How a half-crippled, pathetic middle aged guy got 19 loan mod leads in 1 hour while flat on his tush

I blew off my workshop last Wednesday, but it didn't matter. Let me explain.

First, the embarrassing reason I no-showed to a room of 35 plus people was because my friggin' back has been KILLING me this week. I herniated a disk in college (back in '88) doing something incredibly stupid - doing squats with the football team, trying to keep up. (I played basketball but had no business trying to hold my own against those animals.)

So once in a while the injury crops up - hasn't been this bad in years, though.

So I woke up Wednesday, hoping and praying that I'd feel better- i.e., be able to stand like a hominid instead of some kind of hunched creature from a bad sci-fi movie. No dice.

I texted my buddy Marlon who does a lot of processing for my loan mod bidness. I had taught him the workshop presentation a few weeks ago and by this time he had already given two live presentations. A real veteran.

Marlon stepped in at the last minute and came through like a hero - out of the 19 "units" who showed (families - some of which brought multiple guests) - 14 requested an appointment with him and a handful booked him right on the spot.

If I told you that I'd been harassing Marlon for months to do his first workshop it would do it justice - I'd tried all sorts of sensitive, motivational techniques like assaulting his manhood and calling him a "little girl" - politically correct, caring stuff like that.

But finally Marlon relented and embraced my system. He's a reluctant, but powerful, Loan Mod Warrior, gaining strength and confidence every day. Oh, and he's booking appointments with prospects like crazy.

So even though I was stuck at home, lying on my back, the show went on without me and we'll ring the cash register. My lead generation, presentation and post-workshop follow-up all happened without me. That's the pipe dream behind having a system that works even if you're home in the fetal position, sniffling and sucking your thumb like I was last week.

I'm going to beta test this system, The Loan Mod Warrior Battle Plan, next week. Keep your eyes out for an announcement.

Changes to the loan mod law

I have to admit that I was a little freaked out at the seminar on the loan modification business that I attended last Friday. We were walked through the new revisions to the foreclosure rescue statute in Florida (501.1377) that pertains to loan modification and foreclosure rescue services.

Did you know that Florida loan modification agents (not attorneys) cannot charge "up-front" for any loss mitigation services as of July 1? And, after January 1, the law changes again to protect the Florida homeowner even more - foreclosure rescue consultants in Florida will not be able to charge anything until the homeowner receives a material benefit; in other words, is approved for a loan modification or some other loss mitigation solution.

Since that process can take months, it's a big gamble for any loan mod agent to take for months of work without being able to cover his or her costs with a nominal application fee. Attorneys will be similarly restricted. I don't know any attorneys who would work for free.

I predict a lot of loan mod agents will either break the new law on a daily basis or decide that they can't make a living under the new structure here in Florida. I also predict a heavy lobbying effort by attorneys and mortgage brokers to have this line-item vetoed by Governor Christ.

I have not looked closely at other states' laws but my understanding that, with the exception of California, most states have not gone this "hard-core" in this direction yet. Stay tuned.

What's your loan mod prospect really afraid of?

This post covers is about understanding what your loan mod prospect is really afraid of and how that factors into their decision-making. Warning - this post (and book tip) can be used the wrong way - to manipulate your loan mod prospect. Please do not watch this video if that's how you do business, seriously.

This tip is exclusively for responsible loan modification professionals - Loan Mod Warriors!

The Good, the Gad and the Ugly: Which Lenders are Saying "Yes" to Loan Mods

I just received this info from Marlon, who works with me in my loan mod business. While I can't verify 100% of what he learned, I thought I'd pass it along to you nonetheless.

Marlon attended a conference call with my "back office" processor who gave her impressions of how "loan mod-friendly" each of the following lenders are:

The "Good" Banks Who are Easy to Deal With:

Citi
WaMu
Chase
Aurora
Select Portfolio

The "Bad" Banks Who are Difficult, Not Impossible:

Bank of America
Wells Fargo
Litton
Indymac

The "Ugly" They'll make you work and your chances are much slimmer than the previous category:

Countrywide
Wachovia
Ocwen
Home Eq
HSBC

Again, I can't vouch for this info, and, like everything else in the loan mod business, any of this could change at the drop of a hat.

But I thought it was good info to pass along!

Have a good day!

I couldn't help her...but I did

I had a long day yesterday. My last of five loan mod prospects was a single mom who showed up early for her 5:30 appointment. "Patty" brought her six year old son, who spent most of the time clinging to her lap like a marsupial.

I started the appointment with my typical, scripted comments, reassuring her that she would be under no pressure to make a decision to work with me and a few other key points that I always bring up. (After four other appointments I really felt like a broken record by 5:30.)

