Discover the secrets of thriving in the mortgage industry from someone who's seen it all. Bob Hein of Mercantile Bank joins us to share his unexpected journey from sports enthusiast to economic whiz and eventually, a mortgage maestro. His story is a fascinating look at how adaptability and relationship-building can pave the way to a lasting career, even when you step into it 37 years ago!
Navigating the real estate market's highs and lows can be a wild ride, and Bob provides a front-row seat to the strategies that helped him and his clients stay afloat during the most trying times. From embracing FHA loans during the mortgage crisis to the personal touch of fridge magnets and mailings, Bob's approach underlines the creativity and resilience required to make intelligent investments in people and maintain client trust when the industry faces turmoil.
In a world where WHO you know can be just as crucial as WHAT you know, Bob stresses the importance of nurturing relationships for real estate and mortgage triumph. Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned professional, the insights from this conversation will inspire you to balance marketing savvy with top-notch service. Tune in and absorb the wisdom from a man who builds more than just mortgage plans—he builds lasting connections.
Discover the secrets of thriving in the mortgage industry from someone who's seen it all. Bob Hein of Mercantile Bank joins us to share his unexpected journey from sports enthusiast to economic whiz and eventually, a mortgage maestro. His story is a fascinating look at how adaptability and relationship-building can pave the way to a lasting career, even when you step into it 37 years ago!
Navigating the real estate market's highs and lows can be a wild ride, and Bob provides a front-row seat to the strategies that helped him and his clients stay afloat during the most trying times. From embracing FHA loans during the mortgage crisis to the personal touch of fridge magnets and mailings, Bob's approach underlines the creativity and resilience required to make intelligent investments in people and maintain client trust when the industry faces turmoil.
In a world where WHO you know can be just as crucial as WHAT you know, Bob stresses the importance of nurturing relationships for real estate and mortgage triumph. Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned professional, the insights from this conversation will inspire you to balance marketing savvy with top-notch service. Tune in and absorb the wisdom from a man who builds more than just mortgage plans—he builds lasting connections.
Hey, welcome back. Today we have Bob Hein with Mercantile Bank, and we're going to share a little bit about his story and how he's navigated through multiple decades in a single industry.
Bob Hein:Multiple decades, yeah. So how'd you get started? Well, first of all, as far as multiple decades, I don't always like to promote that necessarily. I did get into the business in 1987, having graduated from grand valley state university and got right back to having in the mortgage business. So doing the math is uh, what is that? 37 years, I think I.
Bob Hein:I think it's 37 years I knew you're going to ask me this, so I kind of did the math before I came in, 37 years. I knew you were going to ask me this, so I kind of did the math before I came in. That's a long time and I don't even know if that's productive when you advertise that. So you know, on my literature I say 25 plus years of experience. But yeah, it's been a long time, multiple decades, going into decade number five here in about four or five years.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah, lots of experience. I've seen a lot. You've seen a lot. Yeah, one or two changes over the years. What are two changes?
Bob Hein:No one one or two changes. Oh, one or two changes. Well, you know, it didn't seem to change for about 20 years, 25 years, and then, all of a sudden, now, bam, it's changing every six months.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah, oh yeah.
Bob Hein:You know, and that's an exaggeration, but yeah, I mean, it just changes so rapidly, because everything does seems to change and it's just harder to keep up with things nowadays, when you know, in the late 80s, 90s, 2000s, we just did things the same way, year after year after year, and you didn't have to constantly adapt. Right, so much like you do now.
Eldon Palmer:So let's rewind a little bit. How did you get started like? So you said you went to where'd you grow up?
Bob Hein:um, what's the kind of the backstory a little bit uh, well, I grew up in waterford, michigan, which is on the east side of michigan. Um, it's appropriately named waterford michigan because there is just so many beautiful lakes in waterford township, uh, they say like 10% of the homes, the residential homes, are on a lake and I think all my friends lived on a lake, except for me, but it didn't matter, right. So, yeah, we did a lot on the lakes. Growing up I was very active in sports. I played sports seemed like every single day I was doing something, moving from baseball to basketball to football and you know it. Just, it was a lot of fun.
