How New Loan Officers Can Survive a Tough Mortgage Market | Christopher Smith

Christopher Smith (00:00)

I would say that getting in during COVID when rates are low, that’s the worst time you want to get in. It seems like it’s great because deals are falling from the sky and you’re making all this money and wow, this is awesome. And then all of a sudden the market turns and it gets hard. Where I’ve always said to loan officers that getting in when it’s a tough market

If you can survive this market when loan officers are getting out of the industry, real estate agents are not renewing their license. So I think that the toughest thing for a new loan officer today is staying persistent in keeping understanding that it’s not gonna be easy and I have to and it and there’s gonna be tough days, tough weeks, tough months, but I do think it’s a it’s a tough market. But for those that survive, I think that

there’s gonna be a lot of opportunity for loan officers that stick it out.

Scott Bursey (02:13)

Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. Glad you’re with us. And today we’re joined by Christopher Smith, a true pro in the mortgage industry with 30 years of experience. Currently serving as branch manager at CMG Home Loans. Christopher has built a career not just on closing loans.

But on mastering complex financing strategies like the All-In-One Loan, we’re going to dive deep into how he’s using that wealth of experience to mentor the next generation of loan officers. Listeners, you can expect a masterclass today on how to build authority through leadership. Christopher, welcome to the show.

Christopher Smith (02:53)

Thank you for Scott. It’s a pleasure to be here. Very excited for our session.

Scott Bursey (02:57)

It’s very nice having you here, my friend. And to help our listeners get up to speed, please give us the ninety second highlight reel of how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Christopher Smith (03:10)

Okay. Yeah, so I’ve been in the mortgage space since nineteen ninety three, started way back in the old finance days, household finance, but gradually made it to mortgages and have been in mortgages for thirty years, managing mortgage loan production offices for the last twenty-eight years, also producing branch managers, so I close loans and really enjoy working with new up and coming loan officers, how to mentor them.

solve problems with loans. But yeah, I’ve been doing mortgages my whole life. That’s all I do all day, every day and really enjoy it. It’s really get a lot of joy and pleasure out of helping consumers, when they refinance and, save money or buy a house. So yeah, I’m really excited about what I do and the people I help.

Scott Bursey (03:49)

That’s a powerful journey right there, Christopher. Thank you for sharing that with our listeners. And what really caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to take decades of market cycles and distill them into actionable, simple lessons for young loan officers, ensuring they don’t just survive in the industry, but actually thrive. And taking that a step further. When you’re looking at the strengths of a rookie loan officer.

What is the number one trait that tells you, hey, they have the potential to go the distance?

Christopher Smith (04:21)

I would say showing up every day and being persistent. There’s certain activities as a loan officer to build a book of business, to build a network, to build a network of people and professionals that can help you be successful and you can help them be successful. But understanding it’s a little bit cyclical. There’ll be, good days, bad days, good weeks, bad weeks, good months, bad months, but you gotta show up every day. You have to be consistent in your activities and focus on

a few areas where you wanna, be an expert at and who you wanna support and whether it’s real estate agents, financial advisors, CPAs, investors, builders. But I think it’s really the key thing is just being consistent, showing up every day, doing the activities on a daily basis that’s gonna lead to success. Because over time, being consistent will smooth out over time the bumps in the road, the market fluctuations. So yeah, I think it’s

Consistency and persistence and also understanding that not every day is gonna be great, not every month is month is gonna be great, but if you’re just consistent in your activities then over time you’ll be successful and grow.

Scott Bursey (05:22)

Speaking of being consistent and showing up, how do you nurture those specific traits in the early months of their training?

Christopher Smith (05:31)

Well, I think it’s more of not necessarily holding someone accountable but leading. In our branch we have Zoom call hours and so we’re all on the on the camera. We turn our camera on and turn the v the mic off and talking about what wins and successes and failures. But I think it’s really just letting them know this is what you have to do.

It’s not for everybody, but you have to be consistent, you have to show up and there’ll be days that you can’t or you won’t, but it’s a habit, putting a habit in place and just helping them understand that’s the key to success long term.

