Happy Sunday Everyone:
This market is “interesting”. I keep hearing the word “interesting”. “How’s the market right now”…”it’s interesting”. I keep saying the same thing. It’s not interesting, it’s hard. I’m really not sure if there is an industry like ours where things go from boomtown to hardtown as quickly as what we experience. I feel weird writing about it, like it’s a sign of weakness. Perhaps if I don’t acknowledge it everyone will believe that I’m the only one not affected by what’s happening out there. So I’ve said it, it’s hard right now. Question is what do you do when it’s hard? What do I do when it’s hard?
My great friend, Dave Savage, had me on one of his group calls back in May. He made a comment I’ve repeated many of times since. He said, “Lenders have never been this out of shape”. I thought that statement was both accurate and perfect for realization. The last few years have been both hard and easy. Hard in that we all worked our butts off, easy in that loans were falling out of the sky, and we all thought it was because of how good we were. Fast forward to today, rates are up 2-3%, inventory is rising (which is good) but affordability, and buyer interest is way down. We have 340,000 licensed loan officers and a lot less loans for all of them. Knowing this, what do we do? I can only speak for myself but here are some thoughts I’m trying to keep in front of me.
Ignorance is not bliss but living in fear doesn’t help either. We have to recognize the numbers, develop a plan, run the play, look back up in a period of time, and make decisions. I was on a coaching call with my buddy Josh, and he said, “to make an emotional decision unemotional you have to make a decision today that X needs to happen in the future, if it doesn’t happen then Y decision needs to be made at that date in the future”. Sounds simple but many of us just cross our fingers and hope, which is not a good plan.
Control what I can control, which is my own activity, my own calendar, and the tracking of all of it. My calendar is a reflection of my priorities. Reviewing my calendar before the start of everyday, determining the top 3 things I need to accomplish each day, and reviewing our team’s goals every single morning has helped me stay more focused. For now, focus on the activity, not the results.
Execute the play perfectly. I remind my team 3 days a week of the restaurant story. Kim and I went into a Mexican restaurant in Danville a while back. We were the only ones there, at the bar were 3 servers and the bartender all talking to each other. After sitting for 5 minutes, I said ‘we’re waiting 2 more minutes and if we don’t have chips/salsa/drinks, we’re out”….we walked out. Everyone on the team needs to be perfect right now. The client experience needs to be perfect.
Appreciate being responsible. I’ve talked to too many good friends and loan officers that have said “I can’t control any of this so I’m just going to relax and see what happens”. That thought process doesn’t keep team members employed. Appreciating the responsibility of keeping team members employed is where my head needs to be.
Sowing seeds, reaping rewards. Markets shift, 2.5 years ago we thought every mortgage bank was going to go out of business because of Covid, only to follow 2 months later with what would become the greatest financial years in mortgage history. Those putting in the time today will reap the benefits down the road. Simple, yes, necessary reminder, absolutely.
Writing things down when I’m in my best frame of mind allows me to remind myself of my “why” when I’m in my worst frame of mind. We’re all going to get off track, question is how quick can we get back on track. My strong suspicion is there will not be 340,000 licensed loan officers in 2024. There will be winners/losers based on our activities, efforts, and mindset the rest of this year. I’d like to believe the folks on this email will be on the winning side but it won’t be easy. We do in fact need to be in better shape than we’ve been in a long time.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!