Bob Hein:Didn't really take my studies too seriously back then Through high school. I didn't, I admit it. And you know I kind of got maybe a reputation back then, as you know the dumb jock, you know I was pretty good in sports. But you know, kind of all worked together. And then when I got to college, I thought, well, I don't want this reputation anymore, you know.
Bob Hein:So I started applying myself to studies and I enjoyed economics classes, you know, which is not an easy field of study either, and started applying myself and was getting Bs and a lot of as. So I kind of shifted my mentality and focus to. Yeah, I can learn sophisticated comprehensive studies and do well with that and ended up with graduating a cum laude and Dean's List and all that. So, yeah, I was an economics major at Grand Valley State and you know a lot of people pick their majors, obviously, and they're going to go into nursing or they're going to go into accounting or they're going to go into human resources or you can whatever. And they're like well, what are you going to do with an economics degree? Oh, whatever, I want to because I'm not pigeonholed into something, right? Yeah, and I always thought that I probably would go into sales anyway.
Eldon Palmer:Okay.
Bob Hein:Because my father was in sales and he wasn't college educated, but he was really good. What? Did he sell Really good. He had a couple of career changes but probably the last 30 years of his career he was working for a uniform company that would sell uniform services, laundry services, basically Most people are aware or familiar with Cintas a company that was a competitor of Cintas, which is now sold Arrow Uniform.
Bob Hein:They're no longer in business but he worked there for about 30 years, worked his way up and did very well, ended up being a vice president in charge of sales. So I would go into work with him a lot of times. I would work there summers and winter breaks while I was in college and I just always kind of thought that I would end up in sales just because I looked up to my dad so much and I saw how he was successful in it and you know, I was just real proud of my dad. He was always the baseball coach, the football coach you know all that growing up, and he would give the presentations year-end presentations and it was real good. It was, you know, talking with parents and just a really good communicator.
Bob Hein:And I thought that's probably why I gravitated toward thinking that I'm going to end up in sales, which, you know, the mortgage industry is a sales job. Whether people want to admit it or not, it is a sales job. Sure, we are paid on commission and I didn't know where I was going to go to work. Getting out of Grand Valley I think I was offered a job, like the last week prior to final exams.
Eldon Palmer:Okay.
Bob Hein:So I took the final exams in advance and then went out to Boston, massachusetts, for training. And you know what? Two weeks after school got out, I'm working for a mortgage company.
Eldon Palmer:I don't even know what a mortgage is. I'm working for a mortgage company.
Bob Hein:I don't even know what a mortgage is. Sure, but I'm working for a mortgage company.
Eldon Palmer:What was the name of the company at that time?
Bob Hein:It was called Plymouth Mortgage, which was local in Grand Rapids too. They had a Grand Rapids branch, I think in Granville. Some of the people that have been in the business a while here locally in West Michigan would probably remember the name Plymouth Mortgage, but I was located in Ann Arbor. They set up an Ann Arbor location. That's where I worked for about three and a half years before coming out here to Grand Rapids to go to work for another mortgage company.
Eldon Palmer:Okay, what brought you to Grand Rapids?
Bob Hein:A good job opportunity, a job to manage mortgage branch, and I enjoyed managing. I did well managing. It was about a three and a half year stint and then that mortgage company sold. Back in the 90s and 2000s, mortgage companies didn't stare out a long time. They often sold, they just sold or sometimes they imploded.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah, you know why do you think that was?
Bob Hein:You know, just privately owned. And I think that I really don't know because I'm not on that end of it, but just personal opinion. I just think because they're privately owned and you know there would be good opportunities for the owners to cash in and all their servicing. And I went through it a few times. You know, it's like I was kind of a job hopper back in those days. Not necessarily because I was job hopping, Sure.
Bob Hein:Because the companies I was working for were going out of business or selling out to other companies, as a lot of banks did too, I think in the 2000s early 2000s I moved back here from california and I was in the printing industry, but banks were constantly being bought up.
Eldon Palmer:It seemed like new small regional banks were constantly being bought up. It seemed like new small regional banks were popping up almost just to get sold in a year or two. It's like a business model.
