Broward Directory Blog

Mortgage News

The mortgage planning process is different than the typical “shopping for a mortgage” experience.

The mortgage planning relationship is not about you:

• Wasting your valuable time trying to save $25/month by comparing rates, fees and closing costs among different lenders.
• Wasting your valuable time trying to baby-sit the mortgage company you’ve reluctantly chosen to work with.
• Being promised one thing and then getting something different at closing.
• Being “sold” on one mortgage product over another.

The mortgage planning relationship is about you:

• Receiving valuable financial advice and guidance that can literally save you hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Trusting a professional who is committed, qualified and equipped to deliver what they promise.
• Experiencing a “concierge” level of service when you are in the market to buy a home,
• refinance your mortgage or make cash flow changes to enhance your lifestyle.
• Implementing a defined financial plan of action in helping you achieve your life goals and dreams.
• Maintaining an ongoing high trust relationship with a team of financial advisors who can help you make necessary changes in your debt, cash flow and home equity planning strategies.

This is a relationship, not just a transaction. As such, it requires a defined system of accountability in order to work effectively. The Mortgage Planning Process consists of the following five steps:
1. Establish and define the client-planner relationship.

• Mortgage Planner Should:

• Ask you for information about your financial situation and your time frame for results and success.
• Gather all the necessary documents before giving you the advice you need.
• Clearly explain or document the services they will provide to you.
• Explain how they will be paid and by whom. Unless you are willing to pay a flat fee for mortgage and real estate equity advice, mortgage planners are typically compensated through a commission structure set up with the lenders they work with.

• You Should:

• Clearly explain how financial decisions are made in your household and include all the key decision makers in consultations with your mortgage planner.
• Be prepared to share personal and financial information with your mortgage planner in order for them to be able to advise you on how best to achieve your goals.

2. Analyze and evaluate your financial status.

• The mortgage planner should analyze your information to assess your current situation and determine what you must do to meet your goals. Depending on what services you have asked for, this could include analyzing your credit situation, real estate equity, debt situation and cash flow.

3. Develop and present mortgage planning recommendations and/or alternatives.

• The mortgage planner should offer mortgage planning recommendations that address your goals based on the information you provide.
  The mortgage planner should go over the recommendations with you to help you understand them so that you can make informed decisions. The mortgage planner should also listen to your concerns and revise the recommendations as appropriate.

4. Implementing the mortgage planning recommendations.

• You and the planner should agree on how the recommendations will be carried out. The mortgage planner may serve as your “coach,” coordinating the whole process with you and other professionals such as CPAs, CFP ® professionals, attorneys, Realtors, builders, insurance professionals and other qualified advisors.

5. Monitoring the mortgage planning recommendations through a quarterly or annual mortgage and equity management review.

• You and the mortgage planner should agree on how you will both monitor your progress toward achieving your goals. During this review, your mortgage planner can adjust their recommendations, if needed, as your life changes. Most often, this process involves periodic assessment of:

• Your fluctuating cash flow needs.
• Changing market interest rates and mortgage strategies.
• Income and career alterations.
• Family changes including:
  Children’s financial needs.
  Caring for elderly parents.
• How your real estate equity and investments are performing from both a cash-flow and “internal rate of return” perspective.

Allen Robinson – CMPS,CMA,TEAM,CLA
Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist
South Florida Mortgage Planner
First Trust Mortgage
2933 W Cypress Creek Rd, #201
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33309
954-771-1828 ext 229
ajrftmc@aol.com

I am growing my mortgage planning practice and your referrals are important to me. Consequently, I do make house\business calls anywhere in Florida and even provide loans in 10 states via fed express and email. I consider going out of the office a valuable opportunity to meet my clients in their environment so I can provide better advice on how to build wealth and utilize the mortgage properly.

Finance News

Each month, JobFox, a leading job research company, releases its list of the professions in greatest demand by recruiters and other employer agents. In the most recent report, JobFox added a twist, publishing a list of jobs that remain in high demand despite the current economic downturn.

