“Take your online relationships offline and your offline relationships online.”

You also may be among the many who are soon faced with the prospect of having to uncover what’s next for your mortgage career. Real estate finance stands as an ever-evolving industry that is continuously influenced by market fluctuations, economic shifts and the dynamic nature of lending practices.

So, what do you do when you’re faced with a layoff or forced to make a change one way or another? Here are a few things to consider — regardless of whether you’re a mortgage originator or occupy another role in the industry — as you answer the question, “What’s next?”

Professional network

First, there’s nothing more important than expanding one’s professional network. In a world where connections are crucial, don’t underscore the fact that fruitful relationships can be cultivated outside the confines of one’s current workplace.

A common mistake is for mortgage professionals to believe they can’t have a relationship with a peer if they don’t work for the same company. Just because you aren’t on the same team doesn’t mean you can’t be friends. Team members sometimes leave and move on to other opportunities. How well you maintain these relationships is important to your future. You never know the bridges you may have to cross one day. With that in mind, don’t overlook opportunities to meet new people, expand your network and make connections just because you work with different companies.

You can achieve growth and thrive within the mortgage business by surrounding yourself with individuals who can challenge and elevate your skills. Those who are in your network may be able to hire you or know someone in a position to hire you.

Mortgage companies can often look very similar. They all tend to have great products, rates, tech stacks and culture, and they close loans on time. Don’t forget that people matter. It’s easier to align with people who are in your network because you’ll know whether or not you can trust them.

Be proactive and reach out to people with whom you haven’t previously crossed paths. Take your online relationships offline and your offline relationships online. Dispel the notion that professional relationships are confined solely to the workplace. Take the opportunity to learn from a broader array of industry experts, thereby expanding your knowledge base and perspectives.

Personal growth

The second step is the necessity of continuous learning. This business is about serving people. It doesn’t matter if you are in sales or operations. Everyone has a customer — it just may not be the end customer, the borrower. To be able to serve people at the highest levels, you need to continue to grow your skill set.

You can’t give people what you don’t have. It’s imperative to continually enhance your own skills to serve others effectively. Lending professionals, regardless of role, need to embrace various learning avenues such as reading books, articles and blogs, listening to podcasts and participating in educational events to remain at the forefront of the field. It’s important not just to be experienced but to be well rounded. The deeper you go in making a commitment to personal growth, the more versatile you’ll be in your specific role.

“In an industry as dynamic as the mortgage business, complacency is not an option. Your commitment to self-improvement illustrates that even seasoned professionals must continually sharpen their skills.”

Just like you create a business plan, you should also have a plan for growth. Identify areas of your personal and professional life that you want to improve, then generate a plan to help you grow in these specific areas. Make a commitment to read the books that will grow the skills you want. Decide which mortgage conferences you should attend and block off the time on your calendar now. Find other vehicles to help you learn the skills you want.

In an industry as dynamic as the mortgage business, complacency is not an option. Your commitment to self-improvement illustrates that even seasoned professionals must continually sharpen their skills.

Remain curious

Staying curious is the third and final element of this strategy. This approach involves questioning the status quo, being open-minded, considering alternative methods and challenging existing practices.

If you stay within the confines of one way of learning, you can confine yourself to a self-imposed box. Years of experience don’t always make you well rounded in that experience. Allow yourself to explore new possibilities and ways of doing things. You might be surprised to learn that you don’t know what you don’t know.

Just because you’ve done it one way for years doesn’t mean there may not be a better, faster or easier way that you’ve never considered. Expand your horizons, be willing to listen and be open to the idea that iron sharpens iron. Your peers have likely seen a thing or two in their experiences that could help you with an area of your business.

Put plainly, mortgage professionals should not shy away from exploring better ways of doing things. By maintaining curiosity, you can enhance your own practices while also contributing to the growth and innovation of your company and the industry. The mortgage business is not merely about adhering to established procedures; it’s about embracing change and being agile.

New horizons

Last year’s market conditions were as challenging as many have faced in their careers. There is a strong likelihood that it stays this way through the first quarter of 2024. The landscape will continue to change and you’ll continue to experience change across all echelons of the business.

No one will be exempt. Whether your role is mortgage originator, branch manager, underwriter, processor, sales support, marketing or leadership, these principles are universally applicable. The three pillars of this strategy — expanding one’s network, investing in continuous learning and staying curious — provide a clear road map for navigating the challenges of the mortgage business in 2024 and beyond. As the industry continues to evolve, it’s evident that adaptability and personal growth stand as the keys to success.

