Why Do Rate Shoppers Shop ?

One of the biggest frustrations we all have as loan officers is the constant
bombardment of callers who want to know our rates , points and fees.
In this article I will explain to you why they ask these questions and
some strategies you can use to deal with them and more importantly
drive prospects to you who will not ask this question .

Whether you realize it or not we are selling money and have become a
commodity very much like the insurance , automobile and other commodity
type businesses. Look around at your newspapers , listen to TV and radio commercials
and open your mail every day and you will see numerous ads for mortgages.
Just the other day I was walking by an H + R Block office and saw a big
ad in their window for mortgages.

If you ever have a chance to drive up I-95
you will see sign after sign offering mortgage loans with some actually having
the rates on them in lights.

So it is no wonder that when a buyer calls you the only question they know
to ask is “What are your rates and fees.” There are numerous scripts and detailed
ways to handle this question , however I would like to devote this article to
attracting buyers who never ask this question to begin with.

While I travel the country speaking and training loan officers I always ask the
question “What do you do for a living?” The common responses are ,
“ I am a loan officer.” “ I lend people money to buy a home” , “ I help people
achieve their dream of homeownership” Etc.
If you were to ask me what I do for a living my response would be “ I help buyers who have
had a bankruptcy or other credit issue get into a home with very little money down
and low single digit rates.” This illustrates one of the keys to attracting serious clients
instead of simply rate shoppers.

The key of course is to pick a niche , and become known as the expert. Take a minute
to think about this. Suppose you have a toothache and are advised by your dentist to
go to an oral surgeon as soon as possible. Now remember you are in a lot of pain
so you have a problem and need to get it solved immediately. I would guess that
you are expecting to pay more for the services of the oral surgeon than the dentist.
I would also guess that you are not going to call 3 oral surgeons and try to find the one
who charges the least or expect to meet that oral surgeon on Sunday afternoon or Wednesday
evening at 8:30 pm.

Instead of being a generalist you must strive to pick an area where people have a problem and
need your help to solve it . Some of these niches could be construction loans, reverse mortgages, alt doc loans and renovation loans..You also maybe able to work with first time buyers who can take advantage of local grant products.

One of the other responses I hear from loan officers is that they provide excellent service and that is what sets them apart from everyone else. Honestly , people do not know if your service is good or bad until AFTER the transaction closes.

Good service is expected or you should not be in this service related business. Going above and beyond with excellent service and over delivering and under promising are the things that will provide you with referals . When you go to buy a car and the
salesman says we have the highest ratings around for our service department do you really care or are you more focused on the bottom line price of the vehicle ?

Staying with this idea for a moment longer think about what happened when Volkswagon came out with the new BUG or Accura came out with their new SUV . These cars where in such demand that when you went to the dealership the salesman came out with a clipboard and said “You can put your name on the waitng list with a $1000.00 non refundable deposit .

Your car should be in within the next 3 months.
Oh , by the way we cannot guarantee you the color “ Well people did give their deposits and waited for these cars. More importantly there was NO negotiation and people were actually buying these cars for over the list price.
When you are a specialist with the ability to solve someones problem than the price issue disappears.

To illustrate this further with an example from my recent past I will share a story with you that happened with my daughter. She needed to have surgery on her ankles . So like good parents we set out to find the best doctor for the job. What we found was an orthopedic , pediatric , surgeon who’s speciality was ankles.

Did we shop his price? Did we take off work to meet him ? Did we travel an hour and a half each way to his office?
Now I know you are saying this really isn’t a good example because insurance paid for it. Well I am here to tell you that the insurance only covered a small portion because we went out of network and had to pay a considerable sum out of pocket. Even if we had to pay 100% out of pocket there really was no other choice in our minds.

So start by picking your niche , becoming the expert , and letting everyone know about
it. You will soon start getting calls from applicants interested in having you solve their problems instead of rate shoppers who will only waste your time.

Interested in Learning More about the Boomerang Expert Niche of 7.3 Million Buyers Now Able to buy?
Watch this on demand presentation now before it comes down
http://boomerangexpert.com/special-offer

Would love to hear your thoughts !
Dedicated To Increasing Your Production
Brian Sacks
www.TopOriginatorSecrets.com

Brian Sacks is a nationally-renowned mortgage expert who has career closing of more than 5,924 transactions for more than $1 billion. He has trained, consulted and coached, tens of thousands of loan officers and company owners over the past 31 years on how to close more loans, make more money, and still have a life.
Brian is the host of Top Originator Secrets which can be seen weekly on Mortgage News Network and on his blog.

You can get more information and grab your free report on How to Get Agents Chasing You at TopOriginatorSecrets.com and learn more about the Top Originator Mastermind at www.toporiginatormastermind.com/tos