Successful Tactics of Loan Officers & Mortgage Pros
How Craig Johnson Motivates Renters by Explaining the “Cost of Waiting”/a>
Ethan Vieaux, VP of Customer Success, FinLocker
Why I Started a LinkedIn Newsletter and Why Every Loan Officer Should Too
Katie Shive, Owner, KS Marketing
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How Craig Johnson Motivates Renters by Explaining the “Cost of Waiting”
Ethan Vieaux, VP of Customer Success, FinLocker
With mortgage rates stabilizing in the low-to-mid 6% range, homes overvalued in many markets, and insurance premiums and property taxes increasing year over year, the financial barriers to homeownership continue to rise. As a result, first-time buyers are delaying entry longer than at any point on record. The National Association of Realtors 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers shows the median first-time buyer age has reached 40, up from 33 just five years ago, while their share of total purchases has dropped to 21%, a multi-decade low.
For loan officers, these data points reinforce a critical message: the longer buyers wait, the higher the financial cost — and that cost can be quantified.
Craig Johnson, Branch Manager at Canopy Mortgage, uses a simple, practical framework to help aspiring buyers understand what waiting truly costs in terms of wealth-building. While Craig uses KeySteps to nurture his pipeline, giving them a personalized path to mortgage readiness and a way to see the total cost of homeownership as they browse properties, the principles he teaches apply to every loan officer, regardless of the tools they use.
Show the Numbers — Not Just the Narrative
The most effective way to communicate urgency is to quantify missed appreciation. National median price examples tell the story:
- A buyer who could have purchased in 2015 at roughly $229,000 but waits until 2025, when prices approach $415,000, gives up $186,000 in appreciation, and that doesn’t include 10 years of principal reduction to increase the value of their equity.
- Even a shorter delay hurts. From 2020 (~$296,500) to 2025 (~$415,000), the missed appreciation is $118,500.
Once buyers see the difference in dollars, not theory, the cost of waiting becomes undeniably clear.
Coach Buyers to Understand Appreciation and Equity Building
Loan officers should walk clients through how rising rents compare to predictable mortgage payments, as rents have increased 21% since January 2020, according to Rent.com. In the same period, the average mortgaged homeowner’s equity jumped by approximately $124,000.
This reframes the discussion from “Is now the perfect time?” to “What will delaying cost me each month and each year?”
Start the Prep Work Earlier
Many first-time buyers need 12–24 months to get mortgage-ready. Loan officers can guide clients through:
- Credit improvement to qualify for better terms
- Debt management to know which loans or cards to pay down versus pay off
- Savings strategies by cutting spending on non-essential items, entertainment, clothes and vacations to save more sooner
- Realistic affordability planning to show buying in a lower cost neighborhood (especially if they don’t have to consider school districts for children), a smaller home or a duplex to get renters to contribute to the mortgage
Discuss Ways to Buy a Home Earlier
The belief that buyers must save a 20% down payment first is one of the most significant barriers causing delays.
Here’s reality:
- Conventional loans require as little as 3% down with good credit
- FHA loans require as little as 3.5% down with good credit
- USDA loans offer 0% down for eligible rural areas
- VA loans offer 0% down for qualifying veterans and active duty personnel
- Many state and local programs offer down payment assistance
By waiting to save 20%, renters may spend several more years in rising rental markets while home prices and principal amortization opportunities pass them by.
Partner Early with Real Estate Agents
A united lender–agent approach keeps buyers engaged, informed, and less likely to stall between pre-approval and contract.
Why I Started a LinkedIn Newsletter and Why Every Loan Officer Should Too
Katie Shive, Owner, KS Marketing
A few months ago, I hit a wall.
Like many of you, I kept hearing the advice: “Just post more on LinkedIn. Be consistent. Add value.” So I tried. I wrote more. Posted more. Showed up more. And yet… my visibility felt like it was shrinking, not growing. My posts would pop for a day and disappear by morning.
I knew I had expertise. I knew I had a voice. But I needed a better vehicle.
So I launched my LinkedIn newsletter.
