I attended an exciting conference last week all about Mortgage Planning. The most rewarding moment, however, may have come when I did not receive $1,000,000. On the second night of this three day conference they played one of the many games designed to keep the energy level high. This particular game was based on the TV game show Deal… or No Deal and the player had a chance to win $1,000,000. I was as excited to play as the next guy; that may not be a lot of money, but you can probably live on it!
The first step had all 3900 of us go to side tables where we randomly picked a chocolate bar. Twenty-six of those bars had a golden ticket inside, a la Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I was one of the lucky 26 and we all went on stage. Now they had to narrow us down to one contestant so they handed us each a black envelope as they collected our golden tickets. All but one person would open their envelope to find the word “Sorry” printed on the card inside. But that one person – he or she was going to continue on and play the game. There was a glitch though, as often happens in life, and when they finished handing us our envelopes they realized that they had given out more than 40 chocolate bars with golden tickets! How to fairly deal with the people who did not get an envelope? The host decided to collect all the envelopes from us and divide us into two groups; he flipped a coin and half the group had to leave the stage. The other half were given the envelopes anew and after opening them one person went on to play the game. Yours truly was in the group that had to leave the stage.
Now what I neglected to mention is that I did not know what the envelopes were for when they handed them to us and before the host decided to take them all back I opened mine and glanced inside. You can probably guess by now that mine did not say “Sorry” and I would have been the person playing!! While I sat in my seat watching the game play out (after passing on the chance to take $29,000 and losing the chance at $1,000,000 early on, the lone player walked with a cool $9,000) I at first felt a little frustrated and angry. But I soon realized that I was walking away with much more than a million dollars. After all, even if you win $1,000,000 it begins to lose value instantly due to depreciation, taxes and so on. But I was the only one in the room to leave with a secret message from an envelope. A message of priceless value that can never be taken or stolen or depreciated. A message that was fated to end up in my hands. Inside the envelope, there was a card and it read: You ARE a WINNER!
Filed under: LIFE THAT POPs , Success
I missed the Brokers’ Open last week while attending a conference on Mortgage Planning in Las Vegas and I came back with great info and lots to tell you about. Today I want to share the most exciting parts:
- The market is expected to continue its contraction from $3.9 trillion in 2003 to $3.0 trillion this year while inflation (rates) continue to rise… THAT IS GOOD NEWS
- Over the course of 2007, the number of loan officers should drop from 480,000 to 250,000. That means 230,000 less people dropping rate sheets on you, 230,000 less people attempting to buy your business rather than earn it and 230,000 less people trying to explain yet another convoluted loan program with “assisted this” and “deferred interest that” when they can not get THE PAPERWORK RIGHT ON A BASIC 30YR LOAN, OR EVEN RETURN A PHONE CALL… (and that is very good news).
- By the end of 2007 the number of Real Estate agents will drop from 2.7 million to 1.4 million… AND THAT MAY BE THE BEST NEWS OF ALL!
Let me share with you one of the most important things I learned last week: there are no bad markets!! There are seasons: times of contraction and expansion, times to sow and times to reap. But for the successful Real Estate agent it is never a bad market; just a change in positioning.
If you do not have a plan for the seasons, if you are not sure how to dial in your success, that is OK. See me after the rally, or see Katie of Lisa. I have strategies and plans to grow your business. Who is going to be successful during this time of transition, this change of season? That is a mystery here at the Mystery House Tour. I will tell you one very good indicator though: people whose professionalism demands that they make time each week to preview properties in their area and know their inventory! I congratulate every one of you that shows up on a regular basis. Enjoy the change of seasons, enjoy the Rally and most importantly: enjoy the Ride.
Filed under: LIFE THAT POPs, REALTORS , Change, Economy
Last week I attended a conference in Las Vegas for Mortgage Planners. It was the second meeting of it’s kind and, I believe, the largest gathering of mortgage professionals ever. The main topic of the three day conference is something you are going to be hearing a lot about over the coming months: mortgage planning as a method to increase assets and wealth. I appreciated this conference and I enjoyed the cowboy flavor that still exists in this desert town. I also came away with two things: a lot of good information and a healthy little fear of rodeo clowns and dime store cowboys.
Please do not misunderstand, I am all in favor of this movement. So much so in fact, that I and a few others here have been practicing it for years. Of course, until recently we did not know we had a name (Mortgage Planning Specialists) and there was certainly no marketing material or training. Myself and others were simply practicing what we had learned in the securities business, which is where most of us started. But as a wise man once sang , “times, they are a changin’.” This conference with over 3900 attendees included books, training programs and seminars by specialists who have been practicing fiduciary responsibility and mortgage planning for ten and even fifteen years. There was an overt emphasis on taking care of the client but there was also a more subtle message that anyone can do this with a few hours of training and some fancy software. This is the part that scares me.
The idea that a mortgage is the most important tool in a person’s investment portfolio is not new. Nor is the idea that people should be taking better care of their retirement (the average Baby Boomer has less than $56,000 put away for their golden years). The mistake of paying down your mortgage and the great lies called 401Ks are all well documented. Again, many of us have been working with our clients on their entire financial picture for years. What is new is the idea that this is another way to “generate business”… a form of marketing . This should be scary to everyone that hears it. Does it even have to be said that 18 hours of classroom training and a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist certificate does not make you a financial planner? No more so than the idea that because you spent $1300 to get the certification you are qualified to advise others on their spending.
As this idea takes off – and it is going to be the buzz in our industry for a while – let’s make sure that our clients’ best interests come first. Ask yourself, if you get on a plane, do you want the pilot to be the guy that just passed his test and received his civil air license? Or do you want the pilot to be a former Top Gun Aviator with 15 years of experience? I am all for the client receiving the best advice possible. Based on my experience as a stock broker, options trader and loan originator, sound, experienced advice is not even enough; I believe that loans should exhibit transparency the same as investments do. Most importantly, however, debt based financial planners should not be inexperienced loan originators dressed up in the clown’s makeup of a marketing plan; fueled by seminars, slick advertising and designations short on experience and long on gravitas. That type of dime store cowboy is referred to as “all hat and no cattle”. I will finish with one last bit of cowboy wisdom: when you are approached by someone with a mortgage planning title and a well funded seminar, make sure “this ain’t their first rodeo”.
Filed under: BUYERS, INVESTORS, LENDERS, REALTORS , mortgage planning, transparency
