BATTLECALL GUEST EXPERT: Christopher Cruise, CMPS & National Mortgage Sales Trainer

First, thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts on what I wish I knew when I first began originating residential mortgage loans what seems like another lifetime ago, but was, in fact something I started doing in the late 1980s.

I've learned a lot about the business of residential mortgage loan origination after nearly twenty years of origination and training and teaching and writing, and now I want to pass along some of what I have learned - and what I have learned from others - in an attempt to make it easier both on those who are just starting out in this wonderful, exciting, fun, and, most importantly, lucrative field, and those who have been in it a while and for some reason aren't having the success they thought they would have. I am, with this letter, in effect reaching back to myself, because had I known then what I know now, my personal and professional life would have been a lot easier, and, frankly, I would have made a lot more money.

I hope what I write here helps increase the retention rate of new residential mortgage loan originators (RMLOs), and keeps frustrated veterans going. Newcomers to this business fail at an alarming rate, and always have, despite great efforts to recruit and retain originators who stay in the business until they can be successful. Well then, if most people who enter this field fail, we who have succeeded - and who want others to succeed - must ask ourselves "How can we keep those who enter the business from failing?" and "How can we help those with the potential to do well in this field hang on until they achieve enough success to convince them to stay?"

Those of us who are in the field generally love it, and want others to have the same feelings. We want everyone to succeed. Most of us veterans have made excellent money in this business and we sincerely want others to succeed in the mortgage field. We veterans/survivors know that there is (usually) enough business to go around, and we encourage others to join the field, and to stay, even when things get a little tight (as they always do at the end of a refi boom). If newcomers can hang on long enough, they have a chance to become veterans - and a chance to make a lot of money and have a lot of fun and do a lot of good in an important and prestigious field.

Veterans like me are saddened every time someone doesn't make it in the mortgage business. We all wonder where someone who leaves this field can go to make as much money as they can make originating mortgages. When I see a young person in their mid 20s leave this business after a year or so in it, I wonder if they really know what they are walking away from. Sure there is a lot to learn, and sure it is sometimes a fight to get loans closed, and sure borrowers and real estate agents can be a massive pain in the butt, but where else can you go where you can pretty much set your own hours, grow your own business, help people buy a home or refinance a loan, improve their financial well-being, and generate a six-figure income, all without a college degree? I wonder "Where are these people going when they leave this business?" It feels to me like they are going backward, consigning themselves to a life of $30,000 a year jobs, when many successful LOs make that much or more in a month. I truly worry about them, and wonder if there was something that I personally, as well as my peers, could have done to have kept them in the mortgage business. This little piece of writing is my contribution to the retention effort.

Like many others who have been in this business for a while, I have seen way too many RMLOs fail. Not to be too dramatic, but it just breaks my heart to see them leave a business that could be so good for them. I believe if they had learned just a little of what I have learned about the business, they could have succeeded. I hope that this little contribution of mine helps more people stay in the business, and, as well, that it encourages more people to enter the business - a business that can be very lucrative very quickly. Recently I spoke with a student of mine who had taken my two-day class three months earlier and had gotten hooked up with a home improvement contractor. She was doing 20 loans a month, and grossing $65,000 a month! She had left her post office job a few months earlier, a job she had been on for 16 years and in which she was grossing $41,000 a year. Now, I will admit she is an aberration, and maybe she was a bit lucky, but this is not a made-up story. She is now grossing almost $800,000 a year! Wow! That just blew me away!