Bob Hein:Yeah, I thought the same, just for stock positions. Yeah, so there was a lot of that going on. And then we had the housing bubble of 2006,. Seven, eight, and you know there were a lot of companies going out of business during that time. Actually, the company that I had come from prior to mercantile bank whether the storm- and the housing bubble and they, you know, I guess probably because we weren't doing all those subprime loans. So yeah we didn't get that greedy and all that. It was hard times, don't get me wrong.
Bob Hein:It was really hard times. I had a part-time job selling uniforms during the housing bubble. I'm not afraid or I'm not ashamed to say it. I mean we all kind of had some side hustles going on back then because it was like tough. But anyway, I'm getting off.
Eldon Palmer:Oh that's good, like I think it's um, and we can continue on or maybe rewind a little bit again. So you went from the first one was three and a half years roughly, in Ann Arbor, yeah, and then. So that's seems like a fairly quick amount of time to to manage an office, to get experience out of college. You know, you know it's, uh, it seems like a pretty quick turn to you know, managing an office in a whole different city. So that's a good. What? What got you there, do you think?
Bob Hein:well, I had, uh, worked for a company in ann arbor and the position in the manager's position in Grand Rapids was becoming available because they're going to let go of the Grand Rapids manager at that time. So basically, I replaced somebody. The owner of the company was very hands on, I mean you could just go in and you know, pop in and see him whenever you wanted. I can't remember exactly how we connected to make that discussion, um, but I I definitely, you know, recall sitting in his office and he's like sure, oh, and he just gave me a great offer.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah.
Bob Hein:Um. So you know I was. I was like 20, 29 years old, 28, 29 years old when I took over that position as a manager and I really enjoyed it. The branch, we were able to get the branch on track and become kind of a major player in the Grand Rapids market. And then, after it sold, it was the personnel in the branch, my friends, the employees you know, were like okay, where are we going to go? Do we go along with the sale, like they're trying to get us to? And it never quite works that way, right.
Bob Hein:So we all kind of splintered and went our own way and I'm thinking that I proved myself and I proved myself as a manager. I, I it was important to me that I did that. But I kind of just like being a loan office and just working with my clients and not necessarily having to be responsible for somebody else's income sometimes is the way I look at it. As a sales manager, you know and, um, you really get invested with people you know, your, your employees, your friends, your, you know, um, business relationships and if, if they're having a down month, a down year, you know it, it kind of wears on you a little bit, you know. So I just I didn't want that responsibility anymore and I just wanted to be responsible for my own production.
Eldon Palmer:I get that yeah.
Bob Hein:So I've just been an independent loan officer since.
Eldon Palmer:Sure, it gives you more focus, you know, especially if that's what you're good at and you enjoy the most then why not?
Bob Hein:I think so, and I think you can give a little better service to your customers because you're not distracted, right, right, when you got one of your employees saying I help, I need help on this.
Eldon Palmer:I think it can pull you in so many different directions that way. I mean, I've never had employees outside of a person or two here and there, but it's just a different responsibility level, for sure, and if you don't enjoy it, um, it can take away from things, even though you're qualified. It doesn't. I think the part point I'm trying to make is that moving up isn't always the best thing, um, and it might be for a little while, but it might not right it depends on the individual and and for me, yeah, it was, it was like, okay, I did it, I was good at it.
Bob Hein:But yeah, I'm, I'm okay, I don't need the job title. Yeah, you know, I personally didn't need it.
Eldon Palmer:I was glad for the experience and sometimes it doesn't bring the you know you might. You might make more money, like, from a financial standpoint, doing less or doing or focusing on only loans can give you, you know, more opportunities than the manager might get.
Bob Hein:Especially, if you enjoy it. You see that a lot with the top producers or in whatever industry. It doesn't necessarily mean real estate or mortgages, but the top producers, the top salespeople, are often making more money than their managers, and that's the way it should be, probably.
Eldon Palmer:It's the way it was when I was in the corporate world. Our top sales reps made more than pretty much anybody in the company sometimes the president even.