I departed from my script to ask Patty's son, "Johnny" about whether Sponge Bob was, indeed, his favorite show and which characters would make up his "Fave 5." After we compared notes on that (my top character is Plankton, the one-eyed, tiny meglo-maniac) I got down to business with Patty.

She told me her story - she worked for a big lender, got laid off and recently found a new job at a foreclosure attorney's office as a processor for far less money. At the same time, she went through her divorce. She was way under water on her mortgage - she owed 280K and the place was worth an estimated 190K. She owed more than $50,000 in unsecured debt and was considering filing bankruptcy (her attorney had referred her to me to see about a mortgage loan modification.)

I told her that I could help her and ran through the numbers with her. I always give a projected range of savings, i.e. $400-700 per month without pinning down an exact number.

But as I looked at her other expenses that I could not affect, her taxes, homeowners association dues, insurance, etc. I concluded that the loan mod would not provide enough meaningful relief to her to make it worth doing, especially in light of the fact that she could rent an identical place in the same complex for more than $1,000 per month less. And that it would be a long time, if ever, before she built any equity in her current home.

See, people come to us to learn about modifying their loan, but that's not the real problem they need solved. Patty's real problem is cash flow - her reduced income was no longer sufficient to pay her bills. Sometimes a loan mod will help the cash flow problem, but in this case, I made the judgment that it wouldn't be enough.

We talked about all the other issues surrounding foreclosure, bankruptcy, credit, etc. - and Patty agreed that she should rent. In fact, she commented that she felt that before she came to see me and was glad that I helped confirm her decision.

So always give your best advice and analysis. We all have a right to make a living - a good living - doing mortgage modifications, but only if it's in the best interests of the client. Loan mods are a highly controversial area that is receiving more and more scrutiny from various attorneys general throughout the country.

In Patty's case, I did not earn a dime for my efforts but I can honestly tell you that the psychological payoff to me for knowing that I helped her was 100 times greater than any fee I would have earned on her loan mod.

I'm polishing off my Loan Mod Warrior system and will give details on it this month!

"Stood up" by my loan mod prospect?!

I'm writing this blog while I wait for my 11:00 loan mod prospect meeting. Since it's 11:44, it's safe to say that she's not showing up. I'm not exactly happy, but am not too bummed out about it since I have another four prospect appointments booked this afternoon. (Murphy's Law being what it is, the last one of the day is never the no-show!)

Here are a couple of key points that come to mind while I'm sulking:

• This is exactly why I don't make "housecalls" with my loan modification prospects. I make them all come to me. That way, if they no-show, I can still get work done at the office instead of having wasted the time driving all over hot, sweaty South Florida only to find out that they're not interested.
• No-shows do happen, no matter what precautions you take.
  
• Here are some of my typical steps that I take to confirm every loan modification prospect's consultation:

1. My virtual assistant books the appointment for me.
2. She sends a confirming email to the prospect immediately.
3. She calls and emails a confirm 24 hours prior to the appointment. The email contains directions to my office - Lockwood Mortgage Negotiation Services - and a list of items to bring to the appointment.
   
4. She logs all this activity on google docs on a tab reserved exclusively for my loan modification prospect appointments.
   

The lie about 'automatic' loan mod lead generation

Just returned from a 2 week vacation Saturday. During the second week, I made a monumental effort to disconnect entirely from email and the Internet for each of my three businesses. (Not from my Blackberry or Facebook - can't shut down the text messaging and keeping up with my high school classmates!)

Did things run 100% smoothly while I was out? Hardly.

I came back to a bunch of problems and annoyances that lingered while I was out. That's why that I never believe anyone who brags about 100% automated systems. I think there's no such thing - it's a pile of horseshit.

Every business needs your attention. The degree of attention is of course variable.

I've tried to set up my loan mod business so that my attention is minimal. I have a virtual assistant, a processing assistant and a loan mod back office that does 98% of each file's heavy lifting.

That system does not run without my involvement. I meet with my processing assistant, Marlon, once per week to go over each file. Marlon stays on top of each file handled by my back office throughout the week.

My virtual assistant handles billing, inbound phone calls, appointment and seminar scheduling. She's incredibly good and a bargain - maybe the best move I made in the last three years was hiring a V.A. to handle my loan mod and other business.

So when I opened up my calendar to see my schedule this week, I found that I had seven appointments booked Tuesday and Friday, all of which happened while I was away! That's pretty cool. It makes me feel better about all the other little b.s. that I have to deal with today - it's very comforting to know that I'll be ringing the cash register this week even though I've been slacking off for 14 days!