Weekly Rate & Market Update 10-7-16
Question: Where do you get your business?
Answer: It is interesting how often I will be asked the same question over a short period of time from different people, telling me the question has to be a question of the week.
This question, inquiring where my clients come from, has been asked three or four times over the past few weeks, including two inquiries after last week’s Weekly Rate and Market Update (even though I partially covered the answer). This is a quesiton I love to answer.
Where do I get new clients and my business?
From you.
Our business is 100% referral business. There are no Stratis Financial ads on the radio, inserts in your local paper, no sophisticated search engine optimization to drive traffic to our website or call centers calling you at dinner. The only marketing I do is the Weekly Rate and Market Update that will go to 614 people today.
Your repeat business is very important to us and we are very grateful you continue to trust us with your mortgage needs. Also greatly appreciated is the further demonstration of that trust when you are willing to pass our contact information along to a relative, friend, neighbor, co-worker or other trusted advisor—personally vouching for our service and integrity.
I was in a meeting last week with other professionals from different businesses and it was interesting because we had all been in our industries for over ten years and all of us were dependent completely on past clients and referrals for our business. Another commonality we had was that all of us routinely had clients call us for advice on matters outside our respective fields, primarily looking to us to refer professionals we trust that we could refer.
The next day I had lunch with a young professional who requested the meeting on the advice of his mentor. He asked where my business came from. I explained that my business is reliant on referrals and this weekly email is my marketing. “Don’t you want to grow your business? Why aren’t you using the internet to generate leads?”
“Because our business model is built on trust that begins with a referral and continues as we work with our clients to understand their needs and abilities. We provide outstanding service backed with experience and results. We found many years ago that leads from the internet or other services generally do not care about what we deliver and we tended to spend a lot of time and resources for clients who typically went elsewhere.”
What is the source of my business? The trust you show in us when you tell someone who needs mortgage advice, “Call Dennis, he’s my mortgage guy and he’ll help you out.”
Thank you for that trust and being our primary, and sole, marketing agent(s)!
Remember, with Dennis it’s not just a mortgage, it’s your complete financial picture.
First Friday, everyone knows what that means! Well maybe everyone….the first Friday of the month brings us the very important employment data for the prior month. Today’s Labor Department report showed that the economy added 156,000 jobs in September. Not a great number, not a horrible number. Average earnings were up 0.2% for the month and he workweek increased 0.1 hours to 34.4 per worker (that is an increase of 6 minutes per worker by the way). The manufacturing sector continues to shed jobs, after dropping 16,000 workers in August an additional 13,000 losses occurred in September. Retail sales and temporary employment both showed strength—perhaps an indication that stores and businesses are expecting a robust Christmas shopping season. Overall the news bailed out the Fed from having to consider a pre-election rate hike. The news does not increase or decrease the likelihood of a Fed increase in December. The employment data today is neutral for interest rates to slightly friendly.
Rates for Friday October 7, 2016: Since reaching a short term high last Tuesday September 27th, Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) have been declining (lower MBS prices mean higher rates). The slide halted today and depending on how markets open on Monday the brakes put on today could signify the bottom of the range—if so our rates will remain stable into the future. Despite the slide in MBS prices rates hang on this Friday for no change from last week.
FIXED RATE MORTGAGES AT COST OF 1.25 POINTS
30 year conforming 3.25% Flat
30 year high-balance conforming 3.50% Flat
30 year FHA 3.00% *** Flat
30 year FHA high-balance 3.25% *** Flat
Please note that these are base rates and adjustments may be added for condominiums, refinances, credit scores, loan to value, no impound account and period rate is locked. Rates are based on 20% down (3.5% for FHA) with 740 FICO score for purchase mortgages. ***FHA rates have may have no points and credit towards closing costs, changes daily.
Boomer!
Waiting for the reply of Sooner!
Born in Oklahoma and raised by an Okie dedicated to Oklahoma Sooner football I have followed in my dad’s path as a lifelong Sooner fan. This week is the Red River Rivalry where the universally beloved Sooners will play on the road at the “neutral” field in Dallas against the not universally beloved Longhorns of Texas. The cows lead the Sooners all time in the series 61-44-5 and won last year’s game. Tomorrow morning will find me settled into the couch watching the game and hopefully my Sooners destroying Texas and enabling me to enjoy some barbecued beef for dinner. What college football rivalry do you enjoy most? Does it have you cheering, yelling and mumbling even when watching by yourself?
Have a great week, Boomer,
Dennis
Missed a Weekly Rate & Market Update? You can catch up as all the updates are posted on my website at http://www.denniscsmith.com/MyBlog .