Bob Hein:Yeah, yeah, which yeah, when they're signing those uh paychecks, you know you wonder if they were raise their eyebrows. But no, they got to be happy with that, because that's what's making business so the whole thing, it drives the whole whole engine so, yeah, there were some uh companies. It seemed like three-year stints here there um for a while, and then I went to work for a local mortgage lender, mortgage company, uh, priority mortgage, polaris, home funding, and that was the company that weathered the storm through the housing bubble yeah and um so what are some of the things you did to get through that?
Eldon Palmer:you said side hustles um you or other people yeah, me or other people well, I mean, what did you find? I mean your team, the company, um, did the company change anything? Did you just have to pick up side work?
Bob Hein:I got, yeah, education improved, you know well, for about a year I went to my. For about a year I went to my dad's company Okay, he was retired at that time, but I had a good relationship with everybody there, I think growing up with the company as a kid and I worked there for about a year selling the uniform service while I was doing mortgage loans, but there just was not much, not much to write, yeah.
Bob Hein:So it was really. It was a mess, just everything was not much, yeah. Yeah. So it was really. It was, it was a mess, it just just everything was a mess. So that that helped get me through those times and then coming out of it, I think the company that I was working for, priority Mortgage, was on the leading edge with some other mortgage companies on how to get buyers approved and closed and that was with the FHA loan. Okay, you know, because it was a situation where conventional loans were really hard to get through. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were just, it was just difficult. I mean, have somebody with 20% down and, you know, 800 credit and they'd still reject the appraisal because they'd say it was a declining market, yeah, and there's a ton of that.
Eldon Palmer:I mean there was. They held so much, I guess. Yeah, I mean they had so many foreclosures at that time so we were.
Bob Hein:We were taking buyers who were you know what today would be considered good, strong, conventional buyers, and we were taking them fha, because that's how they're getting approved. And, um, you know, I I had clients, uh, calling me up, or potential clients that became future clients, saying, bob, and I hear that you know you're about the only one in town that are getting loans through, how are you doing it?
Eldon Palmer:Yeah.
Bob Hein:Taking them FHA.
Eldon Palmer:Sure Thinking a little different.
Bob Hein:Yeah, you know so, because I guess, because they're they're backed by Department of Housing and Urban Development or the government. Well they're willing to be more risky at that time in approving loans. And kudos to the buyers that were taking risks back then, because back in 2008, there was such a decline in housing prices but so many people thought they were still going to go down from there.
Eldon Palmer:And a lot of those properties were distressed physically as well. Yeah, so a lot of the properties. That's kind of when I got started full time and there was a lot of stuff that needed to work and a lot of FHA loans.
Bob Hein:Yeah, there were.
Eldon Palmer:And most of them required some seller to do some things or find some really creative ways to get that shed painted.
Bob Hein:A lot of seller paid costs and yeah so the the buyers. Obviously it was a buyer's market.
Eldon Palmer:He's kind of like we could say again kind of a seller's market today.
Bob Hein:You know who went from one extreme to another, but yeah so. Yeah, I mean the buyers were in great positions, but there were there were also, you know, a lot of issues too with buyers with employment. I mean, the buyers were in great positions, but there were also, you know, a lot of issues too with buyers with employment. I mean, because it was really the perfect storm. It wasn't just bad loans that created that, although that was a big, big part of it. It was also a time where we're losing a lot of manufacturing jobs overseas. That just compounded the problem.
Eldon Palmer:Right, I remember at that time period in the corporate world there were a lot of, there was a lot of downsizing because of the manufacturing. There was a lot of companies cutting benefits. People would get pay freezes and pay cuts. So there's a whole lot of things going on in the economy as a whole that that led to that as well.
Bob Hein:There was a lot of unemployment.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah.
Bob Hein:Was. So for those, you know that that took the risk then because it was risky to buy a house and even though your prices had fallen 30% or whatever it was, yeah, I did a lot of 89 niners back then, you know, and so many of my customers came back to me, you know, three years ago, four years ago, five years ago, two years ago, and sold their homes for $289,000. And you know all that profit margin for their down payment on their next home.
Eldon Palmer:It's just turned out fantastic for their down payment on their next home out. It's just turned out fantastic. That was the number is so funny. I went to a flipping seminar and that person was in Boston of all places. She'd flipped like 80 homes a year and that was her number. She would always try to buy. You could buy houses for 25, 30 grand then and she would be all in with a 30 30 profit margin and sell them at 89.9 and they always had to have like a hot or a jacuzzi tub in the time like everybody was.