Jobs high on the list include sales reps, software developers, nurses, accountants and accounting staff, finance executives, and administration assistants. But this data, while interesting, doesn’t help you that much if your company is feeling the pinch and needs to take action. The truth is, in tough times, no job is necessarily secure.

So instead of looking for, or switching to, these so-called recession-proof jobs (which could easily change in next month’s report), you’re much better off taking some simple steps to try and recession-proof your career. The following are a few tangible ways to help you avoid the chopping block in today’s tougher economy:

Make yourself invaluable
Go above and beyond your basic job responsibilities. This is more than just getting to work on time and not missing deadlines. It means volunteering for more responsibility. It means finding ways to generate revenues and utilize cheaper resources to complete your job with the same high standard. It also means having the kind of positive attitude that lifts morale and increases production. Remember, it’s a lot easier to lay off the whiners and the nay-sayers who pollute the work environment and promote failure than it is to “give the sack” to hardworking employees who are making a real effort to adapt and adjust to the clear challenges that the company is facing.

Step into the limelight
A great way to create value is to be visible, to distinguish yourself in a positive way. Some people think that the best way to survive a downturn is to try and sink below the radar, to do your job well, but to stay out of the way. And while this might work for a little while, ask yourself this: Does your employer know how crucial your skills are to your company’s success? If you’re not sure, now is not the time to be a wallflower. Get involved, and show your company that they need you now more than ever.

Improve your skills
A great way to recession-proof your career is to update your skills. Take a few classes. Get that certification or advanced degree you’ve been thinking about. Let’s face it, in tough times, if your company sees your skill set as obsolete, they just might invest in someone who is better-trained. By improving your education, however, your career is much safer now and in the long run. Besides, even if these classes or degrees don’t help you keep your current job, your new education and skills could help you secure a new one if it becomes necessary, maybe even a better one!

Networking vs. Not Working
The best part about improving your education is the people you meet in the process. In an educational environment, you’ll meet tons of people in your field at various stages of their careers. Take advantage of the opportunity to learn from and to help these professionals. Join networking groups. Take calls from headhunters. Polish up your résumé. Find out what others in your field are doing, what their plans are, and share your plans with them. The time to start networking is not after you’ve been laid off, so don’t wait. This kind of preparation is more than just being cautious, it’s being proactive, which can provide, if nothing else, confidence in even the most desperate times.

Surviving the storm
The best way to survive a tough economy is to understand that each downturn is different and that, eventually, things will improve. In fact, there hasn’t been a recession yet that we haven’t overcome as a nation, and today’s market is no different. We will get through it, and we will continue to grow and thrive in the next upturn. And by being proactive now in our professional careers we can weather the storm and come out stronger on the other end. After all, when it comes to the economy, if there’s one thing you can count on it’s that everything is cyclical, from the financial markets to the job market to the real estate markets.

As a mortgage professional, this is an important concept I’ve accepted and embraced a long time ago, and it’s how I’ve managed to continue to thrive in any market cycle. Did you know that, since 2005, more than 65% of professionals in my field have gone out of business? My company, however, has continued to grow based on the many referrals of satisfied clients who I’ve helped and continue to help reach all of their financial goals and needs as homeowners.

If you or anyone you know could benefit from my unique mortgage services as well, please don’t hesitate to call me. We’ll take good care of them and provide them with the same great service we provide you. Also, if you have any more tips for recession-proofing a professional career during an economic downturn that I should add to my list, please share them. They will definitely come in handy in the future when the economy comes full circle.

Allen Robinson – CMPS,CMA,TEAM,CLA
Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist
South Florida Mortgage Planner
First Trust Mortgage
2933 W Cypress Creek Rd, #201
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33309
954-771-1828 ext 229

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Allen Robinson is a South Florida Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist discussing the current mortgage market as well as the difference between Mortgage Brokers and Certified Mortgage Planners.

You can contact Allen with any questions about your mortgage needs.

Allen Robinson – CMPS, CMA,TEAM, CLA
South Florida Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist
First Trust Mortgage
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33309
954-771-1828 ext 229
http://www.broward-directory.com/BrowardMortgages/