I train basic and advanced courses 4-6 days a week for some of the country's largest mortgage lenders in my capacity as the senior national trainer for five of the country's biggest trainers of mortgage originators. In small towns and big cities across America in which I train I come in contact with people with basic sales skills and basic knowledge about mortgages making high six-figure incomes as residential mortgage loan originators. They did it, so, I wonder, why can't everyone do it? As I wrote earlier, it really pains me when people leave the business, because I know that most of them don't have a snowball's chance in Orange County at a six-figure income anywhere else with the education they currently have. So, then, why the high turnover? This is not a tough business to learn, so why do so many fail? One reason, I think, is that, except at the big national lenders who may pay a small base salary, it is almost exclusively a commission-only business, and few newcomers can afford to last more than a few months without income. (Spend much time looking at borrowers' finances like those of us in the mortgage industry do and you will realize how many Americans are just a few paychecks away from homelessness or bankruptcy or both.) A lot of originators fail only because they couldn't hang on; they have to leave the business to get a job that provides a regular paycheck, settling for $30-40,000 a year when they had a real shot at making six figures. That is so darned sad! 

Other reasons many newcomers fail:

1. They get poor or no training

2. They generate no income, often because of poor or no training

and...

3. They have no lead-generation system to generate applications that turn into closed loans. (In fact, if you ask loan originators who fail, they will almost to a person acknowledge that they had no functional, reliable lead generation system, whether it was buying leads, or dealing with realtors, or teaching seminars, or hosting a radio show, or something, anything at all.)    

Before I get more into the meat of this message, please allow me to share a few brief thoughts from my friend and training mentor Thomas Morgan, author of "The Loan Officer's Practical Guide to Residential Finance," as well as guides on commercial lending, sub-prime lending, loan processing, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance. Thomas also heads lendertraining.com.

"Loan officers don't understand just how long the learning process is; many give up before success starts to happen."  "Loan officers should make small, incremental investments in learning along the way to keep themselves interested." "Above all, the thirst for knowledge and proficiency is the hallmark of the successful loan officer."

Thomas has been a high-level LO, trainer, and author for more than 20 years and his "Loan Officer's Practical Guide" is without a doubt the single best origination training manual out there. His just-published "Practical Guide to Loan Processing" is the single best processing training manual out there. He's a guy I would listen to if I were you.

Now, then, here are my thoughts - all of them, by the way, reviewed by Thomas. In some cases, he disagrees with what I have to say, and in those cases you will read why he disagrees. I asked him to review this before I published it and he responded in writing; you can check out our email conversation at the end of this publication.

Here are some thoughts on what has made me successful as a residential mortgage loan originator since 1988:

A lead-generation system is absolutely essential. Without it, nothing else matters. Also, early in my career I started teaching both other originators and prospective homebuyers. Someone - it might have been Mark Twain - once said there is nothing that focuses your energies and attention more on a subject than knowing you will have to teach it the next day, and I found that to be true. I also wrote a lot for mortgage industry publications, and spoke before mortgage groups and consumer groups. That got me in contact with people I could learn from. I attended every seminar I could, even when I really couldn't afford to, read the mortgage trade publications, and obtained as many industry certifications as I could, including, recently the Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist (CMPS) designation. I also took classes in mortgages and real estate at my local community college. I made sure I got my real estate license in every jurisdiction in which I originated mortgages - one mortgage leader once told me "there is no mortgage business, there is only a real estate business, and we provide the financing." That really resonated with me. I attended both real estate and mortgage continuing professional education, and read lots of homebuying books. Also, I found a lot of great stuff on mortgage marketing on E-bay that was cheap, effective, and informative. I had a public access television show on local cable TV, and wrote columns for local newspapers on mortgages and home buying. The net has a lot of great places to help you learn about the business, and I will put some of those resources at the back of this publication.

OK, then, let's break it down&

The first thing you should know is: this is a commissioned sales job. A lot of the training newcomers get focuses on office systems and procedures and forms; that's not bad -- in fact it's necessary, but it doesn't focus on generating business. Other training emphasizes the touchy-feely stuff -- helping people achieve the American Dream. That's all well and good, but what an RMLO needs to do to survive and thrive is close loans, not "help people achieve their dream of homeownership," as nice as that sounds. Because they know this, they know the importance of getting the deal to closing, former car salespeople and finance company reps often do well in the residential mortgage loan origination field; they understand that this is a numbers game. They understand that the more time they spend with prospective customers, the more likely they are to write loans. They know that a good product is important, but a good marketing plan is even more important, so they focus on making money. There's nothing wrong with that; money isn't a bad thing. They have a goal, and that's not a bad thing either. Their goal is likely to build wealth by selling their services to people who are buying a home or refinancing their home loan.

