| Mortgage Minute Newsletter From Sam Thompson, Senior Mortgage Advisor Dec 2007- Vol 1, Issue 30
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Quick Links
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| Who we are. |
 Our Corporate Campus in Mt. Laurel, NJ C21 Mortgage is one of the top ten originators of retail residential mortgages in the United States. We offer you unsurpassed service, a full range of programs at competitive rates, and the smoothest mortgage experience in the industry. In 2006 alone, C21 Mortgageprovided $41 billion in mortgage financing for American homes, and every day we help more people fulfill the dream of home ownership. C21 Mortgage operates out of twomain facilities in Mount Laurel , NJ and Jacksonville, FL - employing a combined total of more than 5,200 team players.
We've received numerous awards,including Best 100 Places to Work in IT (Computerworld), Top 25 Companies that Care, Training Top 100, and more. And, we were recently ranked #1 by Inside Banking for our reliable closings and accurate Good Faith Estimates and we constantly receive 98%-100% "I would recommend" ratings from buyers AND realtors in post-closing surveys.
CALL US SO YOU CAN SEE HOW WE DO IT! |
| Dear Sam, |
We have Agent Discounts!
Did you know that we have agent discounts for Realtors' personal loans?
My company is very committed to serving our clients AND the agents
that support us with this special deal which is really a neat benefit
that I am proud to offer you. If you need to refinance your home or if you ever want to take advantage of any homes that you would like to buy for yourself,
please let me know. Now is the time with interest rates below 6% for a
30 yr fixed rate that has not been this low in over 2 yrs with the
housing pricing very favorable right now as you know.
Along with this feature, I will do everything in my power to get
you the best pricing that I can because I want to make sure you are
getting a great deal the same as I do for all of my borrowers.
Another reason why this is such a neat deal is that it allows you
to see how well we process loans from the borrower's stand point so you
will be more likely to recommend us to your clients.
Just give me a call and I will personally take your application or
I will get one of my colleagues to help me that I have a lot of faith
in because I want you to be very happy with the entire experience.
Think of this as our
To You!
Call me if I can help you with this!
Sam Thompson
C21 Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Advisor 'The FHA and VA Guy'
843-230-7929
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What to expect at closing.
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We are open during the holidays to serve you for most days as follows.
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Monday, Dec 24, Christmas Eve Open until 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 25, Christmas Day Closed All Day
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| How many buyers come to you pre-approved? |
 I'll Never Give Up!
In this business, we hear a lot of realtors say "all of my buyers are already pre-approved when I get them".
Experienced Mortgage Advisors know that comment defies the law of
averages and that you are mostly just saying that to keep from hurting
our feelings because you may be sending your buyers to other lenders
out of habit or to the last mortgage advisor that came by your office.
We know this because the national average is only about 30% of the
buyers call a lender before calling a Realtor to roughly 2/3's have not
spoken to a lender first.
Another thing that may have happened is that many of your
pre-approved buyers have talked to another realtor first, who sent them
to a lender and THEN they found you. In this case, that could explain
the unnatural statistics. But in this case, you should be worried
because it can mean that they are shopping realtors.
In mortgage sales, we can't get offended by this the same way that
you cannot get offended when people you know that just bought a house
or listed one without calling you to help them. It's just business and
you have to be happy to get what you can and hope for the best.
But be honest, it hurts when
your friends don't call you doesn't it? It hurts me too because you
are my friend. Mainly because I know that the ones getting the
referrals are not doing anything more than I do and maybe a whole lot
less.
I walk in some of my weekly visited offices with 10 or more,
sometimes 50 sales on the board for the month and most of the time, I
don't have any mortgages for any of them. That really hurts and
sometimes I consider giving up and trying my hand at selling cars or
something that I can control better myself because I would be directly
involved with the customer.
I hope you see that I am trying really hard to win your business
by taking your calls day, night and weekends, providing mortgage,
market and motivational information and the best rates and service that
I possibly can. If I am not doing enough for your business, please
call me and tell me what else I can do and I'll do it!
I know you don't want to upset the applecart when a buyer says he
has his money covered but think about it this way. I can probably get
them a better deal and with me, you know the processing is going to be
smooth and easy.
So, all I ask for you to do is to say something like this,
"That's
great that you have already got a pre-approval letter because most
people I work with don't know to do this. But I feel l would be doing
you a disservice it I did not mention this to you. We have a super
mortgage guy that I would be very surprised if he couldn't get you a
better deal and since I have worked with him and his company, as has
most everyone else in my office and we all know that they are very good
at working through the conditions and closing our loans smooth and easy. I really would like for you to talk to Sam too, can I have him give you a quick pre-approval call?"
