Write bigger loans! Make more money AND have happier clients, all at the same time! Bill Connolly, CMPS CTX Mortgage Co LLC

Set the Stage! When a prospect calls, after they introduce themselves and briefly explain “why” they are calling, I ask them if the “referral source” explained “how” we are “different” from “traditional” loan officers/lenders? Usually they say “no”! I then “set them up” by asking: “If everything you thought you knew about mortgages, home equity (or down payments) AND traditional retirement planning turned out not to be true…..when would they want to know?” This is also the beginning of my “elevator speech”!

Exactly “HOW” are we different? We explain to the prospect that the vast majority of borrowers look at their mortgage in a “vacuum”, thinking it is unrelated to ALL of their other financial responsibilities, when in reality, it is directly related! We then finish our “elevator speech”! I am a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist. My team and I help our clients successfully “manage” their home equity to increase the liquidity, safety and rate of return of their “assets” and tax deductions/benefits. Unlike a traditional loan officer, our role is to help our clients integrate the loan that they select into their over-all long and short-term financial and investment plan to help minimize taxes, improve cash flow and minimize interest expense. I then ask them if I can spend minutes asking them some questions so I can develop a “plan” that may mean hundreds of thousands of dollars more to their future than they ever believed possible?

How do WE “save” them from themselves AND become their “trusted advisor”? We MUST have a “systematized approach” to asking questions that no other “mortgage providers” ask! (see samples) We MUST ask THEM to “prioritize” many of the “financial challenges and/or goals” in their lives. We must then “review” (repeat) these “priorities” back to them. We must put together a “plan” to illustrate how we can not only “consolidate” their “bad” or “non-preferred debt”, but, build wealth. This “debt consolidation” will free up “cash-flow” in order to “save money” to accumulate wealth for a “cushion/emergency reserves”, “future education expenses” and/or their own “retirement planning”. Plus, chances are, it will help reduce the amount of income taxes they pay, today, and tomorrow!

How do we “systematize” our business to become a “trusted advisor” or “mortgage planner”? First – adopt or create a “high trust interview” (we will provide you copies of the ones we use for both “purchases” and “refinances” that were “modified” from Jim McMahan, Steven Marshall and others) to clarify their various financial challenges, goals & priorities. We MUST “playback” or “reconfirm” their “priorities”. We must fully understand their current debt structure (balances, payments AND terms for an accurate ERA) We must be able to “paint a picture” of what their “current finances” look like now. Then, we have to illustrate what their “future picture” could look like, with our “planning”, including being “debt-free” a lot sooner than they ever believed possible!

Clearly illustrate the “current picture” Pull “current debt structure” from credit report into Equity Repositioning Analysis Edit ERA to reflect correct rates and terms of “current liabilities”

We must “tie together” their goals to our plan! Review their credit report for “patterns” of mortgage financing (determine their “average life expectancy” of a mortgage for them – national average 4-5 years) Whether working with “move-up” buyers or refinance prospects, ALWAYS start with the Equity Repositioning Analysis Compare both their current “cash-flow” and possible monthly INCOME TAX BENEFITS to “potential” IMPROVEMENTS in “cash-flow” AND income tax benefits by consolidating debt!

Illustrate monthly “cash-flow” & possible “income tax savings” Design “proposed mortgage loan” based on both their own historical mortgage life-expectancies, their financial philosophies, their goals and the current rates

Illustrate “Asset Accumulation” in “systematic” and/or “lump sum” plan Hint: If your prospective clients have been “habitual” credit card users, do NOT illustrate “investing” ALL of their “savings” every month! Illustrate keeping $xxx in “cash” every month, to use in place of credit cards! This approach has proven to be more successful & less restrictive.

Give them a glimpse of their future, NOW! Be “realistic/conservative” in the “rate- of-return” on the “invested” dollars. (Refer to an “investment advisor” for the % to “CYA”!) $1,500/month isn’t a lot of money, BY ITSELF! WOW, look at it grow if it is saved EVERY MONTH. These clients had no idea they could have an “extra” $436,228 in just 15 years! (Don’t forget, this was the “same cash-flow” they had been spending before!) Show them what the “cash assets”, PLUS, their home, will be worth in X, Y & Z years, before & after your “Plan”! (This loan lead to $1,500,000 in referrals < month!)

NOW, put the “icing on the cake”! Be sure to show them when they will be “debt-free” by following your plan. Make sure you compare the “new debt-free date” to the “old debt-free date”!

Use ERA for Refi’s AND Purchases How many of your buyers dramatically “move-up” in towns, “save” $652 every month over their current cash-flow, PLUS, put $25,000 in the bank over their old house? (Without using an OptionARM!)

Let’s wrap-up, and make more money! Ask “high-trust” questions (see script) Be sure to write down the answers Review/confirm answers (file HTI for next annual review) Design “plan” to meet their “goals” Stress “liquidity, safety, rate-of-return AND possible increased tax benefits” of “your plan” as opposed to their “lazy, idle equity”! Close the loan and gather referrals!