I know this call is largely intended to uncover more refinance opportunities. I would recommend not just limiting yourself to the hope for refinance opportunities, understanding these calls can help to generate referrals from clients that lead to new client purchase AND refinance referral opportunities.

“You gotta give to be able to get”.

Start out by giving before asking for anything in return. Make the call initially about serving the client’s interests before serving your own.

1. Make it look like the call is part of your standard loan process, not an effort to sell client something. Give first, and enough information should be generated from the conversation that you can determine if there might be a financing or referral opportunity.

2. Give reasons why there is relevance and importance to the call (particularly if you leave a message for the client to call you back)

Ideally, for newly closed clients, set the stage that our unique process, unlike other lenders, is

not just from pre-approval to loan closing. Instead, our process and subsequent interest in the

client extends well beyond the closing of the loan into the months and years ahead.

1. Set the table upfront with a new client by making it a point to mention to client that you WILL be reaching out to them at the X month/year period (you decide interval length and frequency). Client will get impression that these calls are part of the standard process and helps to validate the importance of the calls when they occur. It will continue your role as an advisor and not just a salesperson. We have email templates that we use at 30, 60, and 90 days after closing to stay in front of the client and offer important advice. This is logistically more realistic to do than calling each client 3 times in the 3 month period. Your clients are more likely to think of you and refer you during the early stages of the loan so it is important to keep your name in front of them all while continuously offering advice and leadership.

2. For clients that already closed in which you don’t have the opportunity to communicate upfront that there will be future calls, you can make the current call look procedural anyway.

“You are at the mark since your last loan closing with us. It is generally at this time that I like to reach out to clients to mention some important things to you regarding your loan situation.

If you have to leave a VM message:

a. Hi, this is Jesse Byrer calling from Guaranteed Rate. I was calling to go over a few important things for you regarding your current mortgage… please call me back at your earliest convenience”

OR:

b. Hi, this is Jesse Byrer calling from Guaranteed Rate. There are a few things related to your mortgage that I believe you should know…please call me back at your earliest convenience.

It’s important to you create a sense of curiosity and urgency for the client to call you back. This will increase the number of calls returned to make your time most efficient. How many times have you had a salesperson or recruiter calling you to say “I am just calling to check in…”? Few people will return those calls as they don’t appear to have any real value attached to the call.

If you are able to successfully reach the client by phone, best to ask if “this is a good time”?

Understand you are calling unexpectedly out of the blue. We have no idea what situation the client is in. If we don’t have permission upfront to talk, the conversation will be rushed, the client distracted, and you won’t get the same level of information and impact that you’d prefer to get. Opt to schedule a call or offer to call back if you are given indications it isn’t a good time.

First, I have a few reasons for my call:

(recite each upfront)

1. Mention important things regarding your loan (see list below) *

2. See if you have any questions or needs at this point **

3. (hide) Ask pertinent annual checkup questions to uncover potential needs

4. Offer my thanks and a request for a favor ***

(clients are more inclined to wait out the purpose of the phone conversation to hear gratitude of thanks from you and wonder what the favor might be)

(1) *Mention a few important things (from list below) regarding your loan

(Choose a few (or all) from the choices below.)

1. I wanted to see how things are going with the servicing of your loan. Do you have any questions or issues at this time?

2. Are you receiving a lot of marketing overtures from different companies related to your mortgage? I wanted to make you aware that some information (describe types) regarding your loan closing is public record, and opportunistic companies purchase this information to use to market to newly closed borrowers, often-times disguised as Guaranteed Rate to gain your attention.

3. Should you receive a mail marketing piece with an offer, best to contact me to check on the legitimacy of the offer. Companies will often-times give the appearance that the mail piece is coming from us when in fact the contact numbers take them elsewhere. These offers can include new first mortgages, home equity lines of credit, mortgage insurance in case of death, bi-weekly payment offers, etc. Together we can review the offer(s) to determine whether one is suitable for you. (puts you in the role of advisor and sets the table for all mortgage-related decisions to go through you)

4. I wanted to see if you have been pre-paying on your mortgage? If so, I’d like to be able to provide you with an amortization schedule (in Excel) that you can use to keep track of your pre-payments and the impact and effect they have on your loan balance.

(2)** See if client has any questions or needs at this point (transition from talking to listening)

Once client questions have been answered,

Transitioning from giving to probing:

5. Now that you have been in your home for X months (or years), has your outlook changed as to your intended time-frame for living (or owning) your home?

6. Are you aware of the terms and expiration date of your current ARM?

7. Do you have a need to pay off credit card debt and/or ability to draw equity from your home for major expenditures?

8. Are you close to any significant life changes, such as retirement, relocating, becoming self-employed, buying a 2nd home or investment property, downsizing? These life events may invariably have an impact on your current mortgage or ability to obtain financing in the future.