This one question gives me a shot and that is all I would ever ask of you.
By challenging them on their lending source, you and they will be much
happier when this closes than they would have been, I promise!!
For the buyers that may be shopping realtors, keep in mind that I
do everything I can to promote the realtors that refer borrowers to me
because I know how important the 3rd-party referrals are to your
business too.
I am going to keep trying everything I can to win your business to
the best of my abilities and try to improve what I do every chance I
can and hopefully one day, you will refer a client to me. I have a
family to support and they depend on me the same as your family depends
on you and I owe that to them.
Thanks for your business and support in advance!
I WILL NEVER GIVE UP ON YOU!!
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And I hope you never give up on me either!
Call me and lets help each
other!! And if you are not in my primary market, that's okay. I have
done loans for folks all across the country and would love to help you
too!
This is my Christmas Wish
this year!
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Weekly Tip - Start some new traditions with your family this Christmas morning!!
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Jingle All the Way (Family Fun Edition) (1996)
I felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the hilarious comedy, "Jingle All the Way" that you have got to see. In the movie, Arnold only had one present to buy but he kept putting it off and it was the "one" toy that everyone wanted. He and Sinbad both fought for the "one" available toy so their kid would get it for Christmas that turned Arnold into a "hero" with his family unlike what you would ever expect. If you haven't seen it, please rent this DVD and watch it over the holidays and I am sure it will become a new tradition in your home.
My task was to get the new Wii interactive computer game for Christmas and I have been looking for 2 weeks. Well, last Tuesday morning, I waiting in line in the electronics dept in our Super Wal-Mart in Laurinburg for an hour because this when UPS "might" deliver some, we were told. I got there early and was the 3rd in line and as we waited, the line grew and grew until around 30 people were anxiously waiting to see if today was the day. Some drove in from other towns we learned while standing around watching the clerks go about their work. The lady at the head of the line was there an hour before me and she had waited at the K-Mart in Fayetteville for over 8 hours only to be too far in that line to receive the Wii when their shipment arrived a few days before.
It was my lucky day because around 15 Wii's came in!! Now my kids are going to flip because they are old enough to know that it's not Santa and that the Wii's are impossible to get.
Here's my idea for extending the fun at Christmas this year past the usual 10 minutes of madness with the opening of presents that I wanted to share with you so it might become a tradition at your home too! Like the many movies out like "National Treasure" and its sequel coming out any day and the "Da Vinci Code" and the "Amazing Race" television show, I thought I would put out clues for the kids to find the "BIG" surprise after "they thought" the fun was over. I did this one year for one of my son's birthday parties and it was a blast. For that one, I had a series of separate clues for 2 teams to solve which brought both teams together at the final destination. It only took 10 minutes but was the most fun of the whole party.
To help you with this idea, here are several clues that you can use to do this with your family or you can think of them on your own: 1. The longer you stand, the shorter you glow. - Candle
2.
Thirty white horses upon a red hill, Now they tramp, now they chomp,
now they stand still. With this, they'll stay bright and shiny. - Toothpaste
3. Round with a ribbon, Santa on my side, surrounded with beautiful lights and hung with care. - Christmas ornament with a Santa scene. 4. News, weather, sports, comedies, movies, what else can these buttons bring us? TV remote control
5. Cold and dark for now but when the door opens,
I'll be bright and warm and if there is toast, I might really get hot!
Butter in the refrigerator.
6. You can always find money when they look for it in here? The tabbing makes the searching fast and easy too. I am an American classic - American Heritage Dictionary 7. Formed long ago, not made yet today, employed while others sleep - Bed
8.
From this vantage point, the room looks messy yet this tree makes the
room look and smell wonderful. How many more days until I'll be put
away for another year? Angel on the top of the Christmas Tree.
9. Dry or cool, I keep you, in a can you keep me. - umbrella in metal umbrella holder. 10. I get wetter as you get drier but in a few days, I'll get all clean and fluffy again! - A towel
11.
What a cute family we make on this pier. What a beautiful summer day
all framed up. - Family picture. You can look around for a picture
that you can write about too then tape the clue to the back.
12. Poke your fingers in my eyes and I open wide my jaws. Cloth or paper, I am hungry to devour them all? - Scissors 13. This ball will not move! Maybe if we both weren't so bronzed. Oh well, at least we look good and we are such an accomplishment! - Soccer trophy of a girl kicking a ball. 14.
