Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Lead Router 3.0 training

Please make sure you attend this very important class in our office at 1:00 on 10/1/09.

Linda Wilson

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

David Knox Seminar take-away

ASK SOME ONE WHO ATTENDED THE SEMINAR ABOUT:

Active Rain
Squeeze Page (latest website technology to generate leads)
Your phone number on every web page
Sell/Stay laminated card for listing presentations
X-ray for price objections at a listing presentation
Is a home on a CMA; Comparable or Competing (is an option to a potential buyer)

Knox recommends the CDPE designation; you get a 100$ discount at www.cdpe.com/davidknox

Face Book:
· Put each “friend” in a “friend list” to keep business from pleasure
· Always send a message to a potential “friend” before accepting
· Always put a new “friend” in the appropriate “friend list”
· Always segregate photos by which “friend list” can view

Sent new potential clients brief surveys to find out about their wants, needs & timing; use survey monkey (free service) to automate the survey.

Pricing of listing is more critical than ever.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Office meeting noted 9/15/09

Don’t forget this weekend is the big “Open House” weekend for Springfield Twsp. Please let Claire know which one you are planning on holding open by Thursday so she can let Kimberlee with Springfield Twp know so she can get it on her list.
Linda asked each person what their business goals are from now until the end of the year and how to attain those goals. Many of the suggestions were working on your sphere, make personal phone calls to past customer and asking if they are thinking about selling and buying or if they know of someone that is, call on expired listings, hold open houses, pass out your business cards everywhere you go, knock on FSBO doors. You need to hold yourself accountable. It was suggested that you work on your business while working in our business. Most important of all is to get the house PRICED RIGHT from the start. The house probably won’t be worth next week what it is worth today so get it correctly positioned in this market now. Remember a house is a commodity.
Chris w/Coldwell Banker Mortgage suggested that you tell your buyers at closing to watch their mail for information on insurance that they can buy that will cover them if they would lose their job. Today this is a good thing to have.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Chris "refines" FHA Credit Score answer

Hi everyone.

There was a great question brought to my attention yesterday in the meeting. Gary asked how low we would go on FHA loans because a lot of other lenders are raising their credit score limits on FHA. The Gary mentioned was a broker and the limit of their lowest credit score is 680, I also know another local bank will only go as low as 660. One reason for the rise of the lowest credit score was because of the biggest bank that brokered FHA was seized by the government and shut down. Also if the loan is not done properly the bank has to buy it back and brokers do not have the overhead to buy those loans back. It can vary bank to bank what is required deemed by the bank. It would all usually be relative to what they have had to buy back

Our company low is 580 but with a recommendation of 600-620. Depending on the department (call center and also varies from Mortgage Advisor to Mortgage Advisor), we can send them to be pre approved with a 580 score. However, not all 580’s are equal. Some customers with 580 credit scores have recent charge offs and a lot of late payments, or even a bankruptcy that is too recent, which would not qualify regardless of credit score. While other 580 scores just do not have much credit with a collection or two.

An example we discussed in our meeting was a loan I just closed with a 580 credit score. He started out with a mid 574 and we waited a month and re-pulled new credit and it was exactly 580. He had no late payments and he only had one item he paid for which showed on his credit report, however, he had a ton of medical collections. I sent it to underwriting for a manual pre approval and plead my case that FHA does not care about medical collections. The underwriter agreed that I was correct and pre approved him contingent on him showing three non traditional lines of credit (bills that are paid monthly that do not show up on a credit report; such as electric, water, cable, rent). I started talking to him in April or May and he closed in July.

I do want to warn everyone that these loans do take a little longer and cannot be rushed. There is a lot more coaching the customer and extra documentation needed with these loans which is why some of our departments and Mortgage Advisors choose not to do them.

I just wanted to let you know this information incase you were not in attendance at the meeting. I will do these loans or any loan if I can find a way. My job is to make us both successful. It is not always an immediate transaction but will usually be an eventual sale 9 times out of 10. These customers will love you for taking the time and will tell everyone about you.

As always, if you have any questions please let me know!

Chris Stevens
Mortgage Advisor, MBS
CB/PHH Mortgage Services
513-226-2235 (Cell)
1-856-917-1347 (E-Fax)
chris.stevens@mortgagefamily.com

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Tim Duncan UpdatE!

Tim's wife Jimmi just call the office; she said that Tim's surgery went really well. He will be in ICU for two days, and then in the hospital for another seven to ten days. The surgeon will not release him until he is fully recovered. They are very grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers!

Carol Ransick

Thursday, September 3, 2009

No sales meeting Labor Day!

Linda wanted me to remind you that we will NOT have a sales meeting next Tuesday since Monday is a holiday.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Office meeting notes: 9/1/09

CBWS is launching their “WE KNOW” campaign. We know there are many first time buyers looking for a new home, we know they have questions about the $8,000.00 tax credit, we know you can help them. Now is the time to buy and the focus is on the first time home buyers especially females 25-34, the $8,000 tax credit deadline and placing relevant information where the first time buyers are looking. 78% of potential first time homebuyers say that NOW is a good time to buy, 85% say they consider current home prices affordable, 56% of potential first time homebuyers are considering purchasing a foreclosed or short sale home, 63% are open to purchasing either a “fixer upper” or “as is” home, 59% of potential buyers rated their understanding of the process as only fair or poor. 10,000 copies of the first time home buyers guide will be mailed to renters with household income of $50,000+ in Cincinnati and N. Ky. They are take advantage of the open house super weekend Sept. 13 with a full page color ad displaying your open houses for Sept 13. Deadline for getting your open house in this ad is Thurs. Sept. 3 at 10AM with Claire. There will be radio spots on 6 different radio stations, press releases and eCards that you can send to your database each week for the next three weeks. You should have received an e-mail from Randy Wax with the eCards and instructions on how to send them.
NAR is launching the new “Short sales & foreclosure resource certification” (SFR) designation. Nearly 1/3 of all existing homes sold recently were either short sales or foreclosures. To earn the certification, you must complete a one day education program either in person or online as well as 3 one house Webinars. For more info visit www.realtorSFR.org.
According to NAR IRS is scrutinizes mortgage deductions more closely.
NAR also released the 10 best cities to find a job and Columbus, Ohio came in at #3.
Effective on September 15 Showing Desk will be releasing their new version of Showing Desk. It has feedback improvements including but not limited to a new feedback scheduling module and improved search & management interface, manage key reservations for appointments from within showing Desk web edition, automatically notify all previous showing agents of price adjustments, a new look and feel to many showing desk web edition reports including graphs.
We want to congratulation Evelyn, Tasha, Glen & Cindy for their excellent Service Satisfaction Surveys.
Happy birthdays to our September birthday people – Fay Dapper, Sharon Bennett, Scott McGrath, Debbie Lauck, Joyce Levine, Victor Paruta and Kathy Overstreet.
Please be careful of the sites you going on your computer. There are several viruses out there right now and many people in here have gotten one the past week. Get a couple of good virus protection programs installed on your computer, there are some free ones out there. Doc can help you with that.