Bob Hein:She had her business model down what would sell, right, yeah, and that was the number, yeah 89 yeah, yeah, that was. I still remember that the 89.9 or that was so common back then.
Bob Hein:Yep, so um so moving now, yeah so, yeah, I was, I was there for quite some time. I was there for almost 20 years. I was there 19 and a half years and it you know you just you build up so much uh rapport with the company and your underwriters and the owner and you know it's, it was a good spot for me a long time. Yeah, Especially you know having you know the three-year transition. You know, for probably 10 years leading up to that, every three years or so, Right, Nice to have stability. Yeah.
Eldon Palmer:For the client side as well, like they always know where you're at.
Bob Hein:Yeah, yeah, for the client side as well, like they always know where you're at. Yeah yeah, I wonder how many of my refrigerator magnets are around West Michigan.
Eldon Palmer:So refrigerator magnets? What are some of the other things you've done over the years For marketing?
Bob Hein:Yeah, Very consistently. I've done mailings and refrigerator magnets.
Eldon Palmer:I can testify to the mailings. I've seen a lot and refrigerator mailings. I can testify to the mailings. I do, yeah, I've seen a lot of your mailings over the years.
Bob Hein:Which I've discontinued, but I'm going to start up. I've got one ready to go. Yeah, I mean, it's just keeping your name and your face in front of people. And I was talking to a very successful realtor many years ago about mailing. He said he did and what do you do? Do you send like an info letter, like a quarterly info letter, or you know? And he said you do a postcard. You do a postcard. You know, nine times out of 10, it's just going to end up in the trash.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah.
Bob Hein:But at least a postcard. They're looking at your face all the way to the trash. That's true, yeah, so, yeah, so I do postcards, um and uh, you know there's a lot of email campaigns that people do. Uh, I think you start doing those too often and you just end up in spam, right, so, um, yeah, but anything, whatever you're're going to do, I think you got to do consistently, right. So you can do mailers, you need to do them at least a couple of times a year. Uh, you can't do like one and then another one two and a half years later.
Eldon Palmer:It's just right the goal is just to keep your um name and face in front of people. Yeah, consistent.
Bob Hein:Yeah, when they're thinking of a mortgage, they think of Bob Hine or, you know, real estate Alden.
Eldon Palmer:So all those years navigating through, all those years, you know, having that magnet that's up on their fridge all year round or receiving regular mailings like that, that's one tool that somebody could do to navigate through ups and downs, yep.
Bob Hein:And past clients are really such a great source of referrals, obviously for realtors, but for mortgage lenders too. Being in the business as long as I have, I've you know I'm very blessed and fortunate. I've got dozens of customers that I've done four or five, six mortgages.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah, over the years.
Bob Hein:You know. They bought their starter home, refinanced it. They bought their second home. They refinanced it. They bought their third and final home. They've refinanced it, bought their cottage. Yeah, yeah, so it's. Yeah, you do good work for people and they remember it, but you got to stay in front of them too, because they will forget if you know they don't have your contact information or they don't know where you're at that's something that I've definitely seen.
Eldon Palmer:The value in, recently too, is I went through my database of the past you know 20 years and I'm looking at those and I'm like I don't remember that, I don't remember that, I don't remember that, I don't remember that house or that name and I'm like, if I don't remember those, how are they going to remember me? Somebody they knew, for you know a couple months maybe.
Bob Hein:Yeah.
Eldon Palmer:And so you know that's something I struggled with early on, with I did not keep good If we didn't become friends or didn't become Facebook friends, then you know it was easy to get out of sight.
Bob Hein:Is there some kind of connection that you try and make to where you can remember that transaction?
Eldon Palmer:Well, when I went through my database, I started because the reason I did it was I started a monthly newsletter and I would go back and look at the property. You know, I went through each one of those, looked at the name, search through my email, found out our, and then I got refreshed by our conversations and then I'd look at the property. I find the property address. Look at the property oh yeah, now I remember, Now it goes together. And then I'd look and then I'd see that the property has sold since and that they've worked with somebody else, because that happens Seven years later they didn't know who. It was Right, Everybody has a friend and an agent or an aunt or uncle, but sometimes it's just they don't even know if I'm still in business In real estate agents. I think it's like a 13 month average when people get in before they cycle out.