In my experience, the majority of those who enter the business won't be around when their first anniversary rolls around. That is the way it shakes out. You can't argue with the numbers. What you need to constantly be asking yourself is "how can I make sure I am not in that group?" (The best answer, by the way, is simple: have a lead generation system.)

(In addition to knowing that you need a lead generation system, you should also know that borrowers are both insane and always wrong. Knowing this, and keeping it in mind at all times, will bring you comfort. The fact is, when you're dealing with someone's money and their shelter at the same time, people are gonna be under a lot of stress and they're going to react weirdly, strongly, and, often, inappropriately. Worse, borrowers are also almost always wrong; they don't know how much they make, how much they owe, what their credit is like, what their current interest rate is, how much they have in the bank, what their assets total, and how much their home is worth, among other things. They overstate their income and understate their debts. When it comes to their personal information, don't trust the borrower - get the documents, which invariably enlighten the borrowers as to their personal situation. I know it's hard to believe that grown women and men can be so clueless about their financial situation, but trust me on this one -- they are.)   

As I wrote earlier, the simplest way to ensure that you survive is to have a reliable way to generate business: You need a lead generation system. It's all about marketing, not just about making people feel good, even though that - making people feel good about doing business with you - is an important component of the process. But you don't get paid when you make people feel good; you only get paid when a loan closes and funds. We are commissioned salespeople.  Don't like that? That's fine. No problem -- that's not the right career for some people, but if that's the case you are in the wrong business, cause that is how we get paid. Want a salary? There are places for that, but this ain't one of them. Want an opportunity? There's no better place.

The reason we all struggle is that there's too much competition, and we are all using traditional marketing methods that cost too much and simply don't work anymore. If we want to succeed, we must have in place a reliable system to generate qualified loan prospects daily and consistently.

Brian Sacks, of loanofficersuccess.com, writes of lead generation and marketing:

"No one can be successful in any business without a good marketing plan. You can spend all of your time learning but not doing. Suppose you really are the best loan officer. Your company has the best products with the best prices. You may still fail as a loan officer if you don't have a tested, proven, well-thought-out plan for marketing these products and prices and your services. Look around you and you will see many loan officers whose prices stink and whose products are just so-so but who still manage to out-produce you every day. There is no need to be jealous of them. You can still win the battle but it must be based on a well-thought-out marketing plan. In all of my years in the business I never, ever had great rates, and I never had the best product mix, but each and every year I was - and still am - able to beat my competition and have them looking at me like a deer in the headlights at night. They simply do not understand that marketing is the ultimate tool to success."

Another lesson to be learned is time management, or time blocking. There are only so many hours in a day. The more processing you do, the less origination you have time to do. It's a zero sum game; an originator who processes is an originator who is not using her or his time productively. There always has been and always will be tension between processors and originators. Processors complain that originators don't give them good files and originators complain that processors want them to do too much of the processing. Smart mortgage originators make sure they take care of their processors personally and professionally, but also aren't afraid to insist that the processors do their job. Processors have chosen to not live the life of a commissioned salesperson; they want the stability of a paycheck. In exchange for that stability, they give up the shot at a big income. (They're on the salary gravy train while originators are on the commission roller-coaster.)

Processors think originators are paid too much for the work they do, but often they don't understand that an originator's value is not necessarily in how well an application is completed or how organized a file is or how many hours they spend in the office but in how many loans an originator brings in and gets closed. An originator's value is not determined by the hours she works or the files she helps to process. Good mortgage managers know this, and demand that processors do their work so the originator can do theirs. Still, it has been said that an application well-taken is three-quarters closed. The more complete the file that is handed to the processor, the less hassle for the borrower and the processor, and the closer the loan is to being closed. Good originators know this. So, learn how to look at a loan from the point of view of a processor.

