Rain City Guide

It’s September 17, 2009 and I still originate mortgage loans…

Adam Stein on 09 17, 2009

For those of us to whom this statement applies there are a few obvious questions that immediately come to mind:  Why am I still working in this God-forsaken wasteland of an industry?

• A) Nobody else is hiring in this booming economy,
• B) I wanted to move to Nome Alaska but I couldn’t trade my upside down mortgage for a thatched roof yurt and a dog sled, or
• C) The positive image of my career as portrayed by CNN makes me feel like a rock star.

Seriously, for the love of God Why!?

In all seriousness those of us that remain are not that different than survivors of a natural disaster. The clouds dissipate; the water level recedes and her we are – the survivors of the storm.  Not unlike the analogy the first thing that a ‘survivor’ must do is identify the resources that one needs to rebuild and restore one’s life. It is with this in mind that I invite you to WAMP’s Connect event coming up in Bellevue on October 5th and 6th

The Connect event offers each of us the opportunity to come together and meet all of the other survivors face to face. We’ll be able to reflect on what ‘once was’ and still more importantly the ‘what is’. As is the case in any disaster, the landscape we live in professionally is dramatically different than where we’ve been. The resources are certainly more limited – remember the days of quoting ‘hundreds of lenders and programs’? Now it’s more like ‘five lenders and programs’ – and we’re all using the same five!

Fewer programs and tougher guidelines are the realities of the aftershock and yet another reason to learn what others are doing to be more efficient and succeed in this new landscape. The Connect Event also offers the knowledge of how to seed your landscape for tomorrow. New technologies and lead sources like the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, social network marketing (can you tweet for dough?), and the brace of brave new lenders that have sprung up alongside the resilient and steady familiar faces; they’ll all be represented at the Connect Event. The Connect Event will be nothing short of a meeting of survivors learning how to forge their professional landscapes for tomorrow – so don’t miss out!

There are very few lifeboats in this economy. There have been far more casualties than survivors. Come and be counted among the living. Come to Connect and learn how to forge a better tomorrow for yourself and for the industry you work in. Face it – If we don’t see you at Connect we’re going to suspect that you traded the house for the dog sled and the yurt – Don’t be ‘gone missing’

About the Author: Adam Stein

• Author's website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Auburn-WA/Cascade-Pacific-Mortgage/112752997656
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I have been a practicing mortgage professional in the Northwest since 1994. The lending objective I have offered to my clients has always been the same: To provide the highest level of customer service possible in every transaction; to lend equitably across all credit grades and income levels; To make homeownership a reality to the broadest extent possible; To provide each client with most competitive terms available; and, to achieve these ends with the highest degree of integrity, competency, and professionalism. Pursuing these ideals have garnered me many clients - it also inspired me to work with Washington State's Department of Financial Institutions and rewrite the Mortgage Broker Practices Act in Washington State. In the end we created the licensing of loan officers and raised the competency in the industry across the State. The years I have spent working in this manner have produced a few awards and accolades. These achievements include: Mortgage Broker of the Year, Advisory Council to the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators, Governor's Task Force for Home Ownership Security, the Jim Fitzgerald Achievement Award, and two terms as the Chairman of the Washington State Mortgage Broker Commission.I currently serve on several boards. I serve as the Immediate Past President of the Washington Association of Mortgage Professionals, the CEO of Integrated Mortgage Origination Systems (IMOS), President of Federal Homes and Real Estate, and the Executive Vice President of Cascade Pacific Mortgage. These companies focus on the integration of mortgage and real estate technology and the delivery of real estate services to the consumer.