I don’t know if others in the mortgage industry face this situation or not but lately I’ve been losing deals. I’m not talking about your normal deals either, but deals that my friends are initiating and closing. Since the beginning of the year three of my friends or within my circle of influence have bought homes or refinanced. And I didn’t get to be a part of any of them.
When we built our marketing strategy a vital component was capitalizing on the “under the nose” sources. Some call it “sphere of influencing marketing’ etc. Whatever the terms, the idea is to be the expert provider of your service within your immediate contacts whether friends or family.Since we are not from Arizona and have no family here, this meant the friendships we developed around the gym, young moms, church, Nepalese community etc. It is not that we become friends with the intention of doing business, but we do not shy away from making our work known to them as our friendship develops. In the past we have received inquiries from folks within our circle and have even closed transactions for them. Lately our circle is not seeking to be involved with us. Am I being to sensitive?
I’m not sure what may be going on. Maybe real estate agents do not face this issue, but I’m thinking if there is an inverse relationship between friendship and mortgages financing? Meaning the closer we become as friends the less likely we are to do business with them. I know there can be some concerns, since we will need to review all income and asset information, but we are professionals and abide by the strictest level of confidentiality.
Is there something to this phenomenon or it is just temporary and soon I’ll be refinancing all my friends! Or do you suggest to never mix friendship with business?
