Know anybody who mortgages loans? $200,000/year!

[imported_Tomato]

I met a girl who works here, and she works as a Senior Loan Processor
in Home Lending.

Really pretty girl, 25 years old... never went to college, started work as a bank teller at the age of 18.

She made a little over $200,000 last year... and just bought a home in Orange County. A majority of her salary is commission based and I understand last year was a pretty big one in terms of home-buying and such... but damn. That is a LOT of money.

Makes me wish I'd gone straight to work at a bank instead of putting myself through debt in college to come out making less than a years' tuition.

 

[ggavinmoss]

On average you'll do better than somebody who went straight to work at a bank out of high school.

-geoff

 

[ragazzo]

luck, networking and good looks all play in getting her that job.

you're doing fine.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

But she never kissed Robert DeNiro.

 

[imported_Tomato]

Originally posted by: ragazzo
luck, networking and good looks all play in getting her that job.

you're doing fine.

Thanks ragazzo... it was just kinda depressing. She did admit she had a lot of luck landing that job after moving here from Oregon... but goddamn. A number of my college friends are still struggling (including myself)... working hard, though. I guess a lot of times, it is really about networking/connections...

She really is a beautiful girl, too... small (4'11") but gorgeous little Mexican girl... loves what she does (I would too, for that salary!), etc.

I'll keep doing what I'm doing, and hopefully I'll be able to increase my salary by almost 700% in 3 years.

 

[royaldank]

I work at a mortgage company and see commission reports. It's insane what people have made the last year or two from refi's and new purchases. We have several LOs that were $130,000+ when we ran the reports in July. We had a few that were near $200,000, and that's after half a year. The two or three that are branch managers are also earning a yearly salary which is better than mine.

 

[bleeb]

I don't know if you ever had experience being a loan officer but it can be HELL sometimes. Its A LOT of work. If you think about it... for each commission, you are dealing with two buyers, two brokers, and perhaps an appraiser. Plus you have to work with their financials. Its HELL. Also, for every commission you make, there are 3-4 that you lose. You put in A LOT of time for each of those to go down the toilet.

Since homes in the LA area are $$$, you get a bigger cut.

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

If you lived in the Bay Area, I could actually get you one of these jobs...

Beforewarned, it's a lot like telemarketing though

 

[vi edit]

Many commissions based jobs are feast or famine. She better bank it for the future because she won't always make that much...unless she is very, very good.

 

[kranky]

Like vi said, feast of famine. If (when) interest rates bump up, the refinancing stops and over half of the loan processors are unemployed.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: kranky
Like vi said, feast of famine. If (when) interest rates bump up, the refinancing stops and over half of the loan processors are unemployed.

And home sales flop which leads to contractors getting less work. Yep, everything is cyclical in my view and I plan to have a job that isn't dependent on the economy. What you say? Police work. Good or bad economy the crime still exists.

 

[machintos]

Whoa...
I'm not even making that much money and I am a loan officer....
She needs to tell me her secrets.

 

[Mister T]

what do you expect when interest rates hit 50 year lows.....

if you wanted to make lots of money NOW, you should have got a trade job and should not have gone to school.... Become a plumber, electrician, hair dresser, truck driver, etc.

You think I am joking, check this:

After four years of MIT and a wall street job, my mom, a hairdresser, banked more $$$ than me on my first year on the job.

 

[DurocShark]

Dezign: I wouldn't sweat it... I work IT for a big mortgage company in Orange. A lot of the agents are rolling in the $$ now while the refi market is rocking.

In a year or two? They'll be sleeping on YOUR couch.

/mmm.... sleepign on Dezign's couch...

 

[StageLeft]

Makes me wish I'd gone straight to work at a bank instead of putting myself through debt in college to come out making less than a years' tuition.

No way because you know why? You could have been the 35 year old bank teller making $12/hour who cashed my last check. For every high school grad making 6 digits you've got a dozen who never will. You're still young and anything can happen. For all you know you'll start a new job next year and be making more than $200k 6 months in. You just can't tell.

As millennium said things are cyclical. This current housing boom is inevitably going to stop in the near future and I don't think many would deny that. The second the economy speeds up the interest rates will increase and people will quite possibly be buying less homes. I would think that getting into real estate now would be like getting into IT 3 years ago - seems like a good idea now but you may be in a "famine" (as also mentioned) soon enough.

Perhaps your friend will be laid off, poorly educated fighting with others for the scant number of positions available in her specialty and meanwhile you'll have a degree and doing much better. You can never tell but all things considered an education is generally better than not and considering it only takes 3-4 years to get that's not too much time invested for such a likely good return.

 

[StageLeft]

Yep, everything is cyclical in my view and I plan to have a job that isn't dependent on the economy. What you say? Police work. Good or bad economy the crime still exists.

Yep cops, nurses, doctors, jobs like that are here regardless. I wish I had an economy-impervious job! Now there can be cut backs in a police force or hospital closures but those professions are about as bulletproof (pun hahaha cops and bullets) as it gets.

 

[imported_Tomato]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Makes me wish I'd gone straight to work at a bank instead of putting myself through debt in college to come out making less than a years' tuition.

No way because you know why? You could have been the 35 year old bank teller making $12/hour who cashed my last check. For every high school grad making 6 digits you've got a dozen who never will. You're still young and anything can happen. For all you know you'll start a new job next year and be making more than $200k 6 months in. You just can't tell.

As millennium said things are cyclical. This current housing boom is inevitably going to stop in the near future and I don't think many would deny that. The second the economy speeds up the interest rates will increase and people will quite possibly be buying less homes. I would think that getting into real estate now would be like getting into IT 3 years ago - seems like a good idea now but you may be in a "famine" (as also mentioned) soon enough.

Perhaps your friend will be laid off, poorly educated fighting with others for the scant number of positions available in her specialty and meanwhile you'll have a degree and doing much better. You can never tell but all things considered an education is generally better than not and considering it only takes 3-4 years to get that's not too much time invested for such a likely good return.

Very thoughtful advice and practical info. Thanks for bringing me back down to earth, Skoorb. I definitely have to re-adjust my thinking from short to long term...