As you know I was laid off a month ago and am looking for another job in the IT field. However I am a believer that when God closes one door he opens another door that is much better. Plus many of the places want me to be vaccinated. I have had covid before so I feel my natural antibodies are more than sufficient. So I am open and receptive in pursuing another career. I have spoken with a mortgage loan officer and she has told me the rundown, what training I would need, etc. I want to know the pros and cons from another person in this field and position. Would you recommend it ? If you had a chance would you do it again or do something else, etc. ? Are you happy with the money you make ?? Thank you for any info and sharing your experiences. God Bless !!!

I did it long ago, my first sales job, minimal training, 100% commission and eat what you kill. Very, very tough business, even once you know what you're doing. If you're in-house at a bank or real estate company, that might be different, since you're fed some leads. But I was given a desk and a phone and told, "Go gettum." I wouldn't do it again. Plenty of folks make huge money, but it's an incredibly rough ramp up, even if you're really good, get with some good lenders and know what you're doing.

I sell final expense life insurance now, which is kind of the same thing. But somehow it's really working out for me, so I'm happy and never going anywhere else.

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Originally posted by Rick Lee:
I did it long ago, my first sales job, minimal training, 100% commission and eat what you kill. Very, very tough business, even once you know what you're doing. If you're in-house at a bank or real estate company, that might be different, since you're fed some leads. But I was given a desk and a phone and told, "Go gettum." I wouldn't do it again. Plenty of folks make huge money, but it's an incredibly rough ramp up, even if you're really good, get with some good lenders and know what you're doing.

I sell final expense life insurance now, which is kind of the same thing. But somehow it's really working out for me, so I'm happy and never going anywhere else.

Thanks the feedback. I had a friend that did it for about 5 years and he told me the first year he did it he made about 50K and after the 5 years he was around 80+K. Yes he said that you work off commissions. I believe he said 1% of the loan and he would average about 3 or 4 loans on a slow month. His mother did it too and she was one of the top producers with 6 figures every year. He also mentioned it is better to work with a team if possible. Again just sharing what I have been told. God Bless !!!

When I did it, it was 50 bps or 50% of the 1% loan origination fee. So, $300k mortgage amount meant a $1500 commission. Back then you could charge whatever you could get away with for rate and points. So anything over market price was called "overage" and you split that amount with your company. In 1997 a loan for a $40k condo was just as much work as a $400k new construction home. So you kind of had to build in some overage to make it worth your time. I don't think that's legal or allowed now. Figure you need $2 million in closed loan amounts to make $10k per month and the math becomes kind of daunting. It's easier to reach those numbers in areas where RE prices are insane. But then, when you have crazy home prices, you're dealing with people who already know how to manage money and have relationships with other lenders. Chasing realtor business is a fate worse than death. Some of my best deals I got by going to Sunday open houses. I'd match the phone numbers from the RE ads in the Wash. Post with my local offices, dress up and go out and get in front of realtors who could not leave or kick me out. Once in a while, someone walked in, wanted to make and offer and asked how'd they'd qualify for a loan. That's when being in the right place at the right time paid off. But again, brutally tough business.

I think El Toro is a loan guy.

My wife is a mortgage processor. She works for a top producer, and I get a good glimpse into that life.

Work- life balance? Forget it. Miss an email, lose the sale. Work with someone for 3 months (or more) to help them rebuild credit, and watch them apply to "rocket mortgage" because the ad on TV sounded good.

Don't get me wrong, you ultimately get out what level you put in... but it's not a sit back and take in the money type deal.

I ran a branch of a large mortgage brokerage in the good years.

!00% commission, no doc loans and no limits on commissions.

Times have changed.

In those days Bank loan officers did not need to be licensed. Non bank Loan officers did. I have no idea if that has changed,Commercial loans brokers are also not licensed. More money, but harder to break in.

We all worked hard and made good money.

I went into IT from there. I built the companies network and never looked back.

If you can find it salary base plus commission at a bank is easier than all commission.

It can take years to build a referral network,
once you do it gets to be much easier and the money is good.

