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Mortgage Leads, Increase Your Closure Ratio

§ September 3rd, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

If you are a loan officer or a mortgage broker, and you are currently using a mortgage lead provider, or you are considering investing with one, one of the most important things you should take into consideration, is the closure ratio.

If you are closing anywhere from 5% to 12% of the leads you purchase, than you are doing very well according to the industrys standard.

Here are a few helpful hints to increase your closure ratio.

Keep in mind that a lead provider does just that, they provide leads. It is entirely up to you to make the sale. Just because you were provided with a fresh lead doesnt mean you dont have to work to close the deal.

Most lead companies will sell their leads up to five times, so you are competing with other loan officers.

So, if you come across an objection over the telephone such as I am no longer interested, it is most likely because they are dealing with somebody else at that point.

Here is something you can counter with . . .

Oh, thats to bad, after looking at your on-line profile, I was able to fit you into a really nice mortgage program with one of our lenders.

I can just about guarantee this will get their attention.

If this approach does not work, e-mail them with some attractive programs that you offer, or mail them out a flyer with a list of your products.

Whatever you do, do not give up after the first objection.

Remember, home buyers, and people refinancing their existing homes are very apprehensive, they are embarking on perhaps the largest financial transaction they have ever made, so put yourself in their shoes.

So, the friendlier you come off, and the more knowledgeable you sound, the better your chances of making the sale.

If you fail to have someone answer the telephone, and you have to leave a message, make sure the message is short, friendly, and informative.

Ask them to call back at their convenience to discuss a great product you know they will be interested in.

Remember. It is all in the approach and the inflection in your voice. The lead provider can provide the lead, but you have to work to get the sale. Best of luck with your leads.

Mortgage Leads, Get Your Prospects Attention

§ August 27th, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

If you are a mortgage broker or loan officer and you are actively buying mortgage leads, or you are considering buying mortgage leads, here are a few tips on how to get your customers attention.

Most lead companies will sell their leads up to five times, so you can pretty much count on competition from other loan officers. mortagage

When calling your prospect for the first time, be sure you are armed with the knowledge of some products you believe would benefit your prospect based on the info you received on the lead.

If a customer tells you they are no longer interested, most likely it is because they are working with another loan officer.

So, if you have done your homework, you will be able to say something to the effect of oh, Im sorry to hear that Mrs. Jones, I have some really great products and rates, Im sure would have benefitted your needs.

I guarantee that your customer will once again be interested, and more than willing to listen to what you have to offer.

Also, if you have to leave a message, dont just leave your name, number, and the company you work for. Let them know that you have products and rates that you know they will be interested in. This will highly increase the chances of your customer calling you back.

One more thing, if you want to wipe out your competition all together, you may want to consider buying leads exclusively.

Mortgage Leads, Choosing the Best Option

§ August 20th, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

Mortgage Leads, Choosing the Best Option

When it comes to buying mortgage leads, there are many good companies out there for you to research, and many avenues to travel down when considering which lead type will work best for you.

While working as a loan officer, I dealt with my fair share of mortgage lead companies. Along the way, I bought my leads in bulk, I bought them fresh, and I bought them with a live transfer.

Researching lead companies is an important aspect when deciding to invest in one, but lets be honest with each other, we really dont know what we are getting until we begin to purchase them.

When I would purchase my leads in bulk, I would take 100.00 of my hard earned money, find what I believed to be the best cherry-picking site out there, and by about fifty leads at 2.00 each.

Now I know that you get what you pay for, and my goal was to close two at the most, and at the very least, one. Over the years this approach would occasionally pay off, but I had the feeling of working harder, and not smarter.

The next approach I took a shot at was the purchase of real time leads, or fresh leads. I would take that same hard earned 100.00 and receive approximately three to five fresh leads consisting of purchase leads and refinance.

These leads I did not cherry pick, I would set up a filter before hand. The filter would be specific to state, type of loan, credit, ltv, loan amount. Etc.

When a lead came in and matched my filter, it would be stream lined directly to my e-mail account, and it would be roughly ten minutes old. I had a lot of success with these leads, but continued to keep all of my options open.

The other type of lead I decided to take a shot at was the live transfer lead. I believed this to be a wonderful concept, and a very efficient way of obtaining leads and increasing my applications.

I basically sat at my desk and waited for the lead company to transfer customers to me by way of the telephone. Sometimes this worked and sometimes it didnt. The problem was, there was no guarantee that I was going to answer the phone. I worked in an office with ten other loan officers, if I stepped away from my desk, they would end up in my voice mailbox, or if the phone went unanswered, the potential customer would hang up.