(3)*** Can I ask you for a favor?

Given your network and the number of people that you know, can you keep me in mind with people you know that might need my financing services? I am extremely grateful for your support. I’d like to briefly tell you a great fact about our company:

The GR story – 18 years from a small startup to the nation’s top 10 mortgage lender – not just private, not just public, not just locally in-state, but the nation’s top 10 lender amid the likes of Wells, Chase, Quicken, and Bank of America. We’ve accomplished in 18 years what it’s taken some institutions 100 years to accomplish. We couldn’t do this without the referral generosity of our clients. We are not satisfied, however. Our goal as a company to be #1 in the nation, and my goal as an originator is to increase my business by 30% next year – can you help me? I am most appreciative and grateful for your referrals and introductions. (Most clients will naturally try to respond to the request and challenge themselves to try to help those that they like and trust and have done “good by them”)

Scripts: (ask open-ended questions – you will get more information from it)

Q. What is your intended time-frame for owning your home?

A. We like to say that getting a mortgage is like getting insurance. It’s good to be insured, but there can become a point in which you are over-insured. Your updated time-frame may result in new loan program opportunities to save you money.

As we all enter and exit various stages or milestones in our lives, our needs may change. So might your mortgage needs.

Q. Do you find yourself within reach of retirement?

A. Retirement can have important implications on your ability to qualify for a mortgage. So if you have an expiring adjustable rate mortgage, a need for a new mortgage after retirement, an expiring home equity line, or a great deal of credit card debt, it would be prudent to review your situation ahead of retiring to make sure you can qualify for financing.

Q. Are you considering buying into a partnership or starting a new business?

A. Changing from the safety and predictability of stable income to the uncertainty of self-employment can have important implications on your ability to qualify for a new mortgage. We need to get out in front of this to understand the implications before the change occurs.

Q. Are you considering purchasing a 2nd home or an investment property?

A. It’s normal to focus solely on the financing of the new property. However, it’s important to review the terms of your mortgage on your primary residence to see if there are opportunities to benefit you – whether it be to pull cash out to increase down payment amount to avoid PMI, or to use a cash out refinance to purchase the new property outright.

Q. Do you have any major expenditures on the horizon, such as home improvements, credit card debt, or college education expenses?

A. Among other options that might be available to you, it’s important to rule in or rule out whether there is an opportunity to leverage your current home as the best option to help satisfy these expenditures.

Q. Since our last loan closing, have you added a home equity line of credit that may presently have a significant balance on it?

A. If you have 2 loans, we should calculate the weighted-average cost of the debt of both mortgages. This will help to identify if there are any worthwhile options to consolidate the combined debt into 1 new loan.

Q. I believe your current ARM might just have "X" years (or months) remaining before it is schedule to adjust. Does that sound right to you?

A. Currently, ARMs that are adjusting today are doing so at a rate of approximately 5.50%. And that rate is only good for a year before it is scheduled to adjust yet again. With the Federal Reserve expected to continue to increase short term rates, we must anticipate that mortgage rates will do the same. We should calculate what the cost would be to prematurely give up your lower rate, even at the expense of going to a higher rate, if this means the new loan will give you longer term protection against higher rates.

Q. Do you find yourself to be one that would likely wait (procrastinate) until near the very end of the adjustable rate term before considering making changes to your loan?

A. Procrastination is quite common. However, you don’t want to win the battle but lose the war. For instance, someone hanging onto their current lower rate for the say, 6-18 months remaining before their rate adjustment may end up paying dearly if rates are considerably higher 6-18 months from now. The savings over the short term may be overshadowed considerably by the higher rates and higher payments that you are stuck with over the longer term.

Q. Do you know what your new mortgage rate would be if the loan were to adjust today?

A. Each adjustable rate mortgage uses different indices, margins, and caps that will ultimately determine the new rate. That said, it’s quite common for today’s adjustable rates to be based on the LIBOR index plus a margin of 2.500%. This would put a borrowers new rate at approximately 5.500% presently. Important to keep in mind this rate would only be for 12 months before facing the risk of the adjustment yet again. Even fixed rate mortgages for 30-years have lower rates than this expected adjustment rate.

(GR should have all this information on the caps/index/margin in Encompass. Don’t defer your client to contact the current loan servicer for this information as you will be giving the servicer the opportunity to steal a loan opportunity from you.)

Q. Do you find yourself believing that to refinance would mean to start over your mortgage amortization term and subsequently cost you more money over the long haul?

A. This is likely the most common misunderstanding that homeowners have. Most important is what the cost of borrowing money is on a daily basis. The loan term can be manipulated to whatever period of time you’d prefer, simply by prepaying on the loan. Do yourself a favor and don’t avoid looking at options even if it means your amortization term is going to start over.