To set yourself apart from other loan officers, offer to provide additional services for the builders and their support team. Help with open houses by providing onsite prospect prequalification. Explore joint advertising or co-marketing with your builders. Offer training support for their sales staff or their Realtors. Refer prospects to your builders whenever the opportunity arises.

If builders you meet also use their own lines of credit to fund construction, show them how you can help provide financing. Mixing in construction loans on certain transactions can:

• Reduce overhead by passing the interest charges to the buyer;
• Improve builders’ cash flow; and
• Free up their lines of credit for use on spec or model homes, which allows them to build more homes at one time.

When you start receiving referrals from your builders, do not take their business for granted. Contact the builders regularly to review what is working well and what needs to be improved. Make sure your lender is handling the draw process well and that your builder is satisfied. Discuss success stories and applications that didn’t qualify. All can help market the builders’ product. Failing to do so can leave open doors for their competition — and yours.

Take care of your builders and their prospects, and your builders will take care of you. Builders traditionally are loyal, and you have the power to create an annuity while building relationships that will last many years.

Craig Peterson is vice president and national sales manager of the National Construction Lending Center (NCLC) for Webster Bank’s National Wholesale Division in Cheshire, Conn. Webster Wholesale provides a variety of residential-loan products and services in all 50 states. Craig can be reached at (203) 271-7195 or cpeterson@websterbank.com. Visit Webster Wholesale’s Web site at www.websterwholesale.com.

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