Seek Search & Find
Many new loan originators are now taking a different approach to finding loan programs that fit their potential borrower. A new originator now posts a loan scenario on various mortgage discussion boards, calls all the account executives that will answer their phone, or asks someone in their office this question: "Who can do ......?" This approach, as defined by one new loan officer, is called the "shotgun" approach, because if you ask enough people your question, you will eventually get someone to come forward to tell you "I can do it!" The new loan originator says this approach is the BEST way to find answers fast because they are too busy to find them on their own. My response to that is if you INVEST the time, you will make more DIME!
I would like to offer you an alternative to the "shotgun" approach that I believe is better for you. If you want to be in the mortgage business long term, you should build yourself a FOUNDATION of KNOWLEDGE. Just like building a home, you must first start your mortgage career with building yourself a good foundation. Your goal as a mortgage professional should be to know as many loan programs as possible and know where they come from. For example, have you EVER gone to efanniemae.com to READ the guidelines and analyze them? Have you ever gone to FHA.gov or freddiemac.com to read their guidelines? Do you know who the top ten subprime lenders are? Have you ever sat down to analyze a subprime lender's product matrix or read their guidelines? If a lender like GMAC provides your mortgage company an underwriting manual, have you ever sat down and read it? Yes I understand this takes time, but so does getting a degree at any College. I am challenging you to become a student of the mortgage business and to learn how to teach yourself how to find information on any loan scenario instead of relying on others. Instead of seeking out others for answers to your loan scenarios or searching through mortgage discussion boards for the answer to your loan scenario, FIND them yourself through the ideas I provided above. Here are some other resources you can also use to find which lender provides various product niches.
1)
www.weirdloans.com is designed to give you information on various lenders and their niches.
2) The Buyers Guide located at
www.nationalmortgagenews.com is designed to give you contacts on various lenders, their phone numbers & websites.
3) You can "google" or "yahoo" your way to many wholesale lender websites. You would be surprised by what you may find that way.
4) There is a magazine I receive monthly called The Scotsman Guide, and there's no cost! (they have a website
www.scotsmanguide.com). They have charts and matrixes on many different lenders. Call one or more of the lenders listed to see if your loan fits.
5) You can subscribe to many mortgage magazines and read the ads of those that advertise. When I first started, I picked up old copies from others in the business and read everything I could.
6) You could call three A.E's in your marketplace that do certain types of loans and ask for assistance or a referral to someone that they think could possibly help you with your specific loan scenario. Then ASK them where they got THEIR information.
7). And of course you could check out our
www.secretuniversity.com for training aids as well. 8)
Seek Search & Find 
