100 Day Challenge

Interest Rates for 9-3-2009

30 year fixed conventional 4.625 with 1 point origination

30 year fixed conventional 4.875 with no origination

15 year fixed conventional 4.25 with no origination

30 year fixed FHA 4.875 with 1 point origination

30 year fixed FHA 5.125 with no origination



“All rates and programs are subject to change without notice. This information is intended for mortgage professionals only and is not an

advertisement to extend consumer credit as defined by REGZ. The above rate represents a consumer on a rate and term refinance transaction with a credit score above 740 with 40% or more equity in their home, a minimum loan amount of $125,000 , a maximum loan amount of $417,000 and establishing an impound/escrow account."

Details on the Amortization Schedule

The question was if you take the total interest charged and divide it by the interest rate it does not seem to equal the beginning debt. I replied that the interest is compound and this CPA did the math to back that up so I thought you should see it.

You were right; the difference in the first line of the amortization
schedule was due to the compound interest.The interest rate listed was 5.685%, compounded monthly works out to
5.836..%.

If you take the beginning balance of the mortgage, $189,509.42, and add the
annual service fee,$360, and the annual MIP, $976, and multiply that sum by
the interest rate, 5.685% divided by 12 and raised to the 12th power gives
you a total ending balance of $201,983 which is $42 over the amort. schedule.

If you just take the beginning balance and multiply it by the interest rate
compounded and then add the service fee and the MIP, you end up with a
balance of $201,905, which is $35 short.

So the difference is multiplying each month's fees, $30 plus $81.33, by the
compound rate raised to the 12th power, followed by the next month's fees
raised to the 11th power, and so forth.

That calculation should get us to the correct ending balance.
Thanks for your help.

on using the RM to buy new home.


1. Do both the sale and the purchase of the new home need to be done simultaneously?
A. You can sell your home anytime and then purchase a home using a reverse mortgage to finance it at any time. If you do not have a home that you need to sell then you can just show that you do have the money necessary to pay your portion of the purchase and use the reverse mortgage to provide the balance.
You cannot get a home using a reverse mortgage without putting some of your money into the transaction, no seller financing or gifts of the down payment.

2. Assume a home was sold netting $100,000. Money is in money market fund. What value of new home might one look for to finance the new home with RM and the $100K to be the down payment. Assume the youngest buyer is 75. What formula can you use to determine this new home value considering age and down payment as variables.
A. There is no formula we can give you, it must be run on the lender provided software. You can request a quote from us and we will figure it out for you. On the 75 year old asked about they could buy a $300,000 house with $103,000 down payment using the fixed HECM.

Some Good Questions

Sent in from a Loan Officer in GA.

I appreciate this opportunity. I hope I can remember the questions I have but never seem to quite understand.

Some of my questions are as follows:

1. Since the amortization schedule is drawn out to age 85, what happens with the loan anyway if/when the borrower lives past that age?
A. Some of the software we use shows to age 100 and some does not, either way the interest keeps accumulating until the loan is paid off at the time the borrower moves, sells or dies.

2. What is the average time a loan package is in-house before it gets to the lender? Who are the key individuals in the process?
A. WSB processes the loan until it is ready to go to the underwriter at the lender of choice, that normally takes around 2 to 3 weeks at which time we send it to the lender and they determine if there is anything else needed (conditions) if not then we are clear to close in a few days (except MetLife) and the closing takes place.

3. How soon is the loan officer commission paid after the close?
A. WSB pays all payroll each week, our cutoff for receiving checks is Wednesday at Noon Pacific, so if we get the check from the Escrow by Noon Wednesday then we cut your check that day and if you are set up to receive them electronically you will receive it by Friday if you want a paper check we send them UPS on Thursday so it could take up to five days for the East Coast delivery.

4. Why are leads so expensive from WSB? It seems like sales resources are a major income bucket for WSB. Wouldn't it be more lucrative to see as many qualified people as possible, at the lowest cost to the agent? Commercial standard mail is relatively cheap. Recycled documentation is low overhead, etc. How are your rates justified?
A.Postage rates are 44 cents per piece mailed and our leads are $500.00 per 1,000 so I am not sure why you think that is expensive? If you have a vendor that can get a good response for less we want to know about them. WSB is not a mail house or lead company, we search out companies that promise to deliver, we try it ourselves first and then if we get a good result we offer it to our Loan Officers. We just completed a test that cost us $1,600 and we wrote 1 Reverse Mortgage out of that, we will not be recommending that one to you. We have offered lists of prospects for 15 cents per name and have had good results with those and the reply card mailer is working very good, in fact if you get just 30 leads back then each lead cost you $16.00 which is the real number you should pay attention too. The Robert Wagner Leads cost $150.00 each when they were available.
If you know of a lower cost lead generation then we would like to know about it as well, and if you know of one that works prove it with production.

These are just a few of the pressing questions I've had. If I have more, I'll send them.

I hope that answers your questions and to all of our Loan Officers I welcome them, keep them coming.

Jeffrey Bangerter

Honest Selling

With no reservation whatsoever, I can confidently say that 90 percent of all problems with salespeople can be solved if you can just get them to shut up and listen.

I’ve worked with hundreds of salespeople – from rookies to seasoned veterans to entrepreneurs that have started several successful companies – and if there’s one skill set that must be improved every time, it’s listening. If you choose to do only one thing I tell you in this entire book, then learn how to apply the interview concepts I’m about to explain.

Before I get to the concepts of how to interview, I need to get back on my soapbox for a few minutes, so I can explain one key reason why you should interview, and, once again, voice my disdain for much of what I’ve heard about this particular subject.