Don't allow yourself to be pigeonholed as the originator who can make tough deals work; allow that to happen and that's all you'll get -- the tough deals. Make clear to your referral sources a couple of things: first, you're going to charge more for doing a tough deal than you will for a standard deal because your time is valuable and you are compensated for your time, and, second, if you do a tough deal for the referral source, it means you have earned the right to do the easy deals, too. (Having said this, I do want to acknowledge that some, some LOs have had success specializing in doing tough deals, but they are the minority, and it seems to me like that is a tough way to go.)

There are many places to work, but only a few places you will want to work. Getting hired on as an originator is about the easiest thing in the world. Any mortgage brokerage in the country will "hire" you, because there is virtually no risk for them; they generally invest little or nothing in you, no training, no benefits, no salary. You give your time, and, if you fail, they have lost nothing. Maybe they've given you a few leads that you weren't able to turn into closed loans, but maybe another originator would have been unsuccessful with those leads as well. You need to find a supportive, professional environment where you will be rewarded for generating business and respected for what you bring to the office, and that ain't easy.

Spend time in the company of other successful LOs. Brian Sacks, of loanofficersuccess.com says it best: "If you truly want to make as much money as you possibly can, you MUST surround yourself with other successful loan officers, PERIOD. You can certainly go it alone, but if you take advantage of how easy it is to make friends with other loan officers, and then to share in their results and experiences, you will make TEN TIMES the amount of money than if you only relied on yourself."

You will not get the training you were promised; you will only get the training you demand. Despite management promises during the hiring interview process, in most cases the only training you will get is the training you pay for. There's too much training available out there now - through correspondence, on the internet, and in live (often free) seminars - that it's tough to sympathize with originators who complain that they weren't trained. If your company isn't coming through, well, switch companies, or just pay for the training yourself, like any other self-employed person would do (please remember that the fact is, even if you are working for the biggest mortgage loan company in the country, you are still self-employed). It's out there; you just have to go get it if it isn't coming to you. Don't sit back and wait. If your company isn't providing you something that you need, go get it, even if your company should get it for you. This is, ultimately, your company; you are building a business with you as the CEO, so do what it takes to build YOUR business.   

You need constant education. But that doesn't mean you spend 20% of your time flying off to seminars. Education is not the goal; the goal is learning so you can make more money. I know a lot of originators who spend gobs of time and money getting educated, learning the latest marketing strategies, and becoming experts on loan programs. Writing loans seems secondary to them. This is all about the bottom line, so don't make a career out of being educated.

You need a way to stay in touch with past customers. It may be regular phone calls, visits, annual parties, newsletters, e-mails, or anything else you can think of, but you simply must do it. Ask experienced originators the biggest, most damaging mistake they made early in their career and most will tell you that mistake was failing to stay in touch with past customers.  

Wholesale reps are a great source of technical expertise and industry knowledge; they know products and they know people, and they usually know what's going on with other shops -- who is leaving, who is hiring, etc.  Make sure you keep your wholesale reps close; invite them to lunch, ask them to make presentations at your office. Many originators look at wholesale reps as sources of free lunches, and engage in a one-sided relationship with them. There will come a time when you are going to need your wholesale rep a lot more than they need you. Prepare for that time by giving as much as you are getting from your wholesale rep. 