It is pointless to go into further detail, I think you get the picture, the live transfer at times could be a mess. Again, I felt as though I was working harder and not smarter.

Before investing with mortgage lead companies, make sure you do your home work thoroughly. Read the companies terms of service, find out what their return policy is, call and speak with a representative, ask about a free trial. Does it consist of a free lead or some type of credit toward your first deposit? If they are confident in the quality of their leads, than they should not have a problem accommodating you.

I have had, and know loan officers who have had success with all of the above mentioned lead type scenarios. Some may work for you and some may not. But remember, if you find yourself working too hard to make the lead work for you, consider a different type of lead!

Mortgage Loan

§ August 13th, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

In the past decades, it was believed that a mortgage loan is a mortgage loan no matter whichever is chosen. But this theory is not workable anymore because of the many mortgage loan products available in the market. So, before choosing a mortgage loan, it is very important to decide which one is right for you. Finding the right mortgage loan means balancing your mortgage options with your housing requirements and financial picture, now and in the future. Also the right mortgage is not just having the lowest interest rate but much more than that. And this much more will be determined by your personal situation. Your personal situation and your limits to pay for monthly mortgage payments can be evaluated by answering the following questions:

mortagage What is your current financial situation (including income, savings, cash reserves and debt-to-cash ratio)?
How you expect your finances to changeover in the coming years?
Have you plan to return the mortgage loan before retirement?
How long you intend to keep your house?
How comfortable you are with your changing mortgage payment amount?

The answers to these questions will give you the idea of your financial position. Now the next step is to decide two key options:

mortgage length,
type of interest rate (fixed interest rate or adjustable interest rate).

The length of mortgage loan can be minimum 15 years; can be 20, or at maximum 30 years. While selecting a fixed or adjustable interest rate you should be aware of the facts that the adjustable interest rate mortgage is more risky because the interest rate will change, while a fixed-rate loan offers more stability because of the locked-in rate. You will be able to pay off a shorter-term loan more quickly, but your monthly payments will be substantially higher. Long-term fixed-rate loans are popular because they offer certainty, and many people find that they are easier to fit into their budget. Although, in long run they will cost you more, but you will have more available capital when you need it, and you will be less likely to default on the loan should an emergency arise.

In the light of above mentioned aspects, it is clear that the key to select the right mortgage loan for your needs should fit comfortably into your entire financial picture, that is having payments within your budget and comfortable level of risk connected to it.

Internet Mortgage Leads

§ August 6th, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

If you are a loan officer, you may be considering purchasing internet mortgage leads. But you may be leery of whom to buy them from and the type of lead you should buy.

There are many internet mortgage lead companies out there, and they sell all kinds of lead types. mortagage

Such as, real time, live transfer, recycled, and lets face it, a lot of these companies sell junk.

For this reason alone, it is important to take your time and research the internet mortgage lead companies you are considering investing with.

For starters, read what they propose to loan officers on their web sites, especially what their return policy states.

Once you have read and familiarized yourself with their site, call and speak with someone in their customer service department. Ask about the things you believe are important when it comes to the leads. Such as, how they generate the leads, are they fresh or old and recycled, what is their pricing, and ask about their return policy.

If you are unable to contact anyone in customer service, or you are not getting crystal clear answers to your questions, than move onto the next internet mortgage lead company.

If you are not satisfied with the customer service you are receiving, than you better believe that you will not be satisfied with the leads.

Remember, you work hard for your money, so there should be no reason why you dont get a return on your investment with the internet mortgage lead company you decide to go with. Best of luck.

How to Find the Right Mortgage

§ July 30th, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

A mortgage that is properly suited to an individuals needs when buying a home can save the individual thousands while a mortgage that has not been properly tailored to their needs can place the house and the individuals financial future in jeopardy. And because there are so many types of mortgages and mortgage products available, its essential to have a basic understanding of mortgages before choosing which one is the right one. mortagage

First one needs to understand the different options available to them. For people who have good credit, a fixed rate mortgage is usually the best option. These types of mortgages offer the same interest rate for the entire life of the loan so the monthly payments will always be the same. One may also choose an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) after a one, five, or ten year term. These mortgages have a fixed rate for a certain period and they then move to a variable rate after the one, five, or ten years. This means that the monthly payments could be more or less, depending on what the interest rate currently is. Rates dont generally have dramatic increases or reductions so there are usually no large surprises. However, over the course of a thirty-year loan, the interest rate could be considerably more or less by the end of the mortgage.