Eldon Palmer:Oh really, you know 80 of them or something like there's a number, something like that don't quote me, but it's a. It's a fairly short cycle time, uh, and I've seen that with new you know mortgage lenders as well yeah, especially the past couple years.
Bob Hein:With refinancing gone, I don't last long I feel really bad for anybody trying to get into the mortgage business in today's market, or real estate too.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah.
Bob Hein:It's a great job, it's an exciting industry, it's fun and you know, all of that would be appealing to somebody who's younger, wanting to get into sales. But right now it's just really tough.
Eldon Palmer:It is. What would you, what advice would you give to somebody if they were trying to get in now and get started? Like what are some of the core tenants of being successful?
Bob Hein:Well, first of all, they got to be a very positive person, because it's going to be discouraging. It's it's it's discouraging for a buyer a lot of there, right, I mean you're you're making your offer on your, your tenth home right and you know, you just got to realize that that's the market conditions right now.
Bob Hein:So you got to be a positive person, but you, just you got to be consistent whatever you're're going to do, and communication is, I'm going to say, in the mortgage business, but it's in every business, right, isn't communication the most important aspect of what we're doing? And relationships and everything.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah, I say that all the time, it's communication.
Bob Hein:So it's without that. You know you're, you're just not giving service. It's when I, when I, led into our conversation saying a sales job yeah, it is sales because technically we're selling ourself, we're selling our service and we get paid commission. But it's not a sales job in the sense that we're trying to talk somebody into something. Right, it's, we're providing a service and the better service that we provide helps our sales. I mean, that's really what it is. It's a sales job, I guess technically, but theoretically it's a. It's a sales job, I guess technically, but theoretically it's a service. Sure, now there are realtors, there's loan officers, who are just great marketers. I mean, they're great marketers and they've got a team of assistants behind them and you know, I look up to a lot of those people. Um, I don't, I don't know um that that would be my style, because I'm a little bit more hands-on and I I like to do the communication and I like to be available. Um, you know, and and you're very relationship oriented.
Eldon Palmer:I mean, that's the one thing since I've gotten to know you, yeah well well, thank you, well, thank you.
Bob Hein:And you know, you, and whatever industry you're in, you know if you're on top of it, I mean you're just crushing it. Crushing it, um, yeah, I want to be careful on how I say this. You're at the top top because you've really learned how to market well and you know marketing is part of the business and service is the other part of the business. Right, and the people that are on the top top have found a way to do both well Absolutely. And the people that are on the top top have found a way to do both well Absolutely. But sometimes, if you're a really good marketer and you do a ton of business, sometimes there can be a slip in communication just because you're only one person Right, right, you're only one person.
Eldon Palmer:You have good systems.
Bob Hein:Yeah, so you want to you know work with more of an individual or a team where you're going to be working with a system.
Eldon Palmer:Right.
Bob Hein:Oh, um. So yeah, I guess you know the, the realtors and the loan officers that are really on top and found a way to do both, and I guess I haven't went that far or have not found that, but I'm okay with it. Personally, I'm okay with it.
Eldon Palmer:Well, you've done that. I mean, your marketing is staying in front of people with your mailings, your calls, your texts, your just communication, and you've built great relationships. So I think that just keeps coming back and then you get referral business. So that really, I think, is what've seen, that's gotten you through.
Bob Hein:Yeah, yeah. Well it it does when you don't have to sell yourself constantly with new marketing and paying for marketing, and your customers sell yourself, sell you for yourself. You take a lot of pride in that, you get a lot of satisfaction out of it, but it's also it's very economical way right, just do a good job, do a good job, period right yes, and remind people.
Eldon Palmer:And one thing I've noticed is you have sometimes have to tell people or remind them or show that, show your work like that's something I hated to do in math class but I learned early in sales. It's really just part of the communication process is showing your work. Look, you solved the problem for the client.
