Should You Net Branch or Broker from Home or office?
Aside from the obvious legal, zoning, company regulation concerns there are a lot of things to consider.
Having a store front office is could be a good thing if you do most of your business in local area. Some brokers or branches get enough walk in traffic to offset much of their rent, while others get very little. I know a broker that owns his own building; he rents out apartments over his office that helps offset his cost for the space. He gets very little walk in business trade even though he is on a busy street. I know another broker also on a busy street he owns the building and has no rental income, he however gets 1or 2 loans per month just from walk in traffic. The contrast between these two brokers in noteworthy, the 1st is in a very high crime area, he does all SP loans. The 2nd is an upscale area and he does all A Paper. Both have been in business many years and are good at selling. I think it would reasonable to conclude that if your office is in a high crime area a borrower might find it safer to shop by phone. I am not sure if A paper borrowers are any more likely to be to walk in than SP.
Do you intend to hire LO’s?
If you are intending to hire LO’s if you are going to hire LO’s having an office outside your house is a real plus.
Do you intend to do more business on the local level, state or NATL level? Having an office that few of your borrowers are ever going to visit may be a, expense you do not need.
If you work at home will you get distracted to much?
With rising fuel costs how much money will you save not driving to work?
How much more will you spend eating out if you work in an office?
Property and liability insurance can also be a challenge to obtain for those working at home.
Should you decide to Net Branch either at home or at an office these are some things to consider:
look for a company that was here yesterday, is here today, and will be here tomorrow.
Many will open, many will close and only a few will survive the test of time.
Any Company in business less than 10 years has not yet passed the test of time.
Are their fees to low? I know this seems like an odd question, however net branch companies are in a business full of mine fields if they are not making profits when the sun is shining how will they save for a rainy day. Rainy days for net branches can take many forms, they can be loans they are required to repurchase, fines for lending violations, or labor law issues.
The bottom line is, companies in business many years making solid profits are clearly more likely to survive a storm.
Below is a small list of Net Branch Companies that have all been in business at least 10 years.
Aapex Mortgage
Http://www.aapexnetbranch.net/
Other Considerations
Will they require you to rent a commercial office space?
Do you meet their volume requirements?
Do you meet their experience requirements?
Will you be required to spend money every month to pay a software provider for them to monitor your pipeline?
How easy is it to get information from them?
If you can go their web site and download a lender list, State license list, branch agreement, ETC, It is a good indication signing up with them might be easier than some companies.
How long does it take them to get a branch up and running?
Some branches take 48hrs or less while others take more than 48 days.
Will you need to fly to their corporate office for training?
Will they encourage you to broker your loans, or will you be pressured to deal with padded mortgage banker rate sheets?
Will they reward you for attaining hire volume levels with reduced fees?
Do they require you put up money into a reserve account?
How fast do they pay?
If you would like information on a non-padded net branch opportunity
give me a call at 630-918-8945 or visit :aapexnetbranch.net