Individuals who have no or bad credit will have a higher interest rate on their mortgage. They may also have to look into the sub-prime lending market where the loans will have much higher interest rates and many different structures. When looking at the different loan options available, its important to make sure there is no prepayment penalty, which have a fee associated with paying off more of the mortgage in advance. These loans should be avoided as the goal is to pay off the debt.

A mortgage consists of two major components: the down payment and the interest rate. For people who are very active in investing in different things such as the stock market, and real estate, its best to pay as little down payment as possible. If the individual has a good credit rating, its best to try to get a 100% mortgage. The interest on these mortgages is generally higher but the cost of borrowing will be less than the returns the individuals will receive on their investment.

For individuals that are not active investors, the mortgage can be a great investment tool. Paying off a mortgage with a 6.5% to 7.5% interest rate makes more sense than savings accounts that offer a 2.5% interest rate.

Everything in the mortgage process is negotiable. The goal is to lower the down payment and the interest rate. The higher the down payment is, the lower the interest rate will be and the sooner one will be able to pay off the mortgage. Using a mortgage broker can help one find the best mortgage for the specific situation.

How Morgage Rates Work

§ July 23rd, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

Interest rates all start with the Fed rate. Basically, what the fed rate is, it is a rate that banks are offered as their borrowing rate from their local federal reserve. This fed rate is adjusted regularly by the Federal Reserve Board so that growth of an economic nature is achieved. For example, if the supple of money is reduced and the interest rates are increased, this usually means that there is oncoming inflation.

mortagage This causes the effect on mortgage rates to be not be immediate or direct from inflation or recession.

When you go to a bank in order get get a loan or mortgage to buy a new house or refinance your current house, they take that loan and sell it to various agencies. From there, the money that they get from selling the loan will go into allowing them to repeast the process and hand out more home loans.

The money that the agencies use to buy the loans come from other lenders that sell mortgage backed securities bonds. These are made of of many mortgages put together into a single bond. In the end, these bonds are considered one of the most secure investments allowing a lot of various people to invest in them. It should also be noted though, that sometimes the stock market competes with the same money that is sometimes invested in the bonds.

The competition between the stock market and the bonds depends on a number of different factors. When there are higher interest rates on the bonds, they get the upper hand and attract more investors. When the opposite happens and the stock markets are performing positively, the bulk of the investor money can go into the stock market.

Sometimes, in order to attract money and investors to the bonds that are backed by mortgages, they are given higher return on investment rates. Of course, this can in turn causes higher rates up the line to the home buyer.

Most of the time when you look at a bank’s mortgage interest rate, it is an average calculated between all the different lenders across the United States. When you are looking to get a mortgage and working with your lender, the lender uses a set of criteria to determine the final rate that you will end up paying in the end. Usually, the more rick there is in the mortgage, the higher the interest rate you will end up paying.

The set of criteria that they consider are the lendee’s debt income ratio, credit score rating and mortage to value ratio. This means that just because you see a specific rate posted at a bank or online, it does not mean that you will actually get that rate. Sometimes it can be more and other times it can be less. It just depends on how you fall into the criteria used. Basically, every loan is different and is done on a case by case basis.

General Information Regarding Self Certification Mortgages And Remortgages In The

§ July 16th, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

General Information Regarding Self Certification Mortgages And Remortgages In The UK

Self certification mortgages and self certification remortgages are useful financing options for those individuals looking to buy a new home or obtain a new mortgage in the UK. Those individuals who will find a mortgage of this type most useful are those who are gainfully employed yet may have a difficult time showing where the money comes from and how much money they receive on an annual basis. Examples of individuals who may experience this problem include those who are self-employed, contract workers or freelance workers. Obtaining a self certification mortgage or self certification remortgage is a way for these individuals to obtain financing on their home and not have to go through the hassle of persuading hesitant lenders to give them a loan. mortagage

Defining Self Certification Mortgages and Remortgages

A self certification mortgage UK is one which is given to an individual that is not able to prove that they are steadily employed. Although some individuals have a 9 to 5 job, 5 days per week with the same company, there are a large amount of people who work for various companies and perform various tasks which produce different amounts of revenue. For these individuals, showing a set income with one particular company is quite difficult and can be met with some resistance at regular mortgage companies who offer straightforward mortgages. A self certification mortgage or self certification remortgage gives the self-employed individuals peace of mind by helping them to obtain a mortgage or remortgage without all of the hassle attached.

