Mortgage Business Dried Up? How John Farrell Expanded Out-of-State, and Closed $100M
John Farrell breaks down how he closed $108M in 2024 by leaning on his book of business, boutique financial advisor partnerships, and expanding into out-of-state markets when local inventory dried up. He also shares his social media approach — including a 9-million-view reel — and why strategy calls with mortgage coach tools are his biggest conversion differentiator. Best for experienced LOs who want a real-world blueprint for diversifying business sources in a low-inventory market.
When your local market shrinks, your existing book of business and out-of-state agent relationships you've already transacted with are your fastest path to volume — not new lead sources.
Takeaways you can run this week
- Pull your last 3 years of closed transactions and identify agents on both sides of each deal in other states. Call them with: 'Hey, you may not remember me, but we closed [address] together — I wanted to reconnect and see what you're working on.' John used this exact approach to hit 7 out-of-state closings in a single month.
- Block 90 minutes every day — non-negotiable — for outbound: calls to past clients, texts to referral partners, or agent outreach. John runs a chaotic day but protects this block as his minimum floor for business development.
- After issuing the pre-approval, immediately schedule a Microsoft Teams or Zoom 'strategy call' with the client. Before the call, send a short questionnaire asking what they want to learn. On the call, walk through Mortgage Coach or MBS Highway scenarios side-by-side. John calls this his single biggest conversion differentiator.
- Host a casual evening at your home (not a lunch-and-learn) for 10-15 agents. Bring in one outside expert — John used a trust attorney — to add value. John has this on his calendar 4 times this year and says the informal setting produces better connections than any networking mixer.
- Identify 1-2 financial advisors at boutique firms (not Merrill Lynch, Northwestern, etc.) who are 3-5 years into their practice and building their client base. Use Mortgage Coach to show their clients a side-by-side of putting less down vs. keeping assets invested — this is John's hook that keeps two FAs sending him consistent referrals.
- Pick 4 content pillars for social media — John's are family, fitness, personal development, and mortgage — and post consistently across all four. Broad topics like income, health, or cooking will out-reach mortgage-only content. Intentionally leave a small, noticeable error in a reel (like a numbered list out of order) to drive comments and algorithm boost.
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GET FREE ACCESSThe playbook
- 1. After pre-approval is issued, send client a short pre-call questionnaire: 'What do you most want to learn on our strategy call?'
- 2. Schedule a Teams or Zoom strategy call (or in-person if possible).
- 3. Open with the client's stated questions from the questionnaire.
- 4. Walk through Mortgage Coach: show putting less down vs. more down, with invested-asset comparison if client has an FA.
- 5. Cover rate environment context using MBS Highway data — show, don't tell.
- 6. If client lacks a financial advisor and qualifies for your FA partner's network, make the warm introduction on the spot.
- 7. Close the call with next steps and timeline — convert uncertain buyer to active buyer with data-backed certainty.
Worth quoting
“100 million to me doesn't really mean much. I'm still the dishwasher.”
“Whatever you enjoy doing, get out in that community and just start asking questions, talking to people.”
Best for
LOs with 3+ years of closed deals who are sitting on an underworked database and haven't yet explored out-of-state agent relationships or financial advisor partnerships.