Spot an Opportunity and Upsell, Upsell, Upsell

Refinance mortgages represent such an incredible opportunity to both you and your clients. We can all remember the deals where equity came up short on appraisal or once submitted to CMHC. For as many deals that you may have that come up short on the equity side, you likely have as many that come up with more equity than even your client anticipated – especially in hot markets like Toronto and Vancouver.

True to the old adage ‘assume makes an ass-out-of-u-an-me,’ how about those deals that you pass on because, based on the client interview, you assume that there isn’t enough equity?

Missed opportunities = equal missed $$$! More equity could change entirely how you structure your deal, where you send it and what you pitch to your client.

A general rule of thumb: always ask a client when they purchased their home and what they paid for it, or if they have recently had their property appraised and what value it came in at. This can go a long way where there has been a fairly recent purchase or appraisal or in markets that are not seeing rapid gains.

Automated valuation models are so widely used today by lenders and brokers as an affordable means to assess the value of a property in a matter of clicks that there is really no reason not to take advantage of them. Cost? The negligible cost far outweighs the savings in lost deals and new opportunities that you may identify.

When a client has extra equity that wasn’t anticipated, that is the time to upsell, upsell, upsell. Take a look at the client’s credit report - are they being burdened by debt? Perhaps something that simply begins as moving a client to a new first mortgage lender could be turned into a consolidation that saves your client thousands in payments and interest.

Perhaps an equity second mortgage at 70% LTV that you could only get funded through a private lender could go to a trust company or an MIC with another 10% equity that you may not have even realized was there. Perhaps there is an opportunity to offer an HELOC behind the mortgage you are arranging?

In some instances, things can become slightly more complicated than on CMHC insured deals. Why? Because if you assume that there is less equity than there is and use a private lender’s appraiser, but then the deal comes in higher, that appraiser may not be on your other institution’s lender-approved appraisers list, making moving the deal that much more complicated.

Making a point to spot upsell opportunities and coach other agents in your brokerage to do so as well leads to more business for all – you, the brokerage and the lender - and is almost always a win for your client when you have a well thought out plan.

Purview For Mortgage Brokers has the tools that make identifying upsell opportunities easy. Take advantage of them by calling 1.855.787.8439 today.