money is still not great.
One major thing I have learned is that I am 43 years old, have been in the mortgage industry for 12 years. Yes, I am making less money than before, but do I want to get into a brand new industry, start all over again, go through the learning curve, all for money that I know will not be as good as the money I made in 2002-2006? Not me. At least I have success in my current field, have extensive knowledge, and am comfortable with the peers I associate myself with, and know that we are at the worst market conditions we have ever seen. It will get better.
Trust me, for those of you who have been in this business for a long time, it is just a matter of perspective and keeping a positive attitude every day and doing positive activities every day. The market will come back, and we will all reap the benefits if we can ride this storm.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Paul W. Thompson
Loan Officer
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
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