Find a niche, and work the daylights out of it. Focus. Here is what Brian Sacks says about finding a niche and working it:

"Pick a niche. Learn all you can about it. Meet with all investors who offer this product. Learn every little thing you can about the program guidelines. Market yourself only to people who meet those criteria - in my case working with buyers who have had a bankruptcy or other credit issue. I have picked the three lenders I like to work with. I have learned all of the ins and outs of their guidelines so I am able to target only the buyers who meet these guidelines. This allows me to not waste time or spend tons of advertising expenses on people I do not want to work with. I learned a great unique selling proposition from a doctor who earns fees five times the norm. His USP is: 'if I can't help you, you're screwed.' People travel from all over the world to meet with him. Needless to say, he earns a great living and has plenty of time to enjoy it - since he only works two days a week! It really hit home with me since I continue to counsel loan officers that you must position yourself as the expert instead of being just another loan officer. When you can help a buyer with a problem you are positioning yourself properly as a mortgage planner, and so their question is not 'What is your price?' but 'When can I close?' Look at business all around you. Wal-mart does well by having cheap prices, but Tiffany does well, too, and they certainly have high prices. Bottom line: become the expert in a niche and you will earn more and have the time to enjoy it."

Sacks says he limits his business to borrowers who have had a bankruptcy. He does this for a number of reasons: There is little competition because few LOs know how to market to these folks and even fewer know how to work with them, so LOs can make more money on each deal. As Sacks puts it, "You can earn the most by helping borrowers solve problems." Another reason? Since you help borrowers with problems, you don't have to deal with rate-shoppers; you only deal with borrowers who are serious about working with you and serious about getting a loan, not tire-kickers and time-wasters -- borrowers "who will shop you to death and treat you like a head of lettuce (just another commodity)." Also, says Sacks, when you help borrowers who have problems overcome those problems "they become your best cheerleaders. They are so happy that someone understands their issues and is willing to help them that they literally start bragging about you to their family, friends, and co-workers."

Whether you work for a big company or a small one, you are, in essence, always self-employed. I said this earlier, but it bears repeating.

The numbers and technical part of the business are not nearly as difficult to understand as it first appears they are. I have trained thousands of newcomers on the basics during week-long new LO bootcamps. The toughest part of the training is convincing them that things like payment calculations, ratios, ARM adjustments, loan-to-value calculations and the like really are as easy as they look. Yes, there's algebra involved, but the computer or calculator does that for you. A working knowledge of basic arithmetic -- addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division -- is all that is needed to be a competent LO. There's no need to become a math whiz; what you need is to become a sales whiz with good math skills. If, however, you do want to learn more about mortgage math, just go to the free resources at www.calculated.com/training

You are a salesperson, consultant, and trusted advisor. But don't get so wrapped up in the touchy-feely stuff that you forget to close the deal. Create a lead generation system, write applications, get them processed and underwritten, and get them closed and funded. Then, and only then, will you get paid.

You must learn about the confusing Truth-In-Lending Act (TILA) disclosure and the APR and you must know how to explain it to borrowers. One place to get this information is www.MtgProfessor.com as well as at www.loan.yahoo.com

There are a lot of ways to waste money on advertising, advertising that will do you absolutely no good and bring in no business. There are tons of free marketing materials available, and lots of cheap mortgage marketing resources on e-bay.

You should know about the secondary market, the bond market, how interest rates are set, and what drives rates. The Federal Reserve does not set mortgage rates, by the way; the Fed can raise the federal funds rate - often called the overnight rate (which is a short-term rate) - and mortgage rates can actually decline. You can find a lot of information about the secondary market and about interest rates at the websites of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae, as well as at the various regional Federal Reserve websites, including www.federalreserveeducation.org

Don't try to predict the direction of interest rates. Your customers will all ask you to speculate on the direction of mortgage interest rates. Many LOs confuse knowledge for wisdom and engage in this kind of speculation without a background in why rates move, which is both stupid and dangerous. What happens if you're wrong? Who pays for that mistake? If you are consistently right in your speculation about the direction of rates, I encourage you to RIGHT NOW leave this business, pack your bags, and move to New York City and get a job on Wall Street, where you will make millions. Otherwise, direct your borrowers to www.BankRate.com, a website for which I write occasionally. Editors at that excellent site survey ten private economists every week on their predictions on the short-term direction of interest rates. Usually, five say they're going up and five say they're going down. You want to bet those odds? You think you can do better than someone who has studied this stuff for years and has a PhD in the subject? Hey, go right ahead, but you'll end up wrong at some point, then you'll be sued, and then you'll be fired, as you should be. I can't be strong enough on this subject: DON'T SPECULATE ON THE DIRECTION OF INTEREST RATES. If you desperately need to know where rates are going, you can subscribe to the excellent www.MortgageMarketGuide.com as well as www.TheFreedmanReport.com