Scott Bursey (06:01)

Wondering, mentoring can be tough. So what do you consider the biggest weakness or perhaps blind spot that most new loan officers bring to the table in their first year?

Christopher Smith (06:11)

I think sometimes they’re not in our space, in the mortgage space, I think that a lot of times loan officers don’t under don’t understand, how difficult that is and how hard it is to

show up every day, because a lot you’re failing ninety five percent of the time. You’re calling on realtors or builders or financial advisors, you’re not getting the meeting. And so it’s easy to get negative and it’s easy to start questioning yourself. But that’s where that consistency and showing up and if you really truly want to be successful and have a long, career and successful career

then you just have to understand that it’s gonna it’s gonna take time and it’s not gonna be it’s not all W’s, it’s not all Wins, it’s a lot of L’s, but it’s understanding it’s a it’s a process in being consistent and showing up every day and having those habits in place.

going to the networking meetings, joining networking groups and collectives and other being surrounding yourself with people that are gonna help you be successful, hold you accountable and introduce you to other people that can make you successful as well.

Scott Bursey (07:09)

I love that. Thank you for highlighting. And it’s exciting to think about the changing market, Christopher. Where do you see the biggest opportunity right now for your mentees to capture market share that others are ignoring, perhaps?

Christopher Smith (08:12)

Well I think I would say at CMG we’re uniquely positioned to help builders. Right now there’s been a lull in home starts and I think that there was a lot of home starts and new construction happening during COVID when the rates were low and so I think positioning yourself to be a partner with a builder and help them scale and grow. ‘Cause when the market turns

they’re gonna there’s g there’s gonna be a need for new homes and especially in Florida. We’re we happen to be in the Tampa Bay area. I think in the last three or four years, three hundred thousand people moved to the five county area around us. The one thing about Florida, and I know you have a nationwide audience, but for those of you listening in Florida, people aren’t gonna stop moving to Florida. It’s where people retire, buy second homes, and the population is continuing to grow. So I think building the builder space is gonna be a great space for

up and coming loan officers if they focus on it. And it’s also business to business builders, I do believe that once you once you establish a relationship, this you’re dealing it’s business to business. You’re helping provide them a service and tools and resources to be more successful. And then also I believe the all in one, which we might t touch on a little bit with financial advisors, it’s a proprietary, very unique product that not a lot of people know about. And once people do find out

find out about it and understand the mechanisms and how it works. It’s a it’s a great tool for financial advisors and just regular consumers as well.

Scott Bursey (09:31)

And could you give us the rundown of what the All-In-One Loan looks like?

Christopher Smith (09:36)

Yeah, so the All-In-One is a first lien line of credit and it’s designed to use your money that flows through your checking account to pay off your mortgage in a much shorter period of time, and in doing so you save hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of interest. You’re basically most Americans have more money flowing through their checking account in five years than what they owe on their mortgage, but it just sits there for days and weeks before it comes time to

pay their car payment or pay their car insurance. So it’s a firstly in line of credit. It’s probably a little bit too in-depth to get into all the specifics, but it basically allows people to pay their house off sooner, pay much less in interest and access and have access to their equity the entire time. It kind of really flips the tables on the banks because the banks, benefit on a 30 year fixed rate loan. All the interest is front loaded. And so this is a way for a consumer to

pay much, less in interest and all the while having access to their equity. So it’s a very unique, very interesting, powerful loan product for people once they understand the mechanics, and the velocity of money and how it works.

Scott Bursey (10:39)

Christopher curious, what is the biggest threat you see facing new loan officers in today’s high rate environment, and how do you help them mentally prepare for that pressure?

