Tag: lender

The Seven Real Estate Stages of the Pandemic

~ Rob Spinosa ~ Leave a comment

By now, some of us have lost a loved one, friend or community member to COVID-19.  Though if the cavalier denialism exhibited by some Americans is an indicator, there are still many who have yet to share the magnitude of such a loss.  But even putting one’s head in the sand about the medical realities of the coronavirus cannot spare us the social, emotional and economic impacts. 

It’s accepted as true that though we all grieve a loss, everyone grieves in a unique manner.  One of the most referenced works on the topic was written in 1969 by Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, in her book On Death and Dying. This philosophy is popularly referred to as the “stages of grief,” and whether comprised of five emotions or seven, it feels increasingly as though we are traveling through ‘stages of the pandemic’ in both our professional and personal lives.  Sometimes we mourn the loss of our “past life” in a linear fashion and sometimes we jump along the steps chaotically, but without a doubt we have been presented with an event that has impacted our world and is in the process of shaping our future.  If I think back to February or March, and reflect on today, here are some examples from my journey through the stages: 

1) Shock and disbelief

Wait, no broker tours, no showing of property?  Here we go again a la Lehman, 2008 or 9/11 — investors leaving the market and loan programs being suspended or canceled.  Tremendous rate chaos.  

2) Denial

No way they will shut businesses down — that’s crazy.  What do you mean the kids are not going to go to school?  The Junior Warriors basketball season is canceled?

3) Guilt

I should have been more forceful with our clients who were on the fence.  How did we get lulled into complacency with credit availability?  Why did we let our guard down and not consider existential risks in our assessments of the market?  

4) Anger and bargaining

Why are we, here in CA, subject to shelter-in-place while people in other parts of the country are still conducting business as usual?  What do these “health experts” really know?  Man, I HATE Zoom meetings!

5) Depression/loneliness/reflection

My 85-year old dad is 2000 miles away and I’m not sure when he’ll see his grandson next.  I’m not going to see the inside of a bustling conference room for many months. Some of the skills, habits and personality traits I’ve used to build my business are going to be sidelined indefinitely.  Put the professional wardrobe in mothballs…

6) Reconstruction and working through

Yes, this is the landscape of our new reality — it is not temporary.  Embrace, learn and master the tools and tactics necessary to maintain momentum.  Contemplate what it will take to grow in a remote world.  Reinvest marketing dollars accordingly.   Rethink all iterations of “it’s just the way we do things.”

7) Acceptance and hope

The way we did business is over.  What remnants exist are gifts but my mindset must accept that I am in a foreign country now and I need to first learn and then speak their language.  I can still think in my native tongue, but the longer I hold out and do so, the more difficult it will be to assimilate.  The sooner I embrace the good and bad of the new culture, the sooner I will be open to its wonders.

Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, I can find myself cycling through several or even all of the above stages on any given day.  My guess is that most others do as well — unless they are stuck.  Maybe they’re stuck in denial.  Maybe they’re still pissed off — at their governor, at their clients, at themselves. Then again, maybe some are well on their way of reconstructing their businesses but  require help they never previously needed; with new technology, with new tools, with new ideas.  My point is that we have all lost a loved one — our pre-pandemic way of life and business.  It’s now up to us to move on, yet before we do we must confront the grieving process.  Recognizing that is part of a healthy healing process too.

In loving memory,

Rob Spinosa
Vice President of Mortgage Lending

Guaranteed Rate
NMLS: 22343 
Cell/Text: 415-367-5959 
rob.spinosa@rate.com

Marin Office:  324 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA  94960

Berkeley Office:  1400 Shattuck Ave., Suite 1, Berkeley, CA  94709
 

*The views and opinions expressed on this site about work-related matters are my own, have not been reviewed or approved by Guaranteed Rate and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Guaranteed Rate.  In no way do I commit Guaranteed Rate to any position on any matter or issue without the express prior written consent of Guaranteed Rate’s Human Resources Department.