You should remind yourself that success in the mortgage business is not about competition against others; it’s a commitment to self-improvement and a willingness to explore new horizons. In this ever-evolving world, these qualities undoubtedly pave the path to success. ●

The post Look Inward to Answer, ‘What’s Next?’ appeared first on Scotsman Guide.

Baseball players watch videos of their performance between at-bats while soccer, basketball and football players alike make necessary adjustments at halftime. Whether they are winning or losing, athletes on every level understand the need to constantly adapt and improve.

Similarly, if they want to remain successful in a constantly evolving market, mortgage originators also must regularly review their goals — and the actions taken to achieve them — so they can quickly make adjustments. Although a significant market shift requires industry professionals to focus mainly on their professional goals, it also is important to take the time to evaluate goals on personal levels as well. These include financial, spiritual, physical fitness and personal relationship goals.

When evaluating your goals, consistency is key. In the mortgage business, victories are typically tabulated at the end of each month. But this approach allows for a mere 12 performance evaluations per year. This is simply not enough in an environment as dynamic as the housing market. 

Therefore, evaluation of your sales activities should be done weekly. By assessing these goals 52 times per year rather than 12, any necessary changes are implemented much more quickly and allow you to always remain on track. When assessing one’s goals and developing a plan to adjust to inevitable changes in the market, it is critical to follow four main guidelines.

Analyze performance

When considering how to adjust to a current market shift, it is important to ponder your objectives and any actions you’ve been taking to achieve them. To do this, one must first examine the current market. Is it up, down or flat? Where has it been and where does it look like it’s going?

There may be gaps to fill, depending on whether your stated goals are being met or even crushed with minimal to no effort. Once these questions are answered, there will be a clearer understanding of what is going right, what is going wrong and which direction to go next.

A helpful way to effectively gauge current and past performance is to create an overall life report card for each category of professional and personal goals. This includes business, financial, physical health, mental health and relationship goals. This honest self-assessment when it comes to your performance is the key to moving forward in a valuable and productive way.

Identify time wasters

After past professional and personal goals are thoughtfully analyzed — and new ones are established to meet the needs of the current market — the next step is to determine obvious time wasters. These can include fruitless activities, as well as toxic or stagnant personal and professional relationships. All of these factors, if not carefully and honestly assessed, can end up causing harm.

In a world of endless choices, there are many ways for people to expend their time and energy. For mortgage originators, it is critical to ask, “Is this action worth the time that’s being spent?” All industry professionals should consider this question frequently as they take action. 

Determining the answer to this question is simple. Any action that results in a return on investment (ROI) is an action worth taking and should be prioritized. The larger the ROI, the more valuable and necessary the action becomes. 

Conversely, any action that yields no positive impact on ROI is both inefficient and detrimental to the process of successfully reaching a goal, whether it be professional or personal. By thoughtfully evaluating the answer to this question before taking action, idle time wasters can be quickly eliminated so that goals can efficiently and effectively be met.

Pivot accordingly

For the most part, life (like the mortgage market) is constantly shifting and will continue to do so. As interest rates increase, refinances slow, housing inventory remains tight and buyers begin to take a wait-and-see approach, mortgage originators are being forced to adjust yet again.

Adjustments are helpful to one’s personal and professional growth, but they also are essential for survival. By looking at these adjustments as opportunities to evolve, rather than as obstacles that must be overcome, you set yourself up for greater levels of success.

Change is necessary for improvement. Remaining stagnant in an ever-changing environment demonstrates an inability to evolve. This will only lead to further frustration and difficulty in reaching even the simplest goals, because even these tasks evolve. Therefore, adaptation is one of the most useful survival skills to have in both business and in life.

Establish accountability

In the end, accountability is key. This means putting practice into action. Rules and guidelines are easy enough to create and discuss, but they are quite useless if they are not being followed or if constant exceptions are being made. To create a standard and then honestly work toward it by taking the appropriate actions is the only way to succeed and grow as a mortgage originator — or in any business, for that matter. 

Accountability means finally setting an appointment with a financial adviser; hiring a personal career or life coach; following through with commitments to family members, such as special outings or spending time together; and making goals public on both a professional and personal level. Accountability is the only way to ensure that actions will be taken to reach new and ever-evolving goals.

Success and growth, on every level, is created by constant self-evaluation of past and present performance, as well as the ability to swiftly adapt to business and life changes. It requires honesty and an understanding that what may have worked in the past may not necessarily work in future situations (in fact, it most likely will not).

This is the reality of working in an industry as dynamic as real estate finance. The only way to successfully reach one’s goals is to understand and accept this inherent truth. ●

The post Hold Yourself Accountable in Business and Life appeared first on Scotsman Guide.