Learning the loan process well enough to explain and sell it to customers takes time. When a potential customer ask you what is the rate I will get, you have to give them the correct number the first time they ask. Changing their rate will kill a deal, you loose credibility.

Breaking in is tough. Most real estate agents and builders have a relationship with a loan officer, and won’t give you the time of day.

Working somewhere that provides you a stream of GOOD leads that actually close so you get paid is a big plus.

The skills required for success in IT are somewhat different from those needed to succeed in a commission-based sales position.

Are you sure you have the skills and attitude? Have you done sales before?

When the pay is mostly commission, companies are happy to take in inexperienced people for sales positions, as they aren't out much if it doesn't work out. So the jobs are easier to get, because the candidate takes most, if not all, of the risk. The easiest path may not be the best.

We got rate sheets each day from the investors. We focused on the "par" price, which was the rate with no points for FHA, conventional or jumbo loans. But again, we could charge whatever we could get away with. If a buyer couldn't come up with all the money for closing costs and the seller wasn't paying them, we could raise the rate to get negative points, which would then get credited toward closing costs. Or, to be honest, we could keep them for ourselves if the buyer/borrower was ok with the rate. Conversely, if they could afford to pay points, they could buy their rate down.

I actually had some co-workers who would quote one rate, not lock it in and then wait until rates dropped again. Then they'd lock in the rate quoted and keep the overage for themselves. But that was super risky and some of those folks had to eat it when rates went the other way. I don't know if that stuff is allowed anymore.

And don't forget that you'll be the one in the family who can help everyone out with a refi or purchase loan. And expect to be very butthurt when you hear about close friends and family going elsewhere for their loans because they don't want you know what all is on their applications and credit reports. I did loans for my folks, grandmother and aunt. My aunt, and I'm close with her, almost went elsewhere because she didn't want me to know about her finances. But I was able to get a better rate than anyone else, so I got the deal.

Keep those comments and experiences coming !!! FYI in my area a Mortgage Loan Officer now has to have 20 hours training either class or online and then pass a test to be licensed. I was told most people fail the test the first time and have to take it 2 or more times to pass it. God Bless !!!

Product knowledge is the least of a noob's problems. You could know all the underwriting and processing guidelines like the back of your hand, but they won't earn you a dime if you can't drum up business on your own. If you're chasing realtor referrals, you will need to hunt them down at open houses and then making friends with the receptionists so they let you walk around the office and hand out card and meet agents.

When I was doing it, cell phones were still kind of new and everyone wore pagers. A realtor with a hot prospect would page three loan officers at 8am on a Sunday morning and whichever one called back first got the deal. It was really silly. My best customer was a realtor who bought investment condos for himself and did not want to deal with his agency's in-house lender. I think I did four loans for him and they were very complicated because Fannie/Freddie had limits on the number of financed properties one person could have. So I had to get exceptions for him and they were low dollar loans. So I had to build in some overage to make some money.

I am a real estate attorney and deal with these folks every day. Life is a grind. There is zero work life balance. Rates are going up and the easy money on refi work has already been made. I would think long and hard before jumping in.

I know nothing really about being a loan officer. But if you go that route I'd just say to be attentive to the realtors. Keep them in the loop on everything going on and meet the dates for commitments. Don't miss stupid stuff and make sure your clients know to not open new credit or spend a bunch on furniture before they close.

I can't count how many times my wife, a top producer, is telling buyers that "it would be better to get a pre-approval and loan by contacting So and So..."

She knows which loan officers are good and which suck.

I'm in a slightly different side of the industry, but looking at the trends and the way we expect lending to go in the next few years, it doesn't seem like a job I'd be wanting to risk my future on. Like anything commission-based, you want in before the high and out before the low. There's a low coming. The right connections and the right insight can negate that for the right person at the right time...but overall odds aren't fantastic for mortgage lending.

Other ideas?

I think there may be a push back to home inspections, there is a current shortage of them and requirements are relatively easy to achieve licensing.

Many areas have shortages of real estate appraisers. Residential appraisers have a shaky future right now.