Originator Combines Charity With Lead Origination

About two weeks ago, Kedric Fink, 25, took on a self-proposed task to gather as many pencils as he could for Miami-Dade public school students. After standing outside a local Office Max for two days asking people to buy pencils and donate, Fink said he collected 9,866 pencils, about 1,600 sheets of paper, plus other school supplies, which were all passed on to the Education Fund’s Ocean Bank Center for Educational Material — a warehouse of free school supplies accessible to public school teachers.

After reading an article in a local newspaper about the Education Fund and learning that teachers sometimes spend $1,000 or more out of their pocket each year for school supplies not provided by the public school system, Fink said he was motivated to help out. He contacted the Education Fund coordinator, found out what item was needed most, and then successfully talked the district manager of the Office Max into letting him do his “one man show” to collect pencils.

“That was a wonderful experience,” Fink told MortgageDaily.com. “Its amazing to know that you’ve made a difference. I gave close to 10,000 kids a pencil. And it’s a great feeling to do something for the community, to give back.”

The feeling is so great he has plans to continue doing pencil drives throughout the year, Fink said. If approved by Office Max, it is possible that he and other volunteers will stand outside several South Florida store locations to generate even more donations, and possibly more mortgage leads.

During his two-day campaign outside the office supply store, Fink also handed out 500 postcards and asked people to mail the pieces to a friend. He not only made use of the postcards to reach more people for pencil donations, he also marketed his loan officer services. The postcards have generated several phone calls, Fink said, and he is currently consulting with two people for mortgage loans.

A couple of leads may not sound like much, but they do pave way for the newly formed loan officer — he has only been working in the mortgage industry for about six weeks since starting with correspondent brokerage Mediterranean Mortgage.

“My entire goal is to learn the real estate business, the ins and outs of it, in order to become an investor,” Fink said. “The way I decided to start was learn how mortgages work, how loan officers and brokers work, how exactly people get loans, just to learn about the basics.”

His time at Miami Dade College will not hurt either. Fink said he is a freshman at the school and is directing his full-time studies toward a degree in financial services.

While some may find it hard to carve out enough time to be a full-time college student and loan officer, and coordinate pencil drives, Fink has managed to add another activity to his schedule. Apart from the feel-good effects of volunteerism and mortgage leads, collecting pencils resulted in an entrepreneurial opportunity when Fink was offered a chance to help launch a product that serves to identify children. Fink said he soon will be selling what he described as “CDs shaped like credit cards that contain a child’s entire medical history, full description, digital photos, finger prints — in case they’re ever kidnapped or missing, or need medical attention.” In the case of an emergency, the CDs, which are compatible with computer systems in police cars and ambulances, also serve to distribute a child’s identifying information nationally within minutes through e-mail.

“Many people have approached me because of the pencil drive in order to help them out because they see my intentions are to help other people and not just looking out for myself,” Fink said. And that quality, he added, is also one he strives to play out in his time as mortgage loan officer.

Fink said he discloses everything from how he makes money to whether he’ll get more money on a certain loan as opposed to another, so that borrowers do not get surprised when they review their contract, and are fully aware of what they’re signing for.

“When you couple the fact that people buy mortgages every seven to 10 years, on top of the fact that mortgage borrowing itself is a very complicated process, its very easy to get swindled,” Fink said. “From my research, I found a lot of people in the business look out for themselves and aren’t really looking out for the buyer, as in what is best for the person borrowing the loan, getting them the best interest rate … which is something that I try my hardest to do.”