Just last week, I was giving a speech in Pasadena, CA, to the local chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers. As I interacted with the attendees, I noticed that many people seemed to be literally depressed about the current market conditions. Foreclosures, short sales, plummeting home values, and distressed home owners take their toll on morale after a while! Many of the people in my audience seemed to be wondering if they were slated to be the next victims of this crisis that keeps hitting our industry like a never-ending tsunami.
The Mortgage Meltdown began in July 2007 and has only gotten worse since that time. In fact, the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-2009 has claimed 50% – 70% of all mortgage loan originators in the country as casualties. It is estimated that over 200,000 men and women have completely left the industry. To be sure, a significant number of people who left the mortgage business should have never been there in the first place. Even so, many others have left the business after a long and storied career of fighting ethically and courageously on behalf of their clients and business associates.
The main theme of my presentation to the California Association of Mortgage Brokers was how the survivors in the audience could pick themselves up and do business with the OTHER 50% of homeowners who can still qualify for financing. Here’s the reasoning that I laid out (very eloquently, I might add):
- 50% + of mortgage originators have left the business
- 50% + of homeowners in CA (and some other markets for that matter) are in or near a negative equity situation and cannot qualify for financing (until, of course, our government’s plan to save the world takes effect in a few weeks)
- Therefore, if you are part of the 50% of people who are still in the mortgage business, the only way to pick up the pieces and do a brisk business is to focus on working with the 50% of homeowners who can qualify for your services!
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
I then proceeded to outline all the great opportunities of this down market. I laid out my step-by-step plan for how to find and do business with the right people…and we all lived happily ever after…
You see, the problem with all of us human beings is that we allow ourselves to get dragged down by all the negativity surrounding us. By wallowing in our misery, we lose sight of the opportunities that exist right in front of our eyes. We are dying of thirst and we refuse to take a single sip of life-sustaining water because we are so depressed that the glass in front of us is half empty!
I find myself in this trap many times. Every day (literally) I must constantly remind myself that the key to my own success and happiness is sitting right in my pocket. All I need to do is get up out of the mud, clean myself off, and unlock the door in front of me.
Moral of the story: focusing on the 50% of business or life that is gone (may it rest in peace) will do nothing to help you capture the 50% of business or life that is sitting right in front of you.