Guaranteed Rate. Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee NMLS License #2611 3940 N. Ravenswood Chicago, IL 60613 – (866) 934-7283

Let Me Be Clear

~ Rob Spinosa ~ Leave a comment

As we go through life, I’d bet most of us come to a point where we realize we must be comfortable in our own skin.  Warts, blemishes, imperfections and all.  So as my career has progressed, I have had less difficulty ditching the pretense of needing to conceal the fact that I never attended college and accept that, in matters of business discourse, I was raised mostly with a blue collar approach of getting to the point. 

Yeah, I know I have been accused of possessing a certain facility with language that belies the high school diploma I struggled to achieve, so it won’t surprise you to know I make a consistent effort to build my vocabulary, my catalog of quotes and my storehouse of witticisms.  Still, I harbor a broad disdain for “corporate jargon.”  I bring this up because, working in the San Francisco Bay Area, with its proximity to Silicon Valley, most of my clientele has exposure to the sprawling tech campuses that employ the nation’s best and brightest.  So while the purpose of this post is not to make fun of anyone — especially not those whose intelligence far exceeds mine — if you’re going to work with me, I want you to know a few things:

  • I work in the mortgage industry, not the mortgage space.  This was an industry nearly 20 years ago when I took the leap of faith to become a full-time salesperson.  It’s still a vibrant industry today.  Let’s leave the space exploration to NASA.
  • I try not to leave any loops to close.  I do have a bias to action in order to get things done efficiently out of the gate.  Don’t put off to tomorrow that which you can finish today, right?
  • I’m not going to open my kimono and be fully transparent.  There, I said it.  I’m sorry, but I work for my buyers or homeowners.  I don’t reveal their information to other parties in the transaction in any feigned virtue of being completely transparent.  I will be honest 100% the time, but I will not be “transparent” to that degree.  This is business.
  • I never go “out of pocket.”  I don’t even know what that means.  Yes, sometimes I cannot be reached for good reasons, but when that is a possibility, I will try to provide instruction for my next in command.  Outside of those few occasions, I am probably one of the most responsive and accessible professionals in the mortgage space…I mean, industry.
  • I am not rate or program agnostic.  I have strong opinions and I will share them with you.  I will respect you if you agree or disagree with reason and tact.  The way I see it, you should expect a professional to share his/her experiences and perspective because that’s valuable insight built over a career.  And it’s exactly the kind if information from which a client — someone who may only transact a few real estate deals in his/her life — can benefit.
  • “Deep dives” are often bested by keeping things simple.  Even with a myriad of loan options, 95% of our clients end up with our Top 5 solutions.  That doesn’t mean that mortgage financing is simple, but it often means that wide and shallow works better for most.
  • I always have the bandwidth to provide great customer service.  You will never see me more aggravated than if a member of my team tells a client or prospect that “we are slammed.”  I have worked hard my whole career in order to be busy for the remainder of it.  If I have too much business, I have enough revenue to hire additional staff to assure you timely and competent service.

So that’s my rap.  As they say, it’s easy to make a simple thing complex and hard to make a complex thing simple, so in an effort to achieve greater clarity, I’m cool with ditching the Silicon Valley lingo when we work together.  Clear communication polls way high up on the customer satisfaction surveys all the time, and my career would look very different without the effort I make to deliver it to the street.  What about you?

Time to log off,

Rob Spinosa
Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending

Guaranteed Rate
NMLS: 22343 
Cell/Text: 415-367-5959 
rob.spinosa@rate.com

Marin Office:  324 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA  94960

Berkeley Office:  1400 Shattuck Ave., Suite 1, Berkeley, CA  94709
 

*The views and opinions expressed on this site about work-related matters are my own, have not been reviewed or approved by Guaranteed Rate and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Guaranteed Rate.  In no way do I commit Guaranteed Rate to any position on any matter or issue without the express prior written consent of Guaranteed Rate’s Human Resources Department.

Guaranteed Rate. Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee NMLS License #2611 3940 N. Ravenswood Chicago, IL 60613 – (866) 934-7283

Are You a Lender or a Banker or a Broker?