Bob Hein:You got to let them know, sometimes you do got to toot your own horn, sometimes you do just a little bit.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah, and I've. Neither of us are big horn tutors. No, you have to you have to share Sometimes you do to a point.
Bob Hein:No, they they understand and I think in most times they do. So, yeah, I mean, for me it's a matter of finding that, that happy balance in between you know, marketing and making sure that I'm not cutting my service at all. I've cared in favor of service, you know, being accessible, not relying too much on an assistant.
Eldon Palmer:Right, so yeah, so anything else for that you know new person coming into the business or somebody you know that might've been around for five years but you know for the next 10, 15, 30 years.
Bob Hein:Yeah, Well, for the new person, it's I've. I've asked this myself what would I do now if I was just getting into the business, you know, and it's just a matter of being aggressive, and when I say aggressive, just not being afraid, not being afraid to get out there and talk to people and stay on them in all forms, and I don't even know what those forms and channels are.
Bob Hein:And I don't even know what those forms and channels are. Platforms Sure, obviously, people use Facebook, instagram. All of that. It was so much easier for me because when I was breaking into the business and the way we did business and made sales calls for two plus decades, we would just drive around town. We'd be in our car, we'd just drive around town, we'd pop in a real estate office, we'd say hi to the receptionist, we'd go walking around in the office. Everybody would have their door open. We could tell if they're really busy if they'd be willing to chat for five minutes We'd just have
Bob Hein:relationships like that and get to know people that way, and we'd carry our pagers on the side and if somebody paged us we'd call a realtor from another realtor's office and that's just the way it was. But now you know, as far as a new person breaking in, how would you make these new relationships? I guess it's just a lot of consistent calling for appointments, but you know that that's gotta be pretty difficult. I mean getting somebody into an appointment. I've I've reached out to a number of realtors in the last year and you know much businesses I've had over the years. It's still hard to set appointments. It is.
Bob Hein:So, um, I I guess if I were really wanting to get into the mortgage business, I would work as an assistant under somebody and learn the business. Well, learn the ropes. Somebody who's somebody who I referred referred to earlier is that they've got like a team behind them.
Eldon Palmer:Right.
Bob Hein:And then maybe they can develop relationships through just being an assistant with maybe not obviously that person's clients that they're a member for, person's clients that they're a member for, but maybe listing realtors or just being in the business. Over time you're you're going to learn different referral partners.
Bob Hein:I think that's a big one you know. And then build in relationships and then you got. You've got. You know an income coming in until you're ready to go off on your on your own. I guess you know an income coming in until you're ready to go off on your own. I guess you know being an apprentice. I would recommend starting out right now.
Eldon Palmer:Yeah, I think that's a good route as well. I think the office, you know, the equivalent of walking into somebody's office and the doors open is sort of sliding into DMs. Now on the social, medias. It's different. It's virtually you're there, but um, it's sort of like the, the newer version probably, yeah, yeah.
Bob Hein:I got a lot of business out of a Remax office back in the nineties and it all started because I brought donuts every Friday morning, yeah, and eventually I just kind of wore off on people.
Eldon Palmer:Sure.
Bob Hein:So, um, so, anyway, now I'm bringing uh some uh Subway sandwiches to uh to a real estate office every uh every. Thursday morning yeah, I'm going very old school to see how that that works and and and you know what it will. It's gonna take a while. You gotta be consistent like the mailers, but it will.
Eldon Palmer:People like food. Everybody likes food. That doesn't change.
Bob Hein:They like food, they appreciate it. But I think really, what it proves is there's so-and-so, they're a salesperson. Here's a salesperson trying to get their business and he's doing the same thing week after week after week. Right, and he's consistent. He's not dropping the ball. As silly as it is, it doesn't mean anything, the subway sandwiches for breakfast but he's consistent and he's like clockwork. He gets it here every Thursday morning.
Eldon Palmer:So that's building and trust and respect from that standpoint really is what it's all about yeah, yeah, you know people buy from people they know like and trust.
