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The two things I like to think I know quite a bit about, mortgages and triathlons actually have a tremendous amount in common. Drawing upon my knowledge base, I’ve created this website uniquely linking, through analogy, the sport of triathlon to my professional mortgage practice. Using this format I get to talk about the things I am most passionate about in my life. You get a fresh approach to a subject which, quite frankly, seems so overwhelming very few ever get to the starting line well prepared (see how helpful that was?).
Like the swim, bike, run of a triathlon, I have broken my business down into three disciplines: Planning, Origination & Closing, and Management. In my experience, a comprehensive, successful mortgage requires thorough preparation and executions in all three areas. A professional lender, just like the coaches I use in my triathlon training, is pivotal in helping you acquire and optimize your most coveted financial asset--your home.
Besides being a very large financial undertaking, there is enormous complexity involved with securing and maintaining a mortgage. I liken this to the enormous amount of knowledge needed to successfully complete an Ironman-distance race; if you train and compete without the help of a coach you’ll eventually learn the many unforgiving race realities the hard way. In terms of your mortgage, even the savviest financial expert benefits from working with a mortgage professional.
Just as my coaches provided me with a plan to competitively and successfully reach the finish line, I will help you find a loan program and strategy that works with your short- and long-term needs and goals. Below I’ve broken out my platform of service for my clients into three distinct disciplines:
#1 – Planning: As a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist (CMPS) I know the detailed questions to ask when gathering a comprehensive, personal, financial profile. After I assemble your unique, personal data and provide options, I will fully research the options to ensure they can be successfully implemented, providing insight with respect to the financial pros and cons of your choices and the interest rate market. I will communicate up-front challenges or problems that will exist and make proactive recommendations. I will also work happily hand-in-hand with your existing trusted advisors like your CPA and Investment Planner, to ensure your mortgage plan is consistent with their established strategy.
#2 – Origination & Closing: In exchange for providing me with comprehensive documentation, I will take complete applications within full compliance of both the spirit and letter of the law. As a correspondent mortgage banker/broker, I have significant resources to provide incredibly competitive rates, terms, fees and products. In addition to having a degree in economics, I invest in significant real-time tools and services which I use to interpret the mortgage market. I work with an in-house team - processor, underwriter and closer - committed to the smooth coordination and successful completion of the loan transaction. The closing of every loan application is of paramount importance to me – it is my responsibility to be my clients advocate. I believe it is a mark of integrity, respect, and gratitude of my client for me to personally attend their loan closing.
#3 - Management: My job as a professional lender job does not end at the loan closing. Over the years and the life of a mortgage, you are going to have significant and important questions arise: Should I refinance? Should I pre-pay? Should I consolidate debt? Buy a second home or investment property? Take out cash for college? Reverse mortgage? Etc. I believe I earn my income by being a trusted and valued resource after the loan transaction has closed. The bank servicing your loan, your neighbor’s loan and millions of other loans simply doesn’t have my in-depth, personal understanding or concern for your overall financial health. I take a great amount of pride in securing well-structured, functional loan programs for my clients, and when the time comes to look at a new strategy, I am the one person who intimately understands how to apply client’s history and goals into appropriately restructuring their mortgage.
A triathlon, like my professional mortgage practice, has three disciplines – swim, bike, and run. Within each individual discipline there is significant complexity. Swimming is a very technique-oriented sport – the better your technique the more efficient and faster you will swim. You can’t win a triathlon in the swim, but you can lose it. Cycling is where you can make up the most time, but push too hard and you will suffer mightily on the run. And finally, provided you have planned your effort accordingly, the run breaks down into two sections – first, a managed effort; second, a distinct hard push to the finish line. However, in order to be successful at triathlon it is not just your ability within these three facets, it boils down to an understanding of the hundreds of small details involved in each aspect. Some examples include training and race nutrition, training plan and race plan, type of equipment, physical and mental preparation, as well as all the sport specific details such as the type of drills to practice to best improve your swim technique. The bottom line is, while in its most simple form we can all swim, bike, and run, but putting it all together for a 140.6 miles in one day is a significantly complex puzzle where attention to detail, especially the small ones, makes an incredible difference in performance.
While the some athletes may be able to “finish” a short-distance triathlon based on their own ability, in order to complete an Ironman-distance triathlon there requires a significant amount of planning, preparation, execution, and supervision. Your mortgage is no different. Fortunately for you, I do this everyday and as your Ironman Mortgage Professional, it is my job to see to it that you assemble all the small difference making details and optimize every strength and weakness to get the most out of your mortgage/financing performance.
So, there you have it, an outline on what it means to be an Ironman Mortgage Professional. I invite you to “splash-around” on my pages to learn more about how my practice will absolutely make a difference in your financial future. Don’t forget to take a “spin” on my blog, Ironman Mortgage TV, where you get all sorts of interesting perspectives. And then, finish up by “running” over to your phone to give me a call, so we can begin the exercise!