As a mortgage industry professional, your income benefits from serving the largest number of clients as possible — all while offering top quality service. However, to be successful, you must address a wide range of everyday tasks ranging from marketing to customer service – making it tough to juggle the diverse tasks required to run your business.

Perhaps you could use an extra hand, but you’re just not ready to hire an in-house employee. If you can relate, then it’s time to explore the benefits associated with virtual assistants.

“There’s no ceiling to growing your business, there’s no ‘maximum amount of money’ that can be made in the mortgage industry. There’s no limit to how big your mortgage business can be, and if you just work follow this process, this is how you do it. – Les McGehee, Rialto Academy

A mortgage virtual assistant can help boost your production while keeping your costs down – with task-work such as making calls, scheduling meetings & managing your calendar, gathering documentation, collecting signatures & nurturing leads in your pipeline. They do the busy work while you focus on building relationships & closing deals – it’s a great strategy.

If you need the extra help without the expense of a full-time employee, then a mortgage virtual assistant is a great option help manage your office tasks and build your production volume. Schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session to find out how!

Why Invest in a Mortgage Virtual Assistant?

The mortgage industry requires a lot more than speaking to clients and crunching numbers. In order to grow your mortgage business, you need to network, develop leads, and ensure that your current, ongoing clients are happy.

Whether your social media is lacking that much-needed presence or you’re struggling to maintain a consistent follow-up process, a virtual assistant can help you focus on what really matters — your growing business.

1. More efficient prospecting

If you are on the phone more than you’d like, answering the same types of questions from lenders, clients, or prospects, this is a task that can be easily outsourced to a virtual assistant .

Just imagine how much you can accomplish when you’re not constantly being interrupted by phone calls, allowing you to remain focused on the most critical tasks at hand. In this case, it may be helpful to create and share a template that includes all of the most vital (and most commonly asked about) information.

2. Greater productivity across administrative tasks

The mortgage industry is paperwork intensive. From service agreements to lender approvals (and everything in between), preparing and organizing these files is overly time-consuming. A virtual assistant can create documents, proofread paperwork, prepare forms, and the list goes on and on.

In doing so, you can better prepare for your next meeting, focusing on building a solid relationship with new prospective clients. From calendar management to backend support, you can instantly boost productivity with the support of a virtual assistant .

3. Improved customer support

If you spent all of your time responding to emails and/or answering the phone, you wouldn’t have any time to actually meet your clients. By hiring a mortgage virtual assistant, you can rest easy knowing that your clients are getting the attention they deserve. Whether you need someone to help you verify and set up appointments or follow up with clients to ensure their satisfaction, all of this can be completed while you’re out doing what you do best.

4. A more successful marketing strategy

Do not underestimate the power of marketing when it comes to your mortgage business. Considering 93 percent of online experiences start with a search engine, it is imperative that you develop an online presence. As you begin to build a dedicated following, you can then advertise in a way that “speaks” specifically to your audience. This can significantly boost leads and conversion rates.

5. A more positive reputation

Based on your ability to interact with new and past clients. Word-of-mouth is very important within the mortgage industry, which is why you’ll want to focus less on administrative/marketing tasks, and more on the relationships you build with your clients.

While you tend to these budding relationships (while making your presence known within your community), a virtual assistant can grow your online presence, address common customer questions, follow-up with those you’ve met with, and help you build an overall positive rapport.

“We’ve been really happy with MyOutDesk’s resources. We have all our training and processes ready and all we really needed were good candidates to interview and MyOutDesk has provided that. We needed to plug someone in quickly and MyOutDesk made it possible!” – Jonathan McGowan, JVM Lending

Why Choose MyOutDesk Mortgage Virtual Assistants?

MyOutDesk has over a decade of experience delivering the highest quality mortgage & services , and we’re proud to be the #1 outsourcing provider for quality, reliable real estate virtual assistants.  We’re the only virtual assistant company specializing in white-glove services and support the growing needs of mortgage & real estate businesses, with a focus on ensuring the confidentiality, security & trust of our clients and partners.

Do you have questions about how we can assist you and your goals within the mortgage industry? Please schedule a free Double My Business Strategy Session to find out how you can do it too!

Last week, interest rates surged to their highest levels in only a month and of course, homebuyers have been turning their heels. The total applications for a mortgage have decreased significantly as the interest rates have risen. Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 4% for the week but were 7% higher than a year ago. Buyers are now facing a tightening supply situation once again. The inventory of homes for sale was rising sharply in the second half of last year, but the gains have been shrinking, and inventory is already lower annually in some major metropolitan markets.

Our industry is no stranger to market shifts. Having a healthy business plan and a reliable team to keep your systems and processes flowing smoothly is a crucial ingredient to thriving no matter what the market’s condition is. Find out how a MyOutDesk Virtual assistant can be a steady source of support for your business by scheduling your Double My Business Strategy Session today!

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($484,350 or less) increased to 4.12% from 4.04%, with points increasing to 0.38 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment.

Mortgage applications to refinance, which are usually very rate-sensitive, actually increased 2% for the week and were 87% higher than a year ago, when interest rates were 65 basis points higher.

Mortgage rates continued to move higher this week and could rise further even if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates. Mortgage rates loosely follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury.

“Even though the Fed will almost certainly cut rates at the end of the month, additional cuts depend heavily on the balance of economic data,” wrote Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily. “To whatever extent the data is strong, the Fed becomes less likely to continue cutting rates, and the broader financial market becomes less interested in bonds.”

The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, a popular one held by millions of Americans, is now at 4.6 percent, only slightly below the five-year high of 4.66 percent set in May. It is significantly higher than the all-time low of 3.31 percent six years ago, according to data from Freddie Mac. Data from other analysts suggest that new homeowners could be facing even higher rates.

Buying a home as mortgage interest rates are rising is nothing to fear.

From a historical standpoint, a 5% mortgage rate is still remarkably low. And a mortgage today with a fixed price for the next 30 years is still considerably cheaper than historical comparisons, as seen in data provided by mortgage lender Freddie Mac. The annual average for 30-year fixed mortgage rates has not reached 5% since 2009. At the start of the Great Recession in 2006, the average mortgage rate was 6.41%. Ten years earlier, in 1996, the average mortgage rate was 7.81%, and ten years earlier than that in 1986, the average mortgage rate was 10.19%.

Interest rates remaining near historic lows bodes well for buyers, and today’s market reflects some of the cheapest debt a home buyer will be able to attain in the market. Most importantly, finding the right mortgage depends on receiving the right advice from a seasoned real estate expert who personally owns many properties and has transacted numerous real estate sales for others. Working with an expert enables prospective investors to feel more knowledgeable, confident, and secure with their financial decisions.