Articles & Reports

Index of Articles

Click on the title to read the full article.

The D.A.N.G.E.R. Report:
Report Commissioned by the N.A.R. is the Key to Getting Realtors' Attention (and Ultimately Earning their Loyalty)

The National Association of Realtors, under the auspices of its Strategic Thinking Advisory Committee, commissioned Stefan Swanepoel and the Swanepoel T3 Group to uncover, research, and index the potential threats facing the real estate industry.

Their report, the D.A.N.G.E.R. Report (Definitive Analysis of Negative Game Changers Emerging in Real Estate) was issued by the NAR on May 15, 2015.

This is an extraordinary and concise report on the dangers confronting the five faces of the real estate world: Agents, Brokers, the NAR, its State & Local Associations, and the MLS.

Mortgage loan officers who want to get or grow their share of purchase origination business would help themselves by understanding the major trends affecting Realtors – because Realtors still refer about 80% of homebuyers to their eventual lenders. And loan officers who want to receive these referrals must find legal, RESPA-compliant ways to help agents attract, retain, and close buyer leads and seller listings.

In this article, I am going to focus on a few key points from the report: Read the full article

Effective Negative Equity:
the Bottleneck in the Housing Recovery

The Wall St. Journal recently reported that about 35% of home owners with mortgages are in a position of effective negative equity -- which means that, while they may or may not be technically underwater, they lack sufficient equity, given their home's current value, to be able sell that home and have enough left over to pay off the mortgage and the expenses of selling their home -- and still be able to make even a minimum down payment on another home. They may want to sell their homes, but they can't.

A disproportionate share of the 35% with effective negative equity are people with homes in the bottom one-third of home values in their areas -- which is where first-time home buyers typically look for a home to buy.

The Hubris of Dodd-Frank

90% of your professional attention is on originating loans, and that's the way it should be. But regulatory oversight has already significantly altered the mortgage marketplace, and you would ignore its impact on your livelihood at your own peril.
I attempt to provide some perspective on how much more complex mortgage lending has become since the enactment of Dodd-Frank, and why loan originators need to stay informed about this particular elephant in the room.
This information can be shared with your colleagues, clients, and Realtor partners, which will help them all better understand why your job of helping people finance their home purchase has gotten more difficult -- and will help them appreciate your efforts.

Evolutionary Change is Coming to the Mortgage Industry

Historians will look back at the years between 2005-2015 as one of great turmoil and danger to the American economy – and the major catalyst for that turmoil has been the housing boom and bust, along with the banking and credit crisis that accompanied it.
Now that we're beginning to see evidence that a corner may have been turned, LOs might want to stop for a moment, take stock, and make some decisions about how they will compete in an industry which will probably never again be the same as it was at the turn-of-the-century.

The Phantom Seller's Market

There's a lot of optimistic talk coming from the media and the real estate industry about rising home prices; people are saying we're already in a seller's market in many parts of the country.
But there's one important ingredient to a real seller's market that's missing. Find out what it is, and what it means for your business.
More importantly, find out what you can personally do in your local market to help bring about the conditions that will lead to a real recovery of the housing market, and the purchase loans that will come with it.

How Do You Handle Adversity?

The way you respond to problems, challenges, setbacks and general bad news says more about you than you probably realize. It’s also a pretty good predictor of where you’ll be a year from now. This is one of my most popular articles, and brings in information from a variety of disciplines in order to help you improve your resiliency and response to adversity.

Your Unique Selling Proposition: The Difference Between Hype & Performance

In this article, Bob shows why an effective Unique Selling Proposition (USP) has much more to do with who you are and what you do, than with what you say or how you say it.

He explains why fundamental marketing principles call for a deeper understanding of what your clients really want, and shows you how to prepare yourself to offer them something your competitors are not offering – something your clients really want – and how to actually deliver on the promises you make.

Producing Results

When you set a goal, and then accomplish it, you are developing and exercising personal power. Power can be defined as the capacity to produce a preconceived result, or to cause such a result to be produced. Another way to put it is that when you become a powerful person, your word becomes law in the universe.

This concept has implications that go far beyond your success in the mortgage business. Powerful people (i.e., people who have learned how to produce a result) have a greater capacity to make a difference -- from the microcosm of their businesses and their families to the macrocosm of their community, their nation, and ultimately, the world.

In Search of the Silver Bullet

It has been said that “desperate times call for desperate measures.” That would explain a lot of the extreme anxiety I see in loan originators who are frantically looking for the Holy Grail of Mortgage Lending: The Easy Way to Close More Loans.

The honest truth is that there is no such thing as a silver bullet or magic pill or “easy way” to close more loans. But this article will tell you what I’ve learned in 20 years of coaching about what it really takes to be a successful loan originator in any market, regardless of conditions or outside circumstances

A Really Dumb Idea

This article was written in July, 2010, after the expiration of the $8000 Home Buyer's Tax Credit. But it's amazing how little things have changed since then.It's an examination of what happens when government, especially at the federal level, tries to stimulate, regulate, and/or manipulate a supposedly free market -- in this case, the housing market.

The article goes on to describe ways to generate and close more mortgage leads, even in a difficult market, and links to a free video and report.

What It Takes to Succeed in Mortgage Origination Sales

How do you build a successful career in mortgage origination?

You don't by any means have to be born with a silver tongue, but you do need to develop a few key principles and character traits along the way.

Using a personal story from his own experience, Bob identifies one key to success in selling – without which no one can ultimately be successful