- Commercial Loan Modification Leads
- Top 10 Questions you should ask your Broker and yourself when searching for the perfect mailing list
- HARP Re-Finance Loan
- FHA Loans
- The Direct Marketing Experience
Top 10 Questions You Should Ask Your Broker and Yourself When Searching for the Perfect Mailing List | By Aaron Smith of Black Book Data
Finding a great mailing list can be a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack. There are many thousands (over 75,000) privately owned and managed lists. In addition to this cornucopia of databases, there are over 5,000 list brokers spread throughout the country. Interviewing 310 list brokers for every purchase can become tedious and so much of what the decision comes down to is price and what you ‘believe’ from the list owner/broker.
These 10 tips are designed to take the “guess work” out of finding a good list consultant and will help you determine within the first 30 seconds the mindset and capabilities of the list consultant you are working with. List consulting comes down to 10 major issues and accompanying questions to consider:
- How experienced and knowledgeable is the List Broker
- What list ideas do they have?
- What experience marketing to my target do they have?
- What is the nature of the questions from the List Consultant?
- Are they ‘closing’ questions from a sophisticated script?
- What am I learning from this consultant?
- Do they offer creative and sound input?
- What type of list is this: Compiled, Response, or Transaction?
- Does the list consultant know the difference and nature of why one will work better over the other?
- Are these priced accordingly (usually there will be a big price difference between lists and sources)?
- How is the file updated?
- Does the broker disclose which parts of the database are updated when?
- Are you getting a ‘blanket’ or vague answer for this question or diversion?
- Are there less expensive alternative list options?
- Why would the alternatives be as good of a choice? (“No alternative” is never a good answer).
- What makes this list unique and why can’t we find a cost effective alternate (make sure this answer has teeth and can be backed up if this is the case)?
- Does it take more than 1 day to get a specific count request back from the consultant? (Bad sign because even a busy broker can get a complex count back in less than a few hours if they are staffed properly).
- Does the list broker take all forms of payment easily without asking for alternative methods (i.e. pay pal, money order, ECT)? Presence of a merchