Mortgage Broker Commission

[jtmoniii]

Does anyone know how much mortgage brokers make per loan?  I know their are several variables but my brother-n-law say's he makes $2K-$6K per loan.    

This sounds pretty good considering if you did 1 loan per month you would be in the top 2% of wage earners in the United States.

[mcole]

Greetings jtmoniii,

There are actually a lot of variables that determine what you can make. But yes, $2k-$6 is not uncommon. And if you're thinking about going into the business, don't plan on 1 loan per month, shoot for 3-4 per month for starters. But make sure you align yourself with someone who knows what they're doing and can mentor you while you learn.

 8)

[Lendinghand]

Do not enter our business because of how much money your brother in law makes per loan.  

We already have enough people in the mortgage business that do not know what they are doing, that do not care about the home owner, violating RESPA, frauding documents, and that will do anything to put money in their own pockets.  

Your brother in law should be saying, " I saved the homeowner $200k - $800k per loan."

Your brother in law should be saying, " I helped 2-6 people each month get into a new home when they didn't think they could do it."

Your brother in law should be saying, " I have a conscience and I can sleep at night."

[Mdhaas]

Way to go Lendinghand.  For those of us that have been in the industry for a while it is nice to know that there are others who are not taking advantage of every customer that comes along.

I used to be part of a large brokerage where it was all about "show me the money"!

I left and opened my own brokerage and have been working on only referrals for the last 2 years.  I may not be making 6 figures, but, I can sleep at night knowing that I really helped someone.  

[rbaxter]

I am the same way- I do make an occasional $2-3K commission, but usually make a lot less because I seek long term relationships with my clients and look at the value of a long term repeat and referral based business as opposed to sticking it to someone for a big commission.  I believe in giving people good, fair deals, and most good, career-minded brokers feel the same way.

[Cleopatra]

I know we are discussing a residential loan broker, but what is standard for commercial?  I see so many people only charge 1%, but then I also hear so many people talking about charging up to 8 points!  I just want to make sure what we charge is fair, but not too low.  Anyone who knows what a commercial loan broker charges, please respond.

[Chris2006]

Hello, I respect everyone in the previous posts that put the customer/client first. I am the same way. I do commercial loans and it's a different world from residential. But even in commercial, some brokers go for the "big bucks" and charge high fees. I charge under the standard and also follow lender guidelines that "cap" broker fees. I have never had a complaint about what I charged. Some of my clients even said, "is that all"?

[straitfromjapan]

Well, with all due respect, everyone says they put the customer first. I mean, come on, who is going to come on here and say "yeah, I go for broke on all my loans and try to squeeze every last dime out"

 I tried to do a refi and it took 5 loan people to actually do it after each one said "no problem" and didnt listen to me carefully. One guy actually said he'd call back to schedule closing, then calls back and says "they need the 1 year seasoning after all"

 Huh? Wouldnt you know this within 15 minutes? This was H & R Block. Then, this one was really rich. It was a local outfit called "Chicago Mortgage Funding LLC" and I ask for a cash out refi. This woman that owns the joint did our first loan when we purchased. All she ever spouted was "we care about customer service over anything" and her other heavily spouted mantra was to do with money. "money isnt everything" "money is the root of all evil"

 I leaned over and said "Sandra, youre selling money, this is your business"

Well, she didnt listen to me as nobody did except this last guy, sent out an appraiser and blah blah. I ask how much the appraisal was for so I knew what kind of cash out I would be getting. She says "cash out? You never specified cash out"

 Hmmmm, I was wondering how I was getting 5.75% on a stated income cash out refi!!!

First thing she says to me is "you want cash out? Youve only been there 8 month, are you NUTS?" (theres that fabulous customer service, call your client NUTS)

 Then the next thing out of her mouth in a panic was "I already sent an appraiser out there, i need that $350 app fee no matter what happens" (so much for money isnt everything huh?)        

[jpsunshine]

To "straightfromjapan":
Um, no one cares.
Why do you try to talk like a loan professional, yet not know that you cannot possibly do what you were asking for, which is why the first five loan reps told you no. You are a loan officer's nightmare and a danger to the economy. It's applicants like you, trying to entice loan reps into baiting and switching or other acts of non compliance that give good people like us a bad name sometimes.

[straitfromjapan]

Uh JP Sunshine,

  First of all, all 5 told me YES. Secondly not 1 of them listened to me from square one. Thirdly, Im not a loan professional, I was trying to get the loan. Fourthly, Im a danger to the economy? How do you figure? I started my own business 7 years ago and employ 6 people, hence Im helping the economy. Fifthly, I was able to do what I wanted, by the 6th person who listened to me and was easily able to accomplish what I wanted to do. What I wanted to do was a cash out refi w/ 6 month seasoning. It wasnt exactly drastic do you think?  

 There are people all over these boards with 520 FICOs and $40 bucks in their pockets wanting to start doing property flips because they watched it on TLC last Saturday night. Gimme a F'in break.  If you are in the business then listen to the customer, dont try to land a "lead" and play them as a guinea pig hoping to slide a loan through while theyre thinking its a done deal.  

[Mdhaas]

It is unfortunate that you had such a negative experience in the loan process.  This is what gives Loan Officers and Brokers a bad name.

These so called "experts" do not take the time to listen to what the client needs.  They are more concerned about that next check.  This industry is not that much different than any other "sales" based industry, when it comes to customer service.

Unfortunately, the industry is made up of a lot of rookies.  My local paper has ad's posted every week for L.O.'s.  The industry, as a whole, is pathetic at training so we are flood ing the market with untrained solicitors.  The turnover is quick as those newbies with $$$ signs in their eyes realize that this is not as easy as it seems.

It is unfortunate as this makes it hard for the rest of us to do our jobs.   >

There are some of us out there who truly DO put the customer first.  Do we make mistakes?  Sure we do.  But do we take advantage of the customer.  No. NO!

We survive off of referrals.  If we did not take care of our clients then we would be where alot of the mortgage companies have gone "out of business".

Please do not label all of us who work in this industry the same.  I know that I can safely say that there are alot of us who are, "doing the right thing for the right reason"

 

[straitfromjapan]

There should be a minimal training class that certifies LO's before they can seek employment. That would at least mean the person took initiative to train and THEN look for employment.

 This would probably weed out a high % of people who just walk in and train on the job, essentially making customers training aids.

[Mdhaas]

I agree with you 100%.  This industry ,as well as most others in the service industry, should create some type of required initial training standards.  The customer service in most service industries is horrible.  

The turn'em and burn'em philosophy just does not cut it if you want to engage in a particular industry for a long period.  That is why you see so many mortgage companies closing up shop.  I heard the other day that the mortgage industry employment #'s shrunk by 2500 in July and it has been shrinking since the beginning of the year.

Those of us who wish to remain in the industry for a long time, work hard to create long term relationships with our clients.