~ Rob Spinosa ~ Leave a comment

“So are you a broker or a lender?” “Or a banker or a lender?” “Or a broker/banker?” Yes, yes, and yes!

We get this question all the time, but I think it comes from a good place. Naturally, everybody shopping for a home loan wants to get the best rates and terms and some confusion swirls around how the type of mortgage originator one uses has a bearing on the outcome. So when they work with me, who is really behind the curtain?

[Too lazy to read the rest? Watch the video below instead.]

Banker / Broker / Lender

In the post-downturn lending industry, there are really only three primary channels for obtaining a residential home loan; mortgage banker, mortgage broker and mortgage lender. It’s important to know that no matter which you choose there is ALWAYS a “middleman” and that person is called the mortgage loan originator or “MLO.” Now don’t confuse an MLO with a single individual — it could well be a call center with a series of “clerks” that work to get your loan from start to finish. Regardless, there are some distinct characteristics of each channel:

  • Lender: This is usually a single-entity banking institution that will fund your mortgage with their own money (most of the time…). Maybe you have a checking or savings account with this bank already. A lender will have its own specific set of guidelines for a jumbo loan and it may have its own “overlays” for conforming and government loans, like FHA and VA. Overlays are defining characteristics — let’s say a minimum FICO score, for example — that are technically not a guideline of the government-sponsored entities (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), but that are adhered to by this individual institution on top of the standard guidelines. So, if you’re going to be a customer of a direct lender, you have to meet their guidelines. If you don’t you won’t qualify with them.
  • Broker: A broker can be seen as the opposite of a lender. A broker has none of its own money to lend, but instead works with many lenders to offer a variety of options to its clients. A broker just may have more flexibility to get some scenarios approved, though when they are in the process of doing so, they turn the control and authority of the file over to the lender.
  • Banker: An independent mortgage banker fits between the lender and the broker and can often offer the services of both. Instead of lending its own money, an “inde” will have warehouse “lines of credit” from lenders and will have authority to fund loans with that money. Thus, an independent mortgage bank has a combination of in-house control over your application and the ability to match a specific profile to a specific lender. Many indes can also broker loans when brokered options prove to be the best fit. Guaranteed Rate is one of the nation’s largest independent mortgage banks, for example.

Who Has the Best Rates?

Great question! But you won’t find the answer here. And you won’t find the answer anywhere but in your own research. As mentioned above, there are many complex factors that go into a consumer’s rate and the entity type alone does not exclusively determine the outcome. Can a broker beat a lender? Yes. Can the opposite be true too? Absolutely. It’s very important to note that many originators advertise exclusively based on rate, but for consumers it’s practically impossible to shop exclusively on rate — there are often too many variables for the scenario, let alone the fact that rates can change every day.

What a Roundabout!

Not really. The purpose of this blog is not to get you to resign to the fact there’s no one option better than another. In fact, by understanding the differences, it may help you get best positioned to optimize your research. For 10+ years, I have worked for an independent and the reason I really enjoy doing so is because we can say “Yes!” to more clients. We have a great variety of choices when it comes to programs, rates and terms and this power, when understood and effectively communicated gives, I feel, our customers the edge in today’s market.

I’m happy to discuss the mortgage industry and what we can do for you today. Get in touch any time and I look forward to being of service!  And of course, you can always begin the pre-approval process, free of cost or obligation, by clicking HERE.

So much better than a, 

 

Robert J. Spinosa
Vice President of Mortgage Lending
Guaranteed Rate
NMLS: 22343
Cell/Text: 415-367-5959
rob.spinosa@rate.com

Marin Office: 324 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA 94960
Berkeley Office: 1400 Shattuck Ave., Suite 1, Berkeley, CA 94709

*The views and opinions expressed on this site about work-related matters are my own, have not been reviewed or approved by Guaranteed Rate and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Guaranteed Rate. In no way do I commit Guaranteed Rate to any position on any matter or issue without the express prior written consent of Guaranteed Rate’s Human Resources Department.

Guaranteed Rate. Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee NMLS License #2611 3940 N. Ravenswood Chicago, IL 60613 – (866) 934-7283