Decision-makers buy from people they trust. If there is one indisputable law of sales, it’s that, when all else is equal, and most times even when things are unequal, trust is the #1 factor that controls purchase decisions.

I have no way to actually prove this, but it’s an assumption I’m willing to make, simply because I’ve seen what the lack of trust can do to any relationship, whether it be in sales or any other aspect of life. Besides, decision-makers rarely have all the facts when making final decisions – unknowns always remain – so in the final analysis, trust in what a salesperson says is the key that actually locks a deal.

So if trust is essential to the sales process, it stands to reason that salespeople would want to know how to create trust – right?

In an earlier chapter, you learned about supply and demand – that to sell you must offer stuff that people want. Sales trainers know that salespeople want to learn how to establish trust, so most of them offer training in accomplishing that goal.

Throughout my sales career, I’ve read dozens of sales books, taken almost a dozen sales courses and participated in a few one-on-one coaching and mentoring programs. With few exceptions, the experts giving the advice told me about the importance of trust, and then how to establish “strong,” “profound” or “deeply held” trust. The thing I found curious was that all of them claimed their techniques could produce this level of trust in not more than 15 minutes – an astounding accomplishment, and a little outlandish. The only people I have ever trusted deeply are those who behaved in a trustworthy manner over a long period of time. I give new acquaintances, such as salespeople, the benefit of the doubt when it seems they’re being straight with me. But strong, profound and deeply held trust? That never happens in only 15 minutes.

Nevertheless, I listened carefully to what I was told, and even practiced some of the techniques – the ones that weren’t totally outrageous. And, after 25 years of analyzing what others had to say about establishing trust, I’ve managed to finally find the key.

Yes, I’m serious, I’ve actually landed on the one and only way to establish trust. No, I did not invent this idea, nor did I learn it from an expert. But learning from these experts is what gave me the insights I needed to arrive at my conclusions.

Are you ready to learn what it takes to establish deeply held trust with prospects? Are you truly prepared to have this question finally answered? Then brace yourself, because I’m about to give you the secret to this age-old question. [Drumroll please …]

To establish trust, you must behave in a manner that is worthy of trust.

Imagine that! All that is required to establish trust is to be trustworthy! Whew! I’m glad that question is finally answered – aren’t you?



This is taken from the book Honest Selling, I recommend you read it.

How to Identify Diminished Capacity

I just finished a requirement of my Broker/Dealer and I thought this part of the course was important for you as Loan Officers of WSB Mortgage to also realize. Please focus on the best interest of our clients and prospects, if it was your Mother or Father, how would you like them treated?

How to Identify Diminished Capacity
A critical aspect of doing business with seniors is being able to identify signs of diminished mental capacity in senior investors. The ability to observe changes in investors' behavior places representatives in a unique and challenging position. There is widespread concern among Financial Professionals and their Firms about taking appropriate steps when an investor shows signs of diminished capacity, about Financial Professionals' responsibilities in these instances, and about their potential liability in instances where the Financial Professional does not address the issue.
Regulators have noted that Financial Professionals cannot take advantage of investors in a manner that would violate either an investment adviser's fiduciary duty to the investor or a representative's responsibility to follow just and equitable principles of trade. Firms have an obligation to supervise employees to prevent this behavior. In circumstances where the investor appears to lack capacity to understand an investment or to provide informed consent, you may want to consider taking certain steps, such as seeking advice from supervisors about contacting a trusted family member or the person designated in the investor's power of attorney.
Experts on the elderly who have studied this subject, as well as regulators as of late, have referred to the importance of identifying signs — or “red flags” — that may indicate that an investor may have diminished capacity or a reduced ability to handle financial decisions. Examples of signs of diminished capacity include, but are not limited to, the following:
• The investor appears unable to process simple concepts;
• The investor appears to have difficulty speaking or communicating;
• The investor appears unable to appreciate the consequences of decisions;
• The investor makes decisions that are inconsistent with his or her current long-term goals or commitments;
• The investor's behavior is erratic;
• The investor refuses to follow appropriate investment advice. This may be of particular concern when the advice is consistent with previously-stated investment objectives;
• The investor appears to be concerned or confused about missing funds in his or her account, where reviews indicate there were no unauthorized money movements or no money movements at all;
• The investor is not aware of, or does not understand, recently completed financial transactions;
• The investor appears to be disoriented with surroundings or social setting; and
• The investor appears uncharacteristically unkempt or forgetful.


How to Identify Elder Financial Abuse

Elder abuse comes in a variety of forms. It can be physical or emotional and can be in the form of neglect, abandonment, or through financial exploitation. Elder financial abuse is generally referred to as the misuse of a person's money or belongings by a family member or a person in a position of trust.
Similar to detecting diminished capacity, representatives are on the front lines of seeing indications of possible financial abuse and would benefit from being able to identify signs — or “red flags” — that may indicate that an investor may be subject to elder abuse. Examples of these signs include, but are not limited to the following:
• The investor gives a power of attorney to someone that, to the investor's Financial Professional, appears inappropriate;
• Indications that the investor does not have control over or access to his/her money;
• The investor's mailing address has been changed to an unfamiliar and unexplained address;
• Inability of the representative to speak directly to the investor, despite attempts to do so;
• The investor appears to be suddenly isolated from friends and family;
• There is a sudden, unexplained or unusual change in the investor's transaction patterns;
• There are unexplained disbursements made in an investor's account that are outside of the norm; and
• The sudden appearance of a new individual involved in the investor's financial affairs.