Ways to Find Self Certification Mortgage Lenders

When looking to find a self certification mortgage or a self certification remortgage, an individual will need to obtain a lender who deals with mortgages of this type. There are a few ways in which to obtain a self certification mortgage lender. One way in which to peruse ones self certification options is via the Internet. One can search online to see if any self certification mortgage lenders are based in their area of the UK.

Another way to locate a self certification mortgage lender for a self certification mortgage or remortgage is by way of recommendations. One may have friends or family members in the UK who have obtained a mortgage of this type in the past. By obtaining recommendations, one will not only be able to find a lender but may also learn about good or bad attributes of the lender as well.

Conclusion

Self certification mortgages and self certification remortgages are extremely useful lending options for those self-employed individuals or independent contract workers. This provides a way for the individual to obtain home financing and not have to go through all of the problems they would experience with a regular mortgage lender regarding employment.

Foreclosure is a Problem Across the Nation

§ July 9th, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

Do you own your own home or business? If you have a mortgage, and you are working, struggling to survive from paycheck to paycheck you are not alone. There are millions just like you were are in jeopardy of losing their home, because of foreclosure. Foreclosure is when one is behind on the mortgage payment, when you miss two or more payments to the financing company and the bank decides to take your home from you.

Foreclosure is going to wreck your credit, and it is going to leave you homeless. You will have to move out and to another place to live, and sometimes you can even end up owning additional money to the bank even after they take your home or business. If you are unable to pay your monthly payments, you need to find a way to get your finances back on track, to catch up on those payments, and to keep your home.

To get your personal finances back on track you can do a few things. First, if you have already received a letter from the bank about foreclosure you should call the bank. Find out if you can set up any payments to avoid foreclosure. Ask if there is anything you can put up against the house to avoid losing your house. Foreclosures are not something that the bank or financing company likes to do, but must do in the case of your non payment. If you have a retirement account, if you have CDs or any type of savings this could be the time it is going to pull you out of trouble and for you to avoid foreclosure.

If you have nothing you can fall back on, and the bank states there is nothing you can do to avoid foreclosure you need to get moving on a back up plan. You need to find a place to live, and for your family to move. You need to get out of the house that is being foreclosed, and you need to take with you the stuff you can before the house is locked up by the foreclosing company. The foreclosure of your home mortgage, can often times include the sale of all your personal items to help the bank recoup some of their money they lost on your mortgage. The foreclosure of your home is going to cost the bank money, in interest, payments, and more money in the cost of having to resell your home, which is why items in the home are often auctioned off by the bank.

A foreclosure process is actually quite a long one. If you have missed one payment on your home mortgage loan, you will receive notification by the bank of your missing that payment. If you miss more payments, the bank will begin calling your home. The foreclosure process is going to start. You will not have more than three months, generally, before the foreclosure process begins not only to affect your credit, but also where you live, the items that you own, and your ability to obtain any type of help in resolving the matter.

To avoid foreclosure on your home, get a second job. Cut back on the money that you spend when you are out on the town. Avoid spending money on things such as a cell phone, the car, television shows, extra activities, gifts and presents, avoid spending money that is not being spent on your home. Catching up on your mortgage payments for your home is something you must do to avoid foreclosure by the bank, and to avoid them taking your home.

Fixed Rate Mortgage

§ July 2nd, 2010 § Filed under Remortgage § No Comments

A fixed rate mortgage is one of the most common types of home loan in the USA. It’s very easy to understand and set up and helps people know exactly what type of commitment they are making financially.
It has one main benefit over all other types of loan. Stability. No matter what happens with fluctuating interest rates, you are guaranteed the same payment each month for the entire term of your loan.
mortagage This really helps give people peace of mind because they don’t have to wonder if their next loan payment will be higher than the previous one.
Some people are very meticulous when it comes to bills and don’t want to feel like they are gambling on the real estate market.
This is what helps make a fixed rate mortgage so appealing. The payments don’t change so you have a much better chance of being able to save up money for home repairs, vacations, and new purchases.
This loan is also good for people who have to travel a lot. Knowing your payment will be the same when you get back from a far away place can really help your state of mind.
Most lenders who will give you a fixed rate mortgage will give you the option to pay off some of the principal early without any penalties.
This can be a great way to lower your overall amount of payments or decrease the monthly payments. The interest you pay all depends on the real estate market when you get that loan.
It can help to talk to a real estate agent who can recommend if you should buy now or wait for a more suitable time.

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