Washington Mortgage Planner-straight up mortgage advice and commentary

Hello everyone:  I was driving home this evening and wanted to comment about why our market is the way it is.  Basically, we did it to ourselves.  Today, a co-worker who needs to make a certain high income just to pay his bills, started talking about a loan he's doing where he's making a whole bunch of money. He's essentially making as much as he can so he can maintain his lifestyle. 

This, in and of itself, I understand.  We all have bills to pay.  The problem I have is when we start working in our own best interest rather than the clients'. I see this so often and think it's greedy.  In fact, I would bet that most of my co-workers will be gone by mid-year because they got into the business for the wrong reasons.  They got into mortgage lending mostly because of the money.  They proceeded to sell their customers loans such as Option ARM's that promised the most rebate.  In essence, they're greedy. They'll probably get what they deserve.

I believe the long-term players in our business are in it because they truly are passionate about what they do.  Most experienced people I know have seen the highs and lows and stick to it because of their customers, the freedom their job permits, etc.  Notice not once did I talk about money.  We all know the money can be good and I would wager that top producers are not solely focused on their commission.  They work hard, are extremely professional, and the money follows.

Today I called my rep. from Wells Fargo to ask her about doing an FHA refinance for my client.  Of course she asked me how much I wanted to make in rebate.  I opted for a lesser amount (which gave my client a better interest rate) as I always try and ask myself the question how much do I really need to make.  A lot of us make plenty of money doing what we do.  I've never quite understood anyone wanting to make as much as they can off the client.  To me, that's short term thinking.  

In closing, I challenge all of us to do right by the customer, not ourselves.   I don't know about you but I like to sleep at night!  Have a good one.

Paul