These are always dirty. Why don't they throw clean things in
me! Dirty clothes hamper, where I am going to hide the Wii!
Just
come up with your own for your house and print them on a small piece of
paper and fold it up and write "Clue #1 to the Big Surprise!", etc. and
position them behind or under the appropriate thing that the previous
clue described. Make sure you test out the process to make sure it is
right and hide your gift in the last clue. I will hide the first clue
in the tree in an envelope and I'll tell them that there is an envelope
hiding in the tree that they missed to get them started!
Have fun with this idea and
Merry Christmas!
Please let me know if you tried this!
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| Weekly Mortgage Market Commentary | ||||||||
| Don't let the financial markets squash your clients and your transactions!
Stay informed by reading my new daily "Daily Rate Lock Commentary" or
just call me to find out what is going on! If you want to be included
in this distribution, just call or email me. Remember, knowledge is
power and the more educated you are in your industry, the higher quality buyers
you are going to attract and that means easier closings, bigger houses
and more money in your "hip national bank!" And since rates are still
climbing, call us to get your clients in our 90 day rate protection as
soon as possible!
 Rate Lock Advisory - Thursday Dec. 20th
Thursday's bond market has opened in positive territory following the release of some weaker than expected economic news. The stock markets are mixed with the Dow down 30 points and the Nasdaq up 10 points. The bond market is currently up 7/32, which should improve this morning's mortgage rates by approximately .250 of a discount point over yesterday's morning rates. The final revision to the 3rd Quarter GDP was today's first release. It showed a reading of 4.9% as was expected and has not influenced bond trading or mortgage rates today. The second report was the Labor Department's posting of last week's unemployment claims. They said that 346,000 new claims for benefits were filed last week. This was an unexpected increase of approximately 12,000 claims. Usually this data does not influence trading much, but did have a minor favorable impact on this morning's due to a lack of highly important news being released. The last report of the day was the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) for November. It r evealed a decline of 0.4%, which was a larger than expected drop. That indicates that economic activity may slow during the next three to six months at a little quicker pace than analysts had thought. This is good news for bonds and mortgage rates. The remaining two reports for the week are scheduled for release tomorrow morning. The first will be will be posted at 8:30 AM when November's Personal Income and Outlays data will be released. It will give us an important measurement of consumer ability to spend and current spending habits. Since consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, any related data usually has a fairly significant impact on the financial markets and mortgage rates. Current forecasts are calling for a 0.5% rise in income and a 0.7% increase in spending. If this report reveals smaller than expected increases, we should see the bond market improve and mortgage rates drop slightly tomorrow. The second report of the day comes lat e morning when the revised University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for December is posted. Current forecasts are calling for no change from the preliminary reading of 74.5. This is important because rising consumer confidence indicates that consumers may be more apt to make large purchases in the near future. An unexpected upward revision could lead to higher mortgage rates tomorrow. If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
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Let me know if I can take an application for you anytime! And,
please let me know if you like the format of this email service. I
hope you are reading these so you can stay up on your profession and so
you can make more money too!
Also, I am available to do a "Hit the Ground Running Workshop" with
any agents interested in learning tons of things they can do to help
them succeed in Real Estate. I need at least 5 agents, brand new or experienced,
looking for some motivation to put this on for you that will take 2-3
hours, depending on your involvement! These are designed to be
interactive so you can learn more about yourself and so you will walk
away with a stronger sense of self-confidence too.
These are fun and motivational!
If you don't get at least 10 great ideas that can really help your business, I'll take you to lunch and give you a few more!
What are you waiting for? Gather support with 4 of your colleagues and call me today!
We'll guarantee your closing date.
We're so confident that we will close when you say so, that if we
don't, we will reduce your interest rate by 1/8 of one percent for the
life of your loan.*
We offer FREE pre-approvals to qualifying homebuyers! With a mortgage pre-approval, you can shop for the home of your dreams with confidence. You'll know just how much you can afford and increase your negotiating power. **
We take pride in being a lender you can trust. As our mission states, "we promise to treat customers like family." We take this oath seriously, and our goal is to provide you with the superior service you deserve - guaranteed.
* Approved, conventional, purchase loans only. Closing date to be mutually agreed upon between customer and bank, and customer must provide all required documentation. Timely request for payment under guarantee is required. ¹Inside Mortgage Finance, Copyright 2006 |
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I hope you have a great week this week in real estate. Call me if I can help you with that!!
Sam Thompson - "The FHA and VA Guy" 843-230-7929
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