Christopher Smith (10:51)

I think the basic biggest risk right now with getting into the market today. I talked to loan officers, and I’ve been mentoring, hiring, training, and developing loan officers for a long time. I would say that getting in during COVID when rates are low, that’s the worst time you want to get in. It seems like it’s great because deals are falling from the sky and you’re making all this money and wow, this is awesome. And then all of a sudden the market turns and it gets hard. Where I’ve always said to loan officers that getting in when it’s a tough market

If you can survive this market when loan officers are getting out of the industry, real estate agents are not renewing their license. So I think that the toughest thing for a new loan officer today is staying persistent in keeping understanding that it’s not gonna be easy and I have to and it and there’s gonna be tough days, tough weeks, tough months, but I do think it’s a it’s a tough market. But for those that survive, I think that

there’s gonna be a lot of opportunity for loan officers that stick it out. But, in today’s market rates are high and I think they’re eventually gonna come down. It’s anyone’s guess when, but when they do, it’s gonna it’s gonna turn for the better. And when it does, then those that are around and still standing will be able to benefit for sticking around and sticking through the tough times. But I do think it’s understanding this is what I wanna do, this is my career path, this is my chosen field that I wanna be successful in.

great it’s a great field. It gives you a lot of flexibility in life and time. Making you can make a lot of money. Obviously you can help a lot of people and you’re having a positive impact on someone’s life. But yeah, right now it’s a tough market and it’s just understanding that, it’s gonna turn. When the market turns it’ll be all it’ll be worth be worthwhile for sticking through the tough times.

Scott Bursey (12:23)

And on that note, is there a specific daily habit perhaps that you push them to adopt to keep their pipeline moving during those tougher months?

Christopher Smith (13:14)

Yeah, I would say that this will serve any loan officer good through good markets and bad markets. And it’s you always have to be prospecting and it’s choosing a silo. So it could be builders, it could be realtors, it could be financial advisors, it could be CPAs, it could be investors. But choosing one or two areas that you want to focus on and groups that you want to focus on, but then con joining their professional organizations, going to their networking.

mixers going to join you join having your own podcast com coming on podcasts and getting your name out there but it’s you always have to prospect. And in our branch we we’re on the phone twice a day from ten to eleven and from four to five. Not everybody’s on the call but we have a Zoom call and everyone’s that can’t attend attends and you turn off your mic and you have your video on and I can see people making phone calls and doing that. So I think that

In order to be successful, you have to be persistent, you have to show up, and it’s really prospecting. Even when you’re having bad days, you might prospect for a week and have just a really bad week, but you can’t not prospect the next week ’cause the next week you could prospect and have a great week and it’s just the cons the consistent activity of prospecting and reaching out to the area or the type of individuals that you want to connect with and help.

partner with and help them with mortgages.

Scott Bursey (14:31)

And digging a little deeper from a strategic standpoint, how do you measure the success of your mentorship beyond just the number of loans your people close?

Christopher Smith (14:42)

Well I would say it’s mortgage industry is the it it’s a difficult field and in to it’s difficult to navigate a deal through underwriting. So where I see success and where I see growth for loan officers are ones that, we’re always gonna be here to help them answer an underwriting question about an appraisal or an income or a title issue, but seeing their growth and in them, understanding the guidelines, knowing where to look.

the more self sufficient you are, the more efficient you’ll be. And so when you have the ability to go, yeah, anybody can come ask me a question, but I might be on the phone, talking to an underwriter, helping get one of their conditions cleared on a loan, and they would th and rather than wait the five or ten minutes or they maybe they call me and I can’t take their call and then I gotta call them back and they can’t take my call. So having the ability to go out and find the information. So when I see that growth for a loan officer when it’s searching guidelines

products or programs, that shows me that they’re becoming self sufficient. Again, the more self sufficient you are, the more efficient and productive you’ll be.

Scott Bursey (15:40)

Do you look for specific markers of leadership growth in your people as they move into their second or third year?

Christopher Smith (15:48)

Yeah, I would say that s self being self independent, being independent and whether they’re not, I’ve had situations where, we have these call sessions and loan officers will come to me like, Hey, and I wasn’t on the call session, but I w I met with these two realtors and it’s not like they’re not actually on our, kind of our power hours, but they’re out they’re still doing those activities. And so whether I see them or not, and it’s funny because at the end of the day, if you are

You’re helping yourself. If you aren’t, you’re hurting yourself, regardless of, whether I know you’re doing it or not. So I see, loan officers that recognize and they understand that this is what I have to do on a consistent basis. And whether I’m doing it when no one’s looking or I’m doing it when everyone’s looking, you just have to, you have to have those activities. And so I think that’s a sign of leadership for a loan officer and that probably someone that would be able to lead other loan officers down the road is by

You leading from example, ’cause I’m I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’m fifty seven and I’m still co-calling builders. I was co-calling builders today and doing that at my age, and I’ve been doing it my whole life. And so w I think that when they see that, hopefully it instills some kind of, wow, look at he’s closing loans, he’s a branch manager, he’s you he’s old and fifty seven, but I’m still I’m still doing those activities that I’m preaching and sharing that lead to success. So I d when I see them doing it without

they’re not when no one’s looking that’s knows I know that okay, they get it and they understand what’s important.

