Taking a gamble in life

[quadzilla]

I have worked straight commission jobs since graduating college. I worked as a loan officer for two years. We specialized in sub-prime loans but, did some conforming loans as well. My opinion of it was that there are easier ways to make the kind of money that you want to make. There are numerous downsides to this type of position.

1. With sub-prime loams you are dealing with the type of people that are sub-prime for a reason. Getting them to give you the documentation that you need can be very difficult. Many of them lie about thier situation (income, assets, etc.), and the is a huge falloff rate.

2. You depend on a lot of other people to make loans happen. There are underwriters, processors, appraisers, title comanies, etc. Any incometence on there part will hinder you.

3. To really make big money you have to take advantage of people. The guys making $200K are the guys that take full advantage of these people. They overcharge fees and inflate rates. This is the only way to make big $$$ as a Loan officer.

4. Paperwork is the worst part of this type of job in my opinion. It is a huge pain in the ass. For example, you are trying to push a big loan through and the underwriter says that you need to have an additional doc signed. It doesn't bother some but, I hated it.

I left the industry and went back to headhunting. Way more money and much fewer headaches. If your job could potentially top out at $500K why would you even think of doing this?

[Alobar]

I think it all comes down to whether you are a salesman or not....if not, then its a huge fat no.

Also unless you are young and unnatached it definitely doesnt even sound remotely worth it. Also the job you are in sounds like it is better long term anyway

[Prime Time]

Unless you hate your present position, stay.

More upward potential (500K), and the fact that the turn over rate at the new place is 80% tells it all.

Stay.

[BradleyT]

Why does a loan officer have to be good at sales? Are they doing lots of cold calling?

[NutzyClutz]

The Loan Arranger is vastly overpaid, Tonto did all the work.

[soko]

[ QUOTE ]
Why does a loan officer have to be good at sales? Are they doing lots of cold calling?

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A loan offier is a sales position, the mortgage process can take up to a month and the whole time you are going to need your borrower to cooperate with you while you negotiate things like rates, payments, etc. You have to deal with them checking other companys to see if they can find a better deal, making sure they follow through with documents you need to process the loan, make sure they trust you, it's alot of work and you work on 100% commission, if you dont sell you don't get a paycheck. You can work with a customer for 3 weeks then on the day of settlement they can decide they don't want the loan and you get not a penny for all your work.

[WillMagic]

Man...commission. Sounds very stressful, and the best-case scenario leaves something to be desired...it seems both more improbable and less awesome than the best-case scenario in your current company.

Plus, that sounds like the kind of job that would really consume your life if you wanted to reach the top...i bet the guys making 200K a year are working 60hr+ weeks.

But, hey, if you've wanted to be Ricky Roma for ten years, then why not.

Will

[Mike Gallo]

...to everyone for their input.

I might have confused some people with my post. The position offered to me can lead to a position paying $500k, not my current position.

[Luv2DriveTT]

[ QUOTE ]
...to everyone for their input.

I might have confused some people with my post. The position offered to me can lead to a position paying $500k, not my current position.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mike:

Tread carefully. You have a wife, and someday soon enough perhaps a child to take care of. If you are 100% positive you can seize the day then I say go for it... but if you are not and the turnover is very high (only the strong survive in cold calling) then I'd wait for a better opportunity before you move on to a new gig. Potential money is not everythihng... seek an overall balance between happiness, security, and wealth.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

[sublime]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
...to everyone for their input.

I might have confused some people with my post. The position offered to me can lead to a position paying $500k, not my current position.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mike:

Tread carefully. You have a wife, and someday soon enough perhaps a child to take care of. If you are 100% positive you can seize the day then I say go for it... but if you are not and the turnover is very high (only the strong survive in cold calling) then I'd wait for a better opportunity before you move on to a new gig. Potential money is not everythihng... seek an overall balance between happiness, security, and wealth.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

i think this is one life you may have saved.