questions about assistants

[OregonLO]

I saw this post on the real estate forum but I felt like including it into our forum.


When is the right time to hire an assistant? I figure it will be another 6-12 months before I'll look for someone to work with me. I can manage my files on my own right now but it does seem sometimes I get bogged down with little things in the process when my time would be better suited for getting new clients in. If I had the free time I could purchase more leads, work on my advertising more and really nail things down.

Also, with that being said how much should one pay an assisant? I've talked to a couple of people who either have one or know someone who has one and they said they tend to pay them a salary of $2,000 a month or so. Should you pay them on a commission basis? Say, give them 5-10% of whatever commission I make?

The way I figure it I'd need to be closing at least 10-15 clients each month to really make it worth it. lets say you average $2,000 in comission for each loan that would make 20-30k a month and then I could see it being justified.

as it is right now I'm closing anywhere from 5-8 clients on average. I'm still relatively new to the business as I've only been in it for a year. From the talking with other people they tell me I am doing great and to keep it up and if I keep doing what I'm doing business will increase.

Any comments?

[100%latina]

Hi---Rick:

I'm an assistant to a broker, and i get paid a flat fee (a/k/a commission) per CLOSED loan file. An assistant does come in rather handy when your load starts to go up. As you can see from processing your own files, it is quite alot of work. I usually have atleast 15 files in my pipeline and close around 5 monthly.

An assistant is something to definitely consider and seek someone you trust and gel with, when you start looking.

Missy.
Admin
RazzleDazzleDeals.com

[OregonLO]

Thank you for the input Missy. I'm figuring I'll try to have one in 6-9 months. That's the short term goal at least so I'll be able to focus on getting the applications, marketing and new loans.

[jamesmcdonough]

i walked my dog into a pond today

[Business_with_Greg]

lol @ the dog! I read and was ready to give a serious response and I saw your post and was like what? Made me laugh pretty hard.

Now is the time! 5-8 means you are busy and not able to originate as much. Go get one now.

This is a good idea. I would not do commission only myself. I would pay 7 and hour or so to keep them afloat and able to buy gas to get to the office. Maybe lunch too.

Then a commission system based on closed loans. 200 a pop or something.

[promortplanner]

Hey OR,

The answer is pretty simple. You need the loan volume to justify the expense. I know many guys start out with a processor/assistant and pay them the file fee for processing as compensation. As time goes on, you can open up discussions about giving them a percentage of the commission or bonuses based on the number of files closed. Whatever you do, make sure the job description is clear and concise. They need to know from day one exactly what their duties are along with your expectations. If they're not cutting it, cut them right away. Don't waste the time or frustration trying to make something work that's not. Otherwise, it can be costly and damage your business.

[IntlMtg]

I believe if you really want to be VERY successful in this business as in being WEALTHY as opposed to comfortable then you MUST HAVE A GOOD ASSISTANT.

Obviously you need to be closing enough deals and have enough dough in the bank to hire one, however imagine you are spending what 4 hours a day actually marketing and looking for new deals right now and are closing 8 loans a month...
if you hire a good assistant you should be devoting at least 6 hours to new biz - closing more like 12 loans a month- will those 4 extra loans pay for your assistant?
(PS hope you do many more loans than that.)

I would say the ideal assistant type person is more of a 9-5er and works better with a small base salary plus a flat fee per closed deal...
ie $400-600 per week + $100 a file.

Work 'em hard.

I have a cut out of an article from 'Mortgage Originator' aout Aaron Jernigan who supposedly at 29 closed 520 loans in a year with the help of one assistant...NOW THAT's A GOOD ASSISTANT

[deanac24]

When you can no longer handle the workload, it is time to hire an assistant. But as everyone else stated, you need to hire a good assistant. One that will be effective and efficient.

[OregonLO]

all great information. I'm in the process of looking around right now. I think with the added support I would be able to devote more time to originating and gathering more clients rather than dealing with every little thing that comes up with a loan. I'm looking forward to that.

[Lockett The Lender]

I would recommend an assistant who has some processing or mortgage experience and is good with databases.

Getting an assistant not only depends on volume but the type of volume you are closing. I can close 30 Vanilla A loans all by my lonesome, on the flip side 15 subprime nightmares sometimes requires a team (and a bottle of Jack).

The positive side of having an assistant is more time for you to originate and it also conveys a more professional image that might translate into more clients.

[OregonLO]

lol...with the subprime market going to hell right now I'd say we'd need an army of mortgage professionals, 3 bottles of Jack and probably our own money to lend them...

I'm going to hold off on the assistant. If you refer to my other post in the general chat that you just responded to it will explain it a little bit.

I do have a Marketing guru that I'm teaming up with to basically employ. Next step will definitely be an assistant to handle the little things for me.

[Lockett The Lender]

I can't blame you on holding off, I use a contract assistant who has been an LO, she helped me out when volume escalates and I pay her a flat file fee, which is pretty decent. Her role is to basically handle all of the paperwork so I can churn and burn and originate as fast as possible. She woks much like a processor but, has more interaction with my clients. This was a necessary role with subprime clients but since subprime has gone over to the dark side I don't use her services as much.

[OregonLO]

hmm, that's not a bad deal at all. What were you paying her per file?

[Lockett The Lender]

It varies per file but generally 300 - 500, never less but sometimes more depending on how much interaction I need her to have and how tough the file. She gets my toughest most annoying files, which allows me to go after bigger fish and not run down I -35 with Uzi.

This situation works for me because we have been friends and worked together at a few other companies, she likes the paperwork/ clerical side of mortgages but thinks like an LO so when my files go to the processor they shoot through underwriting very quickly.

A good assistant is very hard to find

[OregonLO]

yeah, it is always good to have someone who knows what they are doing. I think when I'm ready to find an assistant I'll find a processor to hire as my personal assistant and go from there. They already know the ins and outs of it all and will be able to communicate with my processor properly. It just seems to make sense.

[homesave]

hey everyone ,
i am a representative of homesave ltd which we save homes and mortgages ,
long story short we help peoples homes so they dont have to deal with the banks....

be pleased for questions thanx

[berniecmps]

Hi---Rick:

I'm an assistant to a broker, and i get paid a flat fee (a/k/a commission) per CLOSED loan file. An assistant does come in rather handy when your load starts to go up. As you can see from processing your own files, it is quite alot of work. I usually have atleast 15 files in my pipeline and close around 5 monthly.

An assistant is something to definitely consider and seek someone you trust and gel with, when you start looking.

Missy.
Admin
RazzleDazzleDeals.com

Missy,
This was great advice, thank you for sharing from your perspective. I hired mine when I was doing 10 loans a month, plus she does all my telemarketing.(Ophelia, was a former LO who quit the business, she is a life saver for me, and perfect for the job..)

[boush]

Yaa get an assistant and pay on percentage basis till your work grows up .

[LoanMan55]

i walked my dog into a pond today

Is the dog ok?

Larry