Mortgage Originators - My Opinion

In an industry where there are so many accusations, dishonesty, lies and bad press, I decided that I would never get dragged down into the dark depths of unethical practices.

I had worked in the financial sector for most of my life and during this time I was involved in the IT sector for at least ten years. One of the biggest No No's of this industry is Kickbacks. It happens every once in a while that an IT infrastructure decision is based on the overseas trip "earned" by the IT specialist from the supplier. I personally was propositioned directly once in my IT career and was truly shocked that these people even mentioned something like this.

So when I announced to my then colleagues that I had decided to leave the "safe" world of corporate life to go into Real Estate into a very small agency, one of them asked his mom (a mortgage originator) to call me. Well, I was freaked out and insulted by her call because she congratulated me on my decision and then went ahead to promise me a Kickback on every buyer I sent her way. I then decided that I would never ask my clients to use a mortgage originator and would only offer it to them if they seemed to be at a loss. This was one of the worst decisions I have made to date!

What I have learnt since that very naive day is that the mortgage originator plays a crucial role in this process. The mortgage originator is a specialist who consults with and helps the buyer to get their financing. Remember the estate agent is usually committed to the seller and not the buyer as the seller pays my commission.

In my opinion if the buyer reveals his financial position to me I feel that the relationship between us then becomes much more intimate and my loyalties start being split. I prefer to refer buyers to an originator whom I trust fully and then I liaise between them to see that the process is moving towards a conclusion.

By not doing this I have no real idea of where the process is and if there are any stumbling blocks which are not being communicated properly between the buyer and the bank. What often happens is that the relationship between the agent and the buyer can become strained because the buyer does not like the agent asking personal questions and the banks are not allowed to discuss their clients with the agent.

As a forward thinking agent I know that the buyer is crucial to my business because I want to become their preferred agent in the future.

As for the banks I do believe that they feel the same, if this was not so mortgage originators would have been sidelined and would have disappeared in the last couple of months with the current financial crises. We know that the mortgage divisions in the banks are really struggling to meet their targets and they would prefer to save the commission they pay the originators but they must realise that these originators do have a very important role in this process.

So next time you hear or see an advert telling you that your agent does not deserve to get the kickback from the mortgage originator, ask yourself how well you understand the process and pitfalls of going to all the major bank to negotiate the best possible mortgage while running your life, job and family as usual.

Caroline