“I’m part of the Women’s Mortgage Network,” she said. “I’m on their committee also, so we’re having our event on Thursday. We have 200 women who have registered to be part of this event, and we have amazing speakers, and we’re going to have a great event on Thursday afternoon.”
One thing she wants to encourage brokers to do is continue attending these types of events, even if they can only attend remotely. She notes that when the market gets tighter, people who would normally attend conventions tend to back off so they can spend more hours at work.
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In some cases, brokers are concerned about the costs associated with traveling to events like Fuse. Brandao reminds them that it often is far more costly to their business not to attend these trade shows.
“When the market gets tight, people pull back and they stop showing up,” she said. “Whether it’s showing up for an event, even virtual people start to pull back because they’re like, ‘I have to work harder.’ And we understand that you have to focus, but sometimes you’re missing out on that connection or that insight, and it’s more costly not to hear.
“It is so important to get in the room. It’s sitting across the table and saying, ‘What are you doing with this?’ Yes, it’s expensive to do this. But you really do have to find the time and allocate a couple of dollars over to that corner, because it’s worth it. It’s very, very important to be there.”