A Mortgage Biz story, for your amusement, circa 1995...

For amusement purposes only, a true story. I first got into the wholesale lending business around the year 1995. I actually got a job as a wholesale account executive without really knowing much of anything. I was a kid, wearing my first suit I purchase after college. I had briefly worked at a company that brokered distressed mortgage notes as a low-level cold caller, so I kind of knew a couple words and concepts but that is an entirely different business than originating. According to my manager who hired me as an account executive, the only reason I actually got the job was because I “was the only person who wore a suit to the interview”. Lol.

Of course, in the interview I over-exaggerated my knowledge of mortgage loans. So, they threw me right into the field immediately with one of the most experienced account executives in the company. The very first day we walked into an account, and he handed me a credit report in front of about five clients and asked me what I thought of the deal. I literally did not know what any single word or number on the page meant. Not one. My collar felt super tight, I was sweating like crazy (it was august, I was in that same suit), I was a fraud being exposed….

I stumbled through the pages looking at them sideways and then upside down, and I think I mumbled the words,, “umm, uhh, I..umm,” and then, from the heavens, the other account executive piped in and said, “exactly, I am not sure, and I don't think we can really do it either”, everyone nodded. …he saved me….and no one knew I was clueless, phew ??

That very first month in the field as a new account executive in August 1995, rocking that new suit, I brought in 52 non-prime submissions in a really bad market. I literally did not even know how to read a credit report or an application. But I was young, ignorant, and hungry, and they told me to go see eight companies a day and drop off flyers and say hello. And you know what, that's all it took. 8 visits a day, 5 days a week, is 160 office visits in four weeks, each office had multiple Loan Officers. Sometimes, showing up is most of the battle. Cast a wider net. Focus on doing the little things right.

Is there a lesson here? There sure is, sometimes ignorance is bliss.

If you could just shut off all the noise and make your calls every day in a structured fashion with a good attitude, it's highly likely the end result will be better than you imagine.

Cheers everyone, thanks for reading ??

Warmest regards,

Rich Phillips

Partnerships & Wisdom

Billions Funded! Multi-year recipient of ‘America’s top 100 Wholesale AEs’ by the Scotsman Guide.

To see some of my archived articles please visit me at www.dhirubhai.net/in/richphillipsAE