If You Don’t Innovate, You Die - Proven Success Requires Innovation to Adapt

Jeff Brown, Senior Vice President at Southeast Mortgage and our lead Builder Relationship Development Officer, sent me this article.  Although Metro Atlanta is the most resilient housing market in the US, the article points out an important and fundamental "Hello" moment that Southeast Mortgage saw 4 years ago.

"All professions have to adapt to the current needs of their clients and partners.  We observed the patterns of our own millennial work force and realized Social Media and Other Practices were critical to driving sales to our partners and creating client awareness for our Licensed Loan Originators, MLO, Team.  Our other observation was organic clients are the key to the growth of a successful mortgage service provider like Southeast Mortgage.  Program oriented pitches to first time buyers that we see from a few seasoned mortgage personalities create unproductive activity and insignificant benefit to any participant.  

Following a client for life strategy supported by a co branded awareness program creates organic growth for our MLOs and Partners instead of the "program oriented pitch with no follow up after close".  Although someone has been successful for 20-30 years in this business, adaptation and the technology is essential to remain relevant and remain successful in the changing mortgage services market we are in.

If you look at the Permit Trend below, you can see a strong building cycle is coming online.  Loan Originators have to embrace the new normal and the "Exposure / Social Presence" Builders and Realtors need to drive their sales.  Simply posting a selfie video was a thing a year or two ago but has now evolved into Professional Movie Quality video presentations that project the image and quality Builders and Realtors need and want.  Southeast Mortgage made the large investment needed years ago to support the innovation required to be best in class for our TEAM.  The view is much better in the front of the pack than from rear."  Cal Haupt, Chairman and CEO, Southeast Mortgage of Georgia, Inc.
www.southeastmortgage.com

Atlanta, the former No. 1 new-home market, remains a barometer for the nation. At 25,000 permits, Atlanta is still the third largest new home market in the U.S., but almost nine years into our “recovery,” we are still 50% below our pre-bubble normal

(Atlanta permit chart). This is in spite of nearly a decade of positive job growth, positive in-migration and population growth. All of MarketNsight’s 18 cities across the Southeast exhibit this trend. Most cities are still anywhere from 30% to 60% below pre-recession levels. Whom are we missing?

Old Normal versus New Normal
In our “Old Normal” before the 2003 to 2006 bubble, first-time buyers and first-move-up buyers made up 60% of all new home sales. In that old normal, people typically bought their

first home at the age of 25, started a family and moved to their second home (first move-up) by the age of 32. Currently, they account for less than 40% of new home sales. Today’s first-time buyer is 33-years-old and getting older! We are missing many of the 25- to 32-year-old buyers who previously accounted for 60% of all new home sales. We call that age group today...millennials. Moreover, we will never achieve our “Old Normal” sales numbers in this country without them.

If You Don’t Innovate, You Die
We can simply look to our retail sector to see the desperate need for innovation. We are witnessing a complete reset in that all-important industry, with some 8,600 brick and mortar locations closing last year[1] and that pace quickening this year. Changes in shopping habits, driven by technology and millennials, have caught many traditional retailers unprepared. We would do well to take note of this in our own industry.

Source:

Welcome to Housing's New Normal - Can we break our 10-year cycle of mediocrity?

By John Hunt