Don't give tax advice.  Go to www.IRS.gov

Don't give legal advice. That's called UPL - the unauthorized practice of law. Only lawyers can give legal advice. Even if you are an attorney, you are not operating as an attorney when you are originating a mortgage loan -- at least you shouldn't be, since, as an attorney you have clients but LOs have customers (big difference).  

Some additional thoughts:

A lead-generation system is absolutely essential. Without it, nothing else matters. Have I said that enough?

Early on I started teaching both other originators and prospective homebuyers. As I wrote earlier, someone once said there is nothing that focuses your energies and attention more on a subject than knowing you will have to teach it the next day, and I have found that to be true. Knowing I would have to teach others forced me to learn a lot more about the business than I otherwise would have.

I wrote a lot for mortgage industry publications, and spoke before mortgage groups and consumer groups. That got me in contact with people I could learn from. I attended every seminar I could, even when I really couldn't afford to, read the trade publications, and obtained as many industry certifications as I could. I also took classes in mortgages and real estate at my local community college. (Community colleges are one of this country's great resources.)

Also, I made sure I got my real estate license in every jurisdiction in which I originated mortgages - one mortgage manager once told me there is no mortgage business, there is only a real estate business, and we provide the financing. I agree.

I attended both real estate and mortgage continuing professional education, and read lots of homebuying books. Also, I found a lot of great stuff on mortgage marketing on E-bay. Cheap, effective, and informative. Type in "mortgage marketing" in the site's search box and you will find dozens of mortgage marketing resources for as little as five dollars.  I had a public access television show on local cable, and wrote columns for local newspapers on mortgages and home buying.

I wish Amazon.com and ebay existed when I began. But, of course, they did not. I would have found the book Mortgages 101 on Amazon.com. I can't recommend it enough. Go to Amazon.com and read my review of this amazing book. I also learned a great deal from Doug Smith's "Climbing the Ladder of Success," a $20 book that is worth thousands, and is available from www.DougSmithOnline.com

Knowing what I know now, I would have also spent a lot of time creating a cover letter I send to borrowers explaining the mortgage loan process. I would also have spent more time with borrowers talking with them about the Truth-in-Lending Act Disclosure and the APR. I have an explanation form that I send with the TIL Disclosure that answers a lot of questions. Contact me and I will send it to you, along with the cover letter and other resources for free.

I would have spent a lot more time learning about appraisals, probably taking a course at www.appraisalinstitute.org

Some specific tips:

It's not a job -- its your own business, regardless of whether you are working for a mortgage company or for yourself.

Call or write renters. Use street and city directories like Hanes and CrissCross.

Don't drop off rate sheets, but you do need to find a way to be able to walk into a real estate office and get to the agents. Once you are in the office, give the agents business first -- give referrals to get referrals. And be clear on your expectations -- 3% commission on their part versus 1% commission for you means that they need to turn over three leads to you for every one of your referrals to them.

Don't position yourself as the low-cost provider

Quote payment first, then rate.

Add value at every opportunity

A web site is necessary, but it will not generate much business. It will, however, legitimize you and act as a 24-hour selling tool. 

