“Denied Loan Brings Two Referrals”

I received a call from a loan officer at a local bank a couple of months ago, while driving home from my office. He told me these clients were good customers of the bank, but because of the bank’s restrictive lending policies, they couldn’t do the loan and would I speak to these folks.  I told him absolutely, but can you share a little about the transaction, before I call them?

After listening to the story, I asked him why he took the application, as I felt these folks needed some credit counseling first and would be in a better position to refinance in a few months. Again, he asked if I would call, which I did.

I called from my car, they told me they were expecting my call, indicated that the loan officer told them, I was a miracle worker. Already I was in trouble. I let them tell me their situation and asked if they would allow me to coach them to do some credit repair before we attempted a refinance. There was silence for a few seconds, before the wife said. “Finally, someone will give us some straight answers”.

I have since put together a detailed plan for them and they have been doing a great job cleaning up stuff, but the best part, they have sent me two referrals. One couple I have done a preapproval for and they are home shopping, the other I did a mortgage for yesterday.

I just don’t get it, folks would rather hear it straight instead of falsely believing something that just isn’t going to happen. Sure, sometimes it has something to do with more restrictive mortgage guidelines, but more to do with being properly prepared to do a mortgage.