Product Knowledge

Written By: John Hoxsey
Certified Master Loan Processor (CMLP)

This week I will talk about how to find, share, and educate your LO’s on lender guidelines. The more educated your LO’s are, the more solid loans you will receive, and the sales team will be better equipped to find homes for loans quickly. This will also ensure that the team is not overlooking a potential deal, or, wasting time on a deal that will go nowhere.

Your time at your desk is valuable so make it count. Remember processing is not our life; it is only a job, so let’s make our focus at the office be a reasonable amount of time but, with a highly concentrated and profitable effort.

A good loan officer wants to sell. A great loan officer knows exactly what they are selling and how it can get done. They are adept at “gathering the details” and placing their files. I want all of my Loan Officers to be great. Every one of them has the same opportunities but, only some of them take advantage of those opportunities.

If we want to develop a great team then we need to have the team attitude that says “I am willing to help”. “Help” being the operative word. Do not let your helpful attitude put you in a position where you are steamrolled by your team and suddenly you find yourself in a position of doing everyone else’s job. It is an easy position to find yourself in as a processor; we all have been there at one time or another. Part of helping is sharing knowledge and know-how.

As a processor and business manager, I want my team of contemporaries to have every opportunity to excel. Surround yourself with intelligent people that are likeminded in their quest to develop and build a truly great system. A system is only as good as its users. And the users will flounder if they do not have the right instructions at their fingertips.

Now that I am done with my “pep-talk”, I will climb down from my soapbox and give you the meat and potatoes of this article.

The first thing you need to do is gather your material. I have provided several links below that will give you a good starting point. However, if you have a good relationship with an underwriter, ask them to send you a hard-copy of the book they actually underwrite from. Having the manual from the lender will give you access to the same information your underwriter is looking at.

Links to Guidelines:

Freddie Guidelines (bookmark this link then click on the AllRegs link on the page):
http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/#

Fannie:
https://www.efanniemae.com/home/index.jsp

FHA:
http://www.hud.gov/

Another Great tool for guidelines is a subscription to one of the following:

AllRegs:
http://www.allregs.com/home/default.aspx

or

Adfinet:
http://www.adfinet.com/

Having the lender guidelines at your fingertips will enable you to close more loans. This is not just reference material. Sit down and actually read through some of the sections that you might be referring to regularly.

You will be surprised how it will open up avenues to walk your loan to the finish line. You will become educated on what is an actual condition and what may be a grey area. It will also point out what compensating factors may help an, otherwise tricky loan, find its way to the table.

Your loan officers should do the same. They will learn valuable information which will help them discover some great benefits to the borrower that they might not have otherwise stumbled across.

Having a team that is prepared with these kinds of tools will result in a work culture that is confident and poised to succeed.

Remember - Your reputation is your business.

Happy Processing!!!

About the Writer. As one of NAMP's volunteer writers, John Hoxsey is currently a NAMP member in good standing and is a NAMP Certified Master Loan Processor (CMLP). If you would like to become a volunteer writer for NAMP, please email us at: blog@mortgageprocessor.org.