What Does Your Out of Office Email Say About You?

Geoff audits real out-of-office email auto-replies he received from loan officers and breaks down what makes them weak versus effective. He also answers a listener question about business sources beyond real estate agents, recommending divorce mortgage specialist and self-employed/non-QM niches. LOs who want quick, low-effort brand upgrades and niche diversification ideas should listen.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Open your current out-of-office email right now, paste it into Grammarly (free Chrome extension), fix every typo and spelling error — 'intermittently' and 'unavailable' were misspelled in real LO examples audited in this episode.
• Rewrite your out-of-office reply to include: (1) exact dates you're out, (2) a named team member with phone, email, and text number for loans in process, (3) a separate named contact for new loan inquiries, (4) a direct link to your online application, and (5) a link to your document upload page — model it on the one example Geoff rated highest.
• Add one sentence of personality or context to your out-of-office reply — e.g., 'I'm backpacking in [location] surviving on trail mix and will return [date]' — so recipients feel a human connection rather than corporate boilerplate.
• Format your out-of-office reply for mobile: use paragraph breaks between each section, bold the contact names, and avoid long run-on sentences or colored/italicized text that is hard to read on a small screen.
• If you want to specialize beyond agents, research a divorce mortgage designation at divorcethishouse.com or search 'divorce lending designation' — Geoff recommends it as a niche where specialists earn more and clients self-select because they see their situation as unique.
• For a second niche, build competency in non-QM/self-employed lending by reviewing Angel Oak Mortgage's education resources (search 'Angel Oak non-QM') — the gig economy is expanding the pool of borrowers who don't qualify with W2 income alone.

The playbook

1. 1. Audit: Turn on your own out-of-office reply and email yourself, or have a colleague email you, to see exactly what recipients receive.
2. 2. Fix basics: Correct all typos (use Grammarly), add your full name and title, add exact return date.
3. 3. Add team coverage stack: List each team member by name, role, phone, email, and text — organized by need (loans in process vs. new applications vs. urgent).
4. 4. Add action links: Include clickable links to online application, document upload page, and your social profiles.
5. 5. Add personality: Write one to two sentences that reflect where you are or what you're doing — make it human and optionally humorous.
6. 6. Check mobile formatting: Use line breaks between sections, avoid all-caps or colored text, confirm it renders cleanly on a phone screen.

Worth quoting

“You're always branding. What is the impression that you're leaving, that you're creating?”

“People would rather be entertained than educated. To the degree you can be entertaining, the more trust you're going to build.”

Best for

LOs who set up their out-of-office reply years ago and have never revisited it — or anyone who wants a five-minute brand audit with immediate impact.