Scott Bursey (17:09)

Building leaders rather than just workers. That’s the key to scaling a real business. Christopher, what does your professional network look like right now?

Christopher Smith (17:18)

Financial advisors, Realtors, investors, other leaders at other mortgage companies. I think it’s important, even though we’re quote unquote competitors, to, have friends and colleagues, at the and mortgage banker association. So just professional organizations. But I think it’s important to, be in close contact with other people in the industry. So leader other sales leaders and other market leaders at other

companies in what the mortgage space.

Scott Bursey (17:43)

I appreciate you breaking that down. That circle is really a powerful place to associate yourself. And Christopher, if you could give one piece of advice to a new loan officer who’s feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of the current market, what is the most important action they should take in the next, let’s say, thirty days to turn things around?

Christopher Smith (18:06)

think just hit the reset button and understand why you join this industry and what you’re ultimately doing. You’re helping people realize the American dream. You’re helping people in an All-In-One pay their house off in five years and have money to be able to contribute for their kids’ college. So kinda slow it down. Take a deep breath, understand that right now it’s a tough market, I mentioned earlier, just understand that it’s gonna get better.

Deals will s will materialize and just stay in positive. Control what you can control and that’s your attitude, your outlook on the business, what you do on a daily basis. And so, yeah, there’s gonna be, difficult months, but if this is what you wanna do, then it’s you just have to slow down, take a deep breath, hit the reset button, remember why you’re in the business, think about some of the transactions or people that you helped and how g great of a feeling that was, and know that those there’s more of those to come.

even if right now it seems like it’s a little bit of a challenge.

Scott Bursey (18:59)

That’s some solid advice right there. And Christopher, you have given our listeners a tremendous amount of really good advice here today. But is there any additional words that you like to leave with our listeners?

Christopher Smith (19:12)

I would just say, life in general is tough, there’s no, for them for most of us out here where there’s no free handouts and you’ve got to, make the best of what you’re given every day. Make the make hay when the sun’s shining and understand that it’s gonna be good days, bad days, good months, bad months. And one thing I’ve learned you can’t let don’t let others, bring you down, don’t let others get you in a bad

mood and you can only control what you can control and there’s a lot of things that are you that are outside your control in the mortgage space and appraisals come in low and customer shops around or there’s deferred maintenance or a realtor stops sending you deals. You can’t control that. All you can do is, put on your game face, put a smile on your face, wake up every day and attack the day with, a positive attitude. ‘Cause it’s tough. It’s if, in the in the real estate industry, in the real estate space it’s

a tough market right now, so you have to, have a positive outlook and just stay positive and keep doing the things that’ll lead to success.

Scott Bursey (20:06)

The power of positivity, being in the right mindset. Thank you for that, Christopher. And Christopher, for those of our listeners that want to keep this conversation moving, stay in your lane or collaborate with you, what is the best way for them to reach you?

Christopher Smith (20:20)

Best way I always I’m famous for this. I say if I’m awake, I answer my phone. So my cell phone is the best way to reach me, text or call. And my number is 813-777-7881. I’ve even got a great cell phone number. Triple Sevens. 813-777-7881. I usually will connect with people. I get a lot of referrals from three-way text with agents or financial advisors. So that’s the best way to reach me. And again, if I’m awake, I’ll answer my phone.

Scott Bursey (20:49)

Christopher, thank you for joining us today on the Real Estate Pros podcast.

Christopher Smith (20:53)

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me and a and appreciate you bringing me on.

Scott Bursey (20:56)

It has been a master class. And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you receive value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be filling your tanks with a lineup of elite guests, just like Christopher Smith, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.