Can You Be a Realtor and Loan Officer at the Same Damn Time? | Ep. 500

[@niniuno5132]

Laughing how many people will never get the “same damn time” reference lol.. unless that was never the intention

[@TheLoanOfficerPodcast]

@@niniuno5132 MASKOFF

[@dustinowen1191]

You mean like me, the host of the show. 😆

[@andrew_yanni]

I tell people who do this all the time - #1 - Top Producers DO NOT participate in dual agency, if that's your goal I would not do both. #2. As you said in the podcast, you cannot be GREAT at everything and I've noticed it's many realtors who can't find a good LO so they try and do everything themselves #3. People need to stop kidding themselves when they give any other reason on why they are trying to do both other than MONEY! Unfortunately it's pure greed or thinking they can make more with less, when in fact it's usually never the case and yes there are a few unicorns but they are RARE! I would personally never recommend it and even though we have a few on our team trying to dibble and dabble, they clearly lack in areas because they're trying to do 2 jobs at once. Nobody can do it all. Great episode from a long time listener.

[@dustinowen1191]

Spot on.

[@benvigilrepro]

I have been in lending for 21 years and have been a real estate agent for about 8 years. The key is in your set up. You should be spending your time finding more business and providing services to your clients. If you want to be great at providing multiple services (real estate and mortgages) then you have to have the support staff or a team behind you. If you try to do it all on your own then you are going to run into challenges. Everyone has heard of the concept of gaining more customer share but there is another concept of gaining more share of customers. This means you are providing more services to your existing customer base. It is rare that I do both the loan and represent a party in a purchase transaction. However, many of my real estate clients will call me for refinances or call me when they decide they wish to move and buy property in areas I am not familiar with (in those cases I would refer them to another agent).

[@andrew_yanni]

@@benvigilrepro You may be a unicorn, but ask yourself if you see anyone successful in your field trying to juggle two careers? Successful people don't need to do that. They also don't want to be in too many lanes. I wouldn't suggest anyone do both. The clients also know you're making a ton on the transaction you're the only one they call or talk to with issues you can't bounce ideas off anyone, etc. Realtors do this for money and they don't have a good lending partner. There is zero other reason you can go down the rabbit hole all you want, but it's 100% for the money and that's it. It's not to "service your customer base" that's all fluff, but whatever makes you feel good I'm all for it. Do you.

[@benvigilrepro]

@@andrew_yanni You are making some pretty heavy assumptions. For one, mortgages and real estate are very closely related ( I am sure you know). Mortgages companies are becoming more and more automated and take on many of the responsibilities and tasks that the loan officer once had to do. So an LO should be spending their time looking for business, especially in this climate. Second, in my experience, adding real estate contract services is pretty easy and in many cases we include it at no extra fee (or a very small flat fee (usually $500 to $1000). Example: I have a client that found a property at a open house that they wanted to buy. I put the contract together for them and sent it in with a pre-approval letter. Even though the seller was offering 3% to compensate a buyer's agent, I didn't request a dime of it for my compensation. Instead, I asked the seller to convert 2% of it to a seller concession for my buyer since they were limited on funds for closing costs. I told the seller they could keep the rest. Since our offer netted the seller almost 9K more in sale proceeds, they took our offer. The listing agent thought I was crazy. I also offered my client the option of going borrower paid comp on the loan which lowered their rate by over a full point and lowered their monthly mortgage payment. It didn't increase my clients closing costs because I was able to convert real estate commissions to seller concessions which gave my client the option of using that money to compensate me or pay part of their closing costs. If I was not dual licensed, I would never be able to bring that type of value to my client. I had competing agents and loan officers on that deal and I ran circles around them. They could never figure out how I was able to do it and they would never have been able to compete with me because they were single licensed. I know you call me a unicorn but that not the case. With technology changing, AI, the NAR settlement, etc. there are lots of creative business models we will see over the next few years. I don't mind being a unicorn but what I want to avoid is being a dinosaur. If LO's and RE agents don't start thinking outside the box soon, they may find themselves extinct. Think about it.

[@LeonMortgage]

​@@benvigilrepro great point

[@benvigilrepro]

You may disagree but dual licensing will become more common ( I am dual licensed). In the future, it may be the only way for a mortgage pro to compete. There are already mortgage companies looking at providing limited real estate services INCLUDED in their mortgage services. As an example, I provide real estate contract services in conjunction with my mortgage services. It has been the difference in me gaining more clients and also gives me the ability to provide FAR MORE value to a client than just about anyone with a single license.

[@JARVISK600]

🔥🔥🔥

[@tonymontana1996]

Loan officer stress and hours PLUS showing homes every weekend? Ya, no thx.

[@TheLoanOfficerPodcast]

BUT MORE MONEY MAYBE THO!

[@dustinowen1191]

COOORECT!

[@benvigilrepro]

No. I am dual licensed and I rarely show houses. I have an agent partner (dual licensed) for that.

[@dustinowen1191]

@@benvigilrepro Thank you for sharing. I think we'll see more of this going forward but I still wonder if the dual agents will out-earn those who chose to become the Top 3% in one particular discipline.

[@benvigilrepro]

@@dustinowen1191 That largely depends on whether we are in the beginning of a paradigm shift in our industry or not. With Sitzer/ Burnett, A.I., changes in generational buying habits, etc., I believe we could be. Of course, I could be wrong but time will tell. I remember back in the 90's my boss telling me that using the internet was just a waste of time. He said it was no match for over 50 years of a proven sales system that has stood the test of time. He was colossally wrong. He wasn't able to recognize the potential of the internet nor was he willing to learn. I believe that "hard headed" way of thinking is baked into our industry (mortgage/real estate) as well. Being dual licensed doesn't mean you will be doing two jobs. It means you will have more flexibility when it comes to compensation and you will be able to provide more value to your client. It allows for more creatively and IMHO, will give you and your client a competitive advantage in the market place. If I am right, I believe most of the top 3% will recognize this reality and adjust to the market.