I didn’t totally know what to expect—but what happened next shocked me. I gained more subscribers in the first two weeks than I had in five months of trying to grow my email list the “traditional” way. No landing pages. No friction. Just one click for people already connected to me.
And that’s when I realized something:
Loan officers don’t need more posts. We need platforms that work with us — not against us.
A LinkedIn newsletter does exactly that.
Why Loan Officers Should Use LinkedIn Newsletters (Especially in 2026’s AI-Driven Market)
The organic feed on LinkedIn is getting tougher for everyone. Visibility is harder. Attention is scattered. And websites? They’re losing traffic to AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
This is why newsletters matter:
- LinkedIn pushes your content straight to your network’s inbox.
When you publish, LinkedIn automatically emails your subscribers. No funnels. No forms. No follow-up automation.
- You’re strengthening your “digital authority signal” for AI.
AI models cite LinkedIn as a high-authority domain. When your long-form content lives on your LinkedIn profile, AI sees it as verified expertise.
That means when someone asks: “Who are the top loan officers in my city?” you actually stand a chance of showing up.
- You only have to create one high-quality piece of content per week.
This is actually less work, not more. A newsletter becomes your pillar content, and everything else flows from it.
Who Should Your Newsletter Be For?
This is where most loan officers overthink things.
Your LinkedIn newsletter is NOT for cold leads. (Although it does give you an opportunity to connect with new people on LinkedIn when you suggest they subscribe to your newsletter.)
It’s not for strangers.
It’s not even primarily for consumers.
Your audience is the people already in your ecosystem — your warm network.
Your core newsletter audience should be:
- Real estate agents
- Builders
- Accountants
- Divorce attorneys
- Estate attorneys
- Financial planners
- And anyone else who already knows you or refers business to you
These professionals don’t need daily posts. But they do need a consistent stream of value that reinforces your expertise and keeps you top of mind.
You’re educating your existing and potential referral partners, not shouting into the void hoping for likes.
The Newsletter Workflow That Saves Time (Not Adds It)
Here’s the formula I follow:
- Publish your one strong, helpful newsletter each week.
Pick a topic your referral partners actually care about. Think:
VA loan assumptions, escrow shortages, market shifts in your city or state, explaining ARM loans, DSCR loans, creative financing, etc. - Turn that newsletter into multiple smaller pieces of content.
- A carousel post
- A short story post
- A consumer-facing email
- A referral partner email
One newsletter = a week’s worth of content.
“But Katie, I don’t have time to write a weekly newsletter…”
This is where I want to share a shortcut that changed my entire workflow.
Ethan Vieaux from FinLocker published an article called “How to Build Your Own Loan Officer Marketing GPT to Create Compliant, Personacoincernedlized Content in Minutes.”
This is a game changer.
Instead of starting from scratch every week, you can build your own AI-powered content generator that:
- Uses your tone
- Stays compliant
- Knows your audience
- Produces refined drafts in minutes
Imagine logging in on Monday morning, typing:
“Create this week’s newsletter about temporary rate buydowns for listing agents.”
and having a polished version drafted instantly. Once you’ve edited the article, ask it to create the referral partner email and a consumer-focused version of the article and email, too.
If you’ve ever said you “don’t have time” for marketing, this removes that excuse entirely.
Why This Matters NOW (Not Later)
We are heading into an AI-saturated market where generic content becomes invisible instantly.
Loan officers who win in 2026 will be the ones who build trust + authority.
A LinkedIn newsletter does both:
- It gives you direct access to your referral partners’ inboxes.
- It tells AI models, “This person is a verified expert.”
- It allows you to build an asset you control, not just feed the algorithm.
If you’re just posting to your feed, you’re renting attention.
When you create a newsletter, you’re building an owned media channel and positioning yourself as the expert AI will surface to consumers who are asking ChatGPT for homebuying information.
If You’re Ready to Start, Here’s My Best Advice:
- Pick a niche or content theme your referral partners need.
- Commit to one issue per week (AI can help!).
- Repurpose everything.
- Play the long game.
- Build the authority that both people and AI will trust.
If you want to see how I’m doing it, you’re invited to subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter AI After Hours