When one of my clients called the other day with a real estate question, I was surprised when she prefaced the question with “I know your main business is mortgage but...” I was delighted to help her with her question and found it interesting that the image I had cultivated is that mortgage is my primary business. One of the things this tells me is I need to do a better job educating my clients, so here goes.
Real estate is my primary business. In pursuit of my goal of delivering excellent service in real
estate I found that a consistent weakness in transactions was the mortgage component. This led me to the conclusion that the only way to make sure my clients were adequately served was to become
an expert in mortgage as well as real estate. I began serving my clients with their mortgage needs more than 18 years ago. The objective of the mortgage company has, from our first day in business, been threefold:
1. To serve my real estate clients by thoroughly educating them about their financing options so that they can select the best mortgage product for their needs.
2. To deliver competitive interest rates and low fees.
3. To maintain the highest level of integrity putting client needs first always.
Because of this we weathered the mortgage industry meltdown in a market that most of our
competitors did not survive.
As stated previously, real estate is my primary business but a large part of my success is the unique
ability to merge both the real estate and mortgage component taking service to a higher level. Even in the event that my client uses another source for their mortgage financing, the same level of
service and heart of the teacher are there.
In closing I would like to take a moment and say thank you to my many, many loyal clients who helped me during this very difficult time by referring friends and family for both their
real estate and mortgage needs. I can never thank you enough for your loyalty and support. I am blessed because of you.
Brian


Bye Bye Bank of America Wholesale Lending
Bank of America announced today that it plans to exit the wholesale mortgage lending business. They state that as part of their “customer driven” business model they have decided to focus on opportunities to “deepen our relationships with existing Bank of America customers" and to offer responsible and competitive mortgage products to new customers. “By responsibly exiting our relatively low market share" (22%) “in the highly diversified wholesale mortgage market. We can redirect critical operational resources to enhance capabilities for consumers to purchase or refinance homes”
So let me get this straight, they think that by limiting distribution of their mortgage products they can somehow help consumers? It seems to me that by limiting access to product they are directly opposing what is in the best interest of consumers.
We have seen this before. In Washington Mutual's “glory days", that is the years before the whole mortgage meltdown, we watched Washington Mutual move in and out of wholesale lending time and time again. Interestingly enough their most profitable years coincided with the years that the majority of the loans they originated were through their wholesale lending relationships. We certainly wish Bank of America best success in this endeavor, after all it is a free country so why not put the squeeze on consumers if you can. Brokers, do not worry, they will be back. In the meantime, Bank of America is not the only game town
This blog was written by Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker of Northstone Real Estate Inc, and Northstone Mortgage.
Brian serves clients within the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. And specializes in residential re sale homes, condo’s and land, and is uniquely qualified as a short sale negotiator holding both real estate and mortgage licenses.
You can contact Brian directly by phone at 800-806-3145 or by email at brian@northstone.net. Click here to view his client newsletter.
Brian is licensed with the Washington State Department of Licensing and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions License number MLO-114864 and is a member of the Seattle King County Association of Realtors and Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
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