As a mortgage professional, one of your primary roles is to be an adviser to your clients. Sometimes it is difficult to measure this, so I was happy to hear from a past client that I had helped a few years ago. They called to tell me how my suggestions at the time they purchased their home had made a difference to their financial health.
When I am meeting with clients and going over their new house payment, I say this to them: "The best piece of advice I can give you is to NEVER make your minimum mortgage payment. There may be times that you can only pay an extra $5, but anything you are able to do will help you to grow the equity in your home and you will be amazed at how fast you can move your principle down when you consistently do this." At times I even go so far as to suggest they consider dedicating 1/2 of all future raises and increases to pay down their debt and mortgage. There are many people, especially younger ones, that do not realize that it is even an option to pay extra and get out of debt faster.
I've often wondered if my clients take my advice (I know I wish someone had said this to me about 25 years ago!!). So when I received this recent call, I was very please to hear a success story. Their family has grown and they felt the need to buy a larger home. Because they had consistently paid extra on their mortgage, they were able to easily upgrade without taking on a huge increase in their monthly mortgage payment.
The best part is that they remembered me (I moved to a new state) and felt grateful enough to find me and say thanks. This is a great tool to add to your role as "adviser". People trust those that they feel are looking after their best interest. You obviously don't gain anything from this advice, you are only offering it to help their future finances.
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