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Who wants a mortgage broker at their open house?

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Mortgage and Lending with Rob Laluk - The Mortgage Centre - Elder Mortgage

I have come up with a new concept in marketing my services.  Or at least it's new to me and everyone that I've told I'm doing it.  And I want to share it.

I have kind of partnered with a local realtor to sit at his open houses and answer questions that prospective clients may have.  Not only do I do that, but he has started advertising that I will be there.

He's a hard working realtor that hand delivers 100 invites to the neighborhood by hand the day or two before an open house.  On the back side there is an advertisement with my information that goes something like: "Questions about the mortgage market?  Concerned where rates are going? Want to know if you should lock in? Can you afford to buy right now? - There are many questions that you may have and Rob Laluk will be on site to answer all of them from 1-4 Sunday Nov 23rd."

Something like that. 

I have gotten one call since starting, and we'll have to see where that leads.  Hopefully this will turn out to be something effective.  And in this time of uncertain finances and economy, I am pretty much providing a public service on a smaller scale.

Comments(8)

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Lynn Krogseng
Keller Williams Premier Partners - Vancouver, WA

Wow - I really like the sounds of this.  Of course, that real estate agent is really putting the extra effort into getting attendance (and I'm duly impressed!).  I should expect you two to have some killer open houses.

I'm so impressed, I'm going to go find my favorite lender and set something up today!

Nov 23, 2008 03:24 AM
Rob Laluk
Rob Laluk - The Mortgage Centre - Elder Mortgage - Maple Ridge, BC

Ya, the realtor I work with is a pretty hard working guy.  Door to door would seem to be something, for lack of a better word, below many realtors.  I met him when he came by my door advertising for an open house in my neighborhood and had quite a chat with him.  On Sunday, at his open house, I showed up with two coffees in hand and a stack of "feature sheets" showing possible mortgage situations.  5%, 10%, 20% down, payments, income needed to support those payments, and most of the information on the MLS listing.

He thought that was pretty cool, and a working relationship was formed.  The bonus is that it turns out we both grew up in this town, me being here since birth, him since '77.  Through talking, we discovered that we know an obscene amount of people in common and probably attended many of the same parties and functions growing up, but never really connected during our youth.

It's weird what happens when you step outside the box and do something unexpected, or at least something that others' don't necessarily seem willing to.

Nov 24, 2008 04:13 PM
Mark MacKenzie
Phoenix, AZ

Hi Rob,

It's great to see a mortgage broker that actively participates in prospecting and generating leads.

There are too many mortgage brokers out there that are living off of the hard work of agents.

Nov 29, 2008 12:02 AM
Lou Ludwig
Ludwig & Associates - Boca Raton, FL
Designations Earned CRB, CRS, CIPS, GRI, SRES, TRC

Hi Rob

It's a great idea to have a mortgage broker at your open houses, you can have your guests qualified on the spot. It really works.

Good luck and success

Lou Ludwig

Dec 01, 2008 11:24 AM
Nickolas Underwood
KW Commercial Atlanta Partners - Lawrenceville, GA

Sounds good. I'm going to apply that strategy ths sunday!

Dec 03, 2008 12:03 AM
Myrick Tantiado
Alain Pinel Realtors - San Francisco, CA

Congrats on a new working relationship that is bound to reap great rewards in the near future!  There are a few agent/broker open homes that I've attended in my area that seem to work well - especially on new listings where there's typically a higher turnout.  I will definitely try and partner up with a good mortgage broker for any future listings!  Wish you a prosperous 2009!

Jan 09, 2009 04:22 AM
Jose R. Reyes
John Aaroe Group - Highland Park, CA

My mortgage broker and I did this and actually got the buyer into escrow (still in escrow). He did come in to play when the loan questions arised. I am very familiar with loan products and guidelines and could have answered the questions myself, but it was nice having someone there.

In my opinion I have 2 reasons I don't like holding the open houses with a loan officer.

1) If it's a slow open house it looks a little intimidating to a person walking toward the home and finding 2 sales people waiting to sell them.

2) I thought it was far more beneficial for the loan officer to obtain leads, I also do well hosting opens, but I wouldn't mind the loan officers doing more independent marketing to help us generate more business. Since we are the driving force behind theirs.

It was nice when I got hungry and left him there to host though...

 

Jan 13, 2009 12:38 PM
Danny Gerald
Carpenter Realtors - Greenfield, IN

That sounds like a great idea. I have also done this in the past, but did not get enough action from it for the mortgage broker to want to continue. I wish you the best of luck.

Jan 14, 2009 05:29 AM