The term Loan Officer refers to someone who is engaged in the business of selling mortgage loans, usually to homeowners or real estate investors. A Loan Officer traditionally works for either a Mortgage Broker or brokerage, a bank that lends money, or some other type of lending institution. A Loan Officer has many jobs and responsibilities and a great deal of training and experience are requirements to a successful career as a Loan Officer.
No Loan Officer job description would be complete without first discussing licensing and training. In California, as in most states, the license required to conduct business is a valid Real Estate Salespersons license, though most Loan Officers dont engage actively in selling properties. To become licensed in California you need to submit an application to the Department of Real Estate in Sacramento. You will need to pass a background examination and complete the required principles course and two other courses first before being allowed to take the Real Estate Salespersons license examination.
It is highly recommended that any applicant take a two day weekend crash course before taking their examination. This will definitely help you to pass the first time you take the test. There are many good schools online, including First Tuesday and several others you can Google.
Once they get their license, a new Loan Officer may find it hard to adapt right away to a commission only environment at a top mortgage brokerage. When you first start out it could take three months or more to see your first commission check.
A good alternative is to work at a bank as a loan officer in their lending department or get a job at a higher volume broker. Countrywide Home Loans had a great sales training program and many top loan officers began their careers there, even though it was basically a sweatshop.
Once they start working at a mortgage brokerage, they will be assigned to a desk and hopefully given some training, but that is not always the case. To learn the complete Loan Officer job description would take a long time. Training should include learning loan tracking software such as Calyx Point or Encompass. They should also receive top notch sales training to show rookies how to go about getting leads and closing deals.
Once a Loan Officer gets used to making those big commission checks, they usually dont go to other professions. The last few years have changed what a Loan Officer job description looks like and todays thriving professionals are in constant touch with their clients and live mainly off referral business.
When you do a great job for a client by giving them a choice of the best rates and mortgage products that will fill their needs, customers will refer their friends and family to you. This is the best way to get new business and customers. You become a trusted financial advisor and that is another big part of a Loan Officer job description.
When a client entrusts you with the job of finding them the best mortgage and helping them make one of the biggest decisions of their life, the Loan Officer job description goes from mundane to life-changing.