Anyone who thinks real estate agents and their brokers have lost their power to guide home buyers to certain preferred lenders should have attended the National Association of Realtors annual convention in Orlando earlier this month.

More than 25,000 of NAR's 1.09 million members were there, and so were more than two dozen mortgage originators, each vying to curry the favor of anyone and everyone who would stop by their booths at the giant expo to pick up some literature, ask a question or grab a few trinkets.

Anthony Vetrano, an account executive with Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp., Tampa, didn't travel nearly as many miles as many exhibitors did to work the event. But whether they came from near or far, he and his colleagues all had the same intentions: meet and greet.

"Because when Realtors work, we work," Pamela Zank of RBC Mortgage shouted above the din as a horde of conventioneers gathered around her company's booth.

"Twenty-four-seven, that's our motto, baby," the manager of RBC's Northbrook, Ill., office yelled in response to a reporter's question about what the company hoped to achieve by exhibiting at the show.

Chase's Vetrano said his goal was two fold; get the word out about Chases' products and collect names to pass along to local branches.

Vivian Nguyen, marketing coordinator for First Franklin Financial, San Jose, had similar intentions. "We're trying to get exposure," said Ms. Nguyen, whose company was a first-time exhibitor. "We want to educate the agent about what we can do for them."

The same goes for HSBC Mortgage Corp., a late entry whose name didn't make the half-inch thick, 92-page, full-color Expo Guide, which was so big that it had to be printed separately from the program.

"We're hoping to get our name out there for our expanding company," said Randi Spice, a regional sales manager from Ft. Lauderdale. "So we're trying to get our name, products and national presence in front of them."

While many lenders had full-scale, fully-staffed exhibits, few could match the style and manner of Countrywide Home Loans. After all, the big Calabasas, Calif.-based mortgage banker didn't get to be one of the nation's top dogs by trying to appeal solely to borrowers.

"We very much believe in the Realtor as a critical player," said John Stewart, managing director of strategic business development, "so it's only natural for us not only to be here but be out in force. This is a fantastic networking opportunity, and it's an incredible opportunity to promote what we do."

Stewart headed a Countrywide contingent "well in excess" of 100 people, including several other senior executives besides himself.

Decked out in silk, Tommy Bahama-style "tropical" shirts -- yellow for the men, white for the women -- the Countrywide crew working the expo's three-hour Friday night opening met with more than 1,000 agents and brokers by the time their abbreviated booth stint was over, according to Stewart.

And by the time the four-day event ended, the Countrywide executive said he could easily net anywhere from five to 10 new joint venture prospects and an equal number or potential retail marketing arrangements.

But the company's effort goes far beyond simply working the show, or handing out some brochures and collecting business cards.

"We do some intense planning to maximize what we get out of all this," Mr. Stewart confided. "It's pretty foolish not to be pretty scientific about it."

Among other things, Countrywide "scrubbed" NAR's registration list to determine which attendees were already clients and which were possible new customers who were worth some glad-handing. It then broke down the list by region, division and finally the particular branch.

"We don't just show up," Stewart explained. "We cross reference everything."

The company also identified the top Realtors at the show and invited 2,000 of them to a private reception and concert by the rock band Styx at the House of Blues at Walt Disney World's Pleasure Island.

Published: November 24, 2004

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.