Teach mortgage CE, teach RE CE, teach homebuyer ed - flip the script:   Every LO should get a real estate license (but keep it inactive, so the real estate agents won't be paranoid about you being a potential competitor). Some say there is no mortgage business - there is a real estate financing business, so we should be fully versed in real estate. I have been licensed in every jurisdiction in which I have written loans, and it has helped me tremendously. For some reason, real estate agents are very (and inordinately) proud that they have a real estate license (they seem to equate it to a law license for crying out loud) and feel that their license makes them an expert in all things related to real estate, so when I tell them that I, too, have a real estate license, I am able to throw it right back into their face. It puts me on their level; they are always taken aback when I tell them I have a real estate license, too. It allows me to get the relationship started on a more equal level. I love that.

Also, I met a lot of new soon-to-be-licensed real estate agents in the initial training class, plus I got a lot of training and knowledge I would not have gotten otherwise since the mortgage business doesn't provide much training to newcomers (although that is going to change a lot over the next few years) and I learned a great deal about the local market and about local practices. In the initial licensing classes I was always the only one there who was also a loan originator.

The other way to meet real estate agents is through attending CE classes. You can do that at local community colleges and private RE schools even if you are not in need of CE or even if you don't have a real estate license. I was the only LO at every real estate CE class I ever attended, and, since in every class a financing question came up I made a TON of contacts. LOs should also consider teaching some CE classes.

The other thing to think about is teaching homebuyer classes at local community colleges, which I did for 8 years. That allows you to flip the script, offering agents leads rather than the other way around -- begging them for leads. Agents always complain, and rightfully so, that LOs take and take but never give back. This is one way to powerfully address that complaint. Another way? Deliver status updates in person and to both the listing and selling agent. This is about the only reason for an LO to go to a real estate sales office. When you do walk into a real estate office with a loan update you will surprise a lot of folks, because LOs just don't do that sort of thing.

And, finally, understand that agents can get just as frustrated with in-house LOs as with those who do not work in-house, plus there is turnover, lack of training, and lack of chemistry all suffered by in-house mortgage companies; they are not immune from the problems of the mortgage origination industry.

So, there are many ways to get to agents, if that is what you really want to do, although dealing with real estate agents can be, I admit, a sure-fire way to burnout. But you have to learn to control them, not let them control you.

So there it is. I hope you learned something here. But you should know that not everyone agrees with what I have written here. One very important person who disagrees with me about some of what I have written is, as I wrote at the beginning, Thomas Morgan. After reading, at my request, a draft of this publication, here is what he wrote:

Chris:

Your thesis, I think, is that loan officers don't understand just how long the learning process is and that many give up before success starts to happen.

Several things I don't like about your message - you subscribe to the philosophy that "any training or learning is good learning" - i.e. the ebay stuff. I have bought 1000's of dollars of this stuff and find it ALL crap. Not one piece would I use. Instead, find a mentor and see what they are using -- and copy ­that.

You say things like "I would have learned more about appraisals," but you don't say why it's important. My experience is that appraisals are marginally important on the scale of knowledge - more so in the rehab niche. But the loan officer would be far better-served contracting with a responsive, creative appraiser than learning about appraisals.

I think this just shows that you have to find your own way, your own path, the system that works best for you. Here is what I wrote in response:

Thomas:

You see, that is why I appreciate having you in my life - I know I can get honest, constructive feedback. I really appreciate you taking the time to read the draft. As you have summed up my thesis better than I did, I hope you don't mind if I steal some of your words, since everyone else seems to do that to you. Indeed, I do believe that "loan officers don't understand just how long the learning process is and that many give up before success starts to happen." I find that to be true especially at the large national lenders among 20-somethings. They give up too easily. And, yes, I do believe that "above all, the thirst for knowledge and proficiency has to be a hallmark of the successful loan officer." I like your comment about a lot of the ebay stuff being crap. I have found some of those things helpful, but I tend to agree with you that finding a mentor is much more important than buying the latest marketing plan from a guru. I know that you feel like appraisals aren't as important as a lot of other things, and I think you are correct. I will refine the message about appraisals, and ensure that readers don't strive to become an appraiser but that they know just enough about appraisals.