The Work Between the Lines

This one is for my fellow mortgage brokers and agents.

We talk a lot about the wins in this business. The approvals. The keys. The happy closing photos.

We don't talk nearly enough about the files that don't work out.

I had one of those recently.

It was a file I spent a lot of time on. Phone calls, lender conversations, meetings, reviewing documents, restructuring numbers, going back to the drawing board and trying to find another way to make it work.

And in the end, it didn't.

That's a hard part of this job because, as brokers, we are often the face of both the yeses and the no's.

The client doesn't see the hours spent on the phone with lenders and underwriters. They don't see the meetings behind the scenes, the emails, the conversations or the days sitting at the computer trying to find one more option.

They usually just hear the final answer.

And sometimes that answer is no.

A few weeks after this particular file didn't work out, my client called me.

I wasn't expecting it.

She simply wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for how hard I had worked. Thank you for continuing to try. Thank you for explaining things and helping her understand what needed to happen next.

And I think that is why the call meant so much.

A thank you like that doesn't happen often in this business, especially when the end result wasn't the one anyone wanted. It was a small moment, but one I won't forget.

Because for many situations, we stay behind the curtain.

The realtor may be handing over the keys. The lawyer is completing the closing.

We are the ones connecting the client to the option that best fits their situation and helping move the file from one stage to the next.

We are coordinating. Explaining. Educating. Problem-solving. Following up. Managing expectations. Speaking with lenders and underwriters. Helping clients understand what is happening, what is needed and what comes next.

And sometimes, we are also the ones delivering the news nobody wants to hear.

There isn't always a closing at the end of it.

There isn't always a thank you.

But that doesn't mean the work didn't matter.

Sometimes our job isn't to get someone a mortgage today. Sometimes it's to help them understand why it isn't working today and what they need to do so that it can work tomorrow.

So, to my fellow brokers: if you've had one of those files lately — the one you poured hours into that still didn't come together — remember that your value isn't measured only by the files that fund.

We are an important part of the team, whether the deal closes today, later, or takes a different path entirely.

Sometimes the work nobody sees is the work that makes the biggest difference.

And every once in a while, you get that unexpected phone call that reminds you why you do it.