Bob Hein:Yeah, and and eventually you know you, you have those conversations in the kitchen as, oh, what are rates are at, or what's this new program I heard about? And then you know that's that's how I built my realtor referral base back in the 90s and 2000s is being in front of people. But yeah, I mean, it's harder and harder to do that right now that we're all connected with our phone and everybody's kind of off site. Yeah, even if all the realtors did show up in the office, you could get past the front desk in most cases.
Eldon Palmer:Get them at the same time. Yeah, yeah, that's definitely a hard thing, so much remote, so, um, you know a few things. We just kind of do a quick recap um, you got through that time by staying in front of people, by building great relationships, um, really good communication, by showing up consistently. I mean, those are four that stuck out. Anything I'm missing here Hard work and service.
Bob Hein:Like you've got people have to believe your word and if you tell them that you're going to be able to do something, you've got to be able to do it. You can't make promises that you're not going to deliver on Right. You know and and you know, I've seen I say I've seen a lot of people kind of really get run out by over-promising and just not delivering.
Eldon Palmer:And you don't get a second chance. Very often in this type of industry, it's like you mess up once. Yeah, that's not an honest mistake. Yeah.
Bob Hein:Yeah, you, you, you gotta and you gotta. If you do make a mistake, you gotta own it. Right, you can't blame, you can't point the finger. You, you can't lie, you just can never lie, and that goes for your life. Personally, I agree with with everything, but if somebody doesn't think that they can trust you with whatever it is on, okay, something as simple as okay, yeah, yeah, I can make a closing date by you know, 10 days. Well, if it's two weeks, you, you know right.
Eldon Palmer:There's things that happen, but there have been lenders that my clients have worked with in the past that they were so upset they pulled all their money out of that particular bank.
Bob Hein:Oh, no kidding.
Eldon Palmer:Cause they didn't meet the deadline. It was very reasonable poor communication. You know it's been a. You know there was a time where certain clients they just they're done, yeah, like it really ruined their experience.
Bob Hein:Yeah so you know, people will say, well, what does it take to do business with somebody? Well, they say, well, first thing they have to, they have to like you. Well, I think even before that mean they have to believe you and trust you. Sure, I mean, if you don't have that, then you don't get to the liking.
Eldon Palmer:Right, because they don't even bother to get to know you. Yeah.
Bob Hein:So they got to trust you that you're going to be, you know, good with your word Right. You're not going to clear coat anything and sometimes you have a lot of bad news to say in this business or things that people don't want to hear. But you gotta you gotta be honest and be up front with that so it's not a bigger problem later yeah, trust is key, for sure.
Eldon Palmer:Anything else that you'd want to share before, before we wrap up.
Bob Hein:No, I'm just looking forward to the spring. Market Usually seems to come around in March is when it really starts heating up. Right, I wanna say let's get ready for rates to come down and everybody that bought in the last year at 6% or higher, we can get you a lower rate refinance. But I don't have a crystal ball on that, so we'll see how that works out. But yeah, there's a lot of talk on interest rates right now, and there has been, because they, historically speaking, they're not bad not bad right now, but when?
Bob Hein:you come from 2.75% to 6.75, 6.75% in, you know, 18 months. It's kind of a shock to the system. So we're digesting that right now. But yeah, I mean it's just, it's adapting just like we have to.
Eldon Palmer:Right, and the average, you know, you know the median median, you know it's like seven and a half or something and some change. And I keep saying now, now we're not comparing against 2.75 as much as we are last year at seven and a half or whatever. So yeah, they're down a little bit from what they were so that that's become more of the norm.
Bob Hein:I mean, yeah, I, I think, uh, as far as I mean, yeah, I think, as far as getting the market moving riskily again is a rate that sellers are going to feel okay about trading their 2.75% rate with, whatever the current rate is, and I'm not sure what that is if it's in the fives or the inventory.
Eldon Palmer:Right, yeah, well, I'm looking forward to a good spring market too. Same here. How can people find you?
Bob Hein:They can call me or. Google, Bob Hein. Yes, h-e-i-n. Wwwbobheinmortgagecom there you go. Thanks, Bob. Appreciate Bob Hein mortgage. com
Eldon Palmer:There you go. Thanks, Bob, appreciate it. Thank you guys. My pleasure. Please like, share and subscribe if you've enjoyed this podcast.