Given my 15 years of wisdom(or attempts at wisdom), the question always arises in my mind as to what does attract and maintain a successful Loan Officer-Realtor partnership. As I continue my quest to add more realtors to my database, I have now figured out that "The Rule of Seven" is necessary to have a long lasting professional, successful relationship between Loan Officer and Realtors. Basically, the rule of seven is a list of seven factors below that I feel have to be met or exceeded when a Loan Officer starts a relatioship with a realtor:
COMPETENCE: Loan Officer has to know his programs. Nothing frustrates a buyer and a realtor more than indicating financing can get approved and in actuality the loan not only doesn't close but it never had a chance of going through.
ACCESSIBILITY: Loan Officers and Realtors both, although we do have families, we have to answer our phones while a transaction is in it's process. At the very least, the parties should call back within a couple of hours or text back. Slow or no responses are infuriating on both sides.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: After several transactions together between a Realtor and a Loan Officer, both sides need to know that the buyer was happy and satisfied with the service. If a Realtor was happy the Loan Officer closed three transactions in a row but those same borrowers were unhappy with the Loan Officer, that diminishes the Realtor's credibility and could jeapordize future referrals from those buyers.
PERSONALITY: Face it, people do business with people they like. A realtor could partner up with an incredibly high loan producer and vice versa which could be great short-term. However, is the price for that business is non stop arguments, disagreements, and one-sidedness, it is not worth it in the long run. No one multi-million dollar producer is worth getting an ulcer.
RATES AND FEES: No matter how great the Loan Officer is, if the lender that the Loan Officer works for has rates and fees that are not competitive, nothing may overcome that buyer objection, and the buyer may find financing elsewhere.
CLOSE OF TIME: Nothing causes more stress to all parties when real estate transactions cannot meet the close deadline, especially with a short sale or bank owned property. Loan Officers need to really work with urgency or set realistic expectations up front with the buyers and the Realtors.
REFERRALS AND MARKETING: This one is the most complicated one. Both Realtors and Loan Officers need new business. Sometimes, no matter how hard a Loan Officer tries to refer their client to a Realtor, that client already has a Realtor, and vice versa. In that regard, it is imperative that a Loan Officer and a Realtor can find ways jointly to attract new business. That being said, expectations need to be set for what each other's vison is and what is an acceptable and realistic ratio of reciprocal business.
So, that is my take on what makes a successful Loan Officer-Realtor partnership. It may be a challenge to have the team excel in every one of the seven factors, but it is something to continually strive for.
I would be interested from those of you who read this blog as to what you think is the MOST important of these seven factor and what you think is the LEAST important.
Thank you for your time and your business.
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