Mortgage Pros Taking NetWorking to a New Level

By Tracy Percival, Real Estate Editor          Tracy's Bio

Most mortgage professionals network in a traditional way, joining their local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, etc.  These groups tend to have a lot of competition for the mortgage professional, but can be a great way to get started in the business and may even get a lead or better yet, a loan- Woohoo!

I have found one successful mortgage company who tries to stay ahead of their competition, who thinks outside of their box, and  who “creates” new approaches to networking.  Their name…. Garden State Mortgage Corporation (GSM) They are one of the few mortgage companies that I have encountered that has unique approaches to networking.

Garden State Mortgage first opened its doors in 1991.They are a lender of conventional and FHA real estate loans, and now 15 years later they have 3 offices, one in Wyckoff, Ridgefield, and Franklin Lakes. Owner, Arthur Aranda, has a lot of achievements under his belt to be proud of.  In 2003, Arthur was named one of the top 100 Latino Entrepreneurs in the nation by Hispanic Magazine, and ,what Arthur is most proud of, he became the first 100 % Employee Owned Mortgage Company in the nation! He has also received Service Industry Awards and has recently developed the “International Suite” which is a new loan program for immigrant borrowers, including foreign nationals, permanent and non-permanent resident aliens, and individual tax identification number (ITIN), borrowers.

Arthur credits his and his company’s success to networking.  100 % of the business is done through referrals and networking.  Of course they do some traditional networking with other industry related professionals, but they take their networking very seriously; they take it to a new level.

Some Mortgage Specialists at GSM, network with Financial Professionals, as they have mastered the “Future Value of Money” concept, they also educate homeowner’s on the “Home Equity Graveyard” showing them how to make more money and secure their retirement.

GSM, has recently created, organized and Co-Sponsored a 3-day educational seminar for their existing Realtor relationships and new relationships.  This seminar was designed to get the realtors to see real estate “out of their box” and showed them how to incorporate their Mortgage Partnerships into their real estate transactions, to not only list more homes, but to close more deals and still get top commission.  More than 90 realtors show up at each seminar, taunting rave reviews and many thanks. Although the seminars were costly to present, GSM co-sponsored the event with other networking partnerships and offered this seminar FREE, that’s right, you heard me, FREE, to their Realtor partners.  This was strictly educational, and there were not any services or products offered for sale at this event. For some mortgage professionals, Realtors are a huge source of leads, so this proved to be a very valuable event.

Garden State Mortgage also has created an Employee Financial Assistance Program (EFAP) for their company.  This is another “out of the box” type of networking, as they partner with Realtors, Financial Professionals, Attorneys, Insurance Companies, etc to package their services and offer it to local corporations to add to their employee benefits package.  This program helps employees to reach their financial goals through proactive planning, education, and one-on-one access to financial advisors.  They also offer “lunch and learn” seminars on such topics as Credit, Investing strategies, First Time Home Buyers, and Retirement Planning.  What a great way to network! I can’t wait to see what networking strategies they come up with next.  If you are interested in Networking with Garden State Mortgage, you can make a connection through their website at www.Gardenstatemortgage.com.
 

---

Please contact Tracy at TracyP@TheNationalNetWorker.com.