On this episode of Broker to Broker, host Marc Summers is joined once again by friend of the show and AIME community, Elena Boland, Broker Owner of Wholesale Mortgage Services. Elena has been changing her game and scaling her business since she was last on the show over 100 episodes ago for episode 55. She’s been diversifying her products and services, finding new ways to engage her local community, as well as ways to involve her business and marketing in her personal life to great networking and lead generation benefits. Elena is a true example of changing with the market and social climate leading to success & growth. Elena had some amazing experiences and advice to share on specialty programs like Jumbo loans; and really drove home the broker advantage: “You have to look at who your competition is, in any portion of our mortgage share. So, meaning our different products. And if you look at what your competition is doing, what are their limitations? What are their restrictions? Are we restricted in that way? Nope. So even though we don't have the same benefits in the way of omitting student loans and things like that which can be done in retail, if you can lend more money, that's really going to be more valuable to them; if they don't have another $500,000 to put down on a big expensive home that they're diving into, that's huge. You're going to do a better job because you're the mortgage professional, you're not a banker, you're not someone sitting behind a headset across the country. You are here. They can walk in, and they really love that. Not only do clients love that, but the realtors love that as well, because they know that you're going to keep working until you solve a problem.” Key Points: 2:31 Changes in the Housing Market Since early 2021 8:05 Diversifying your Products and Services based on Local Housing Needs 11:31 The Essential Requirement to Adapt to Constant Change 16:47 Blending the lines between Social Media Marketing and Personal Life 22:23 Jumbo Loans and the Broker Advantage of Negotiation 26:12 “Diving into AIME” & Other Advice for Driving Business into 2024 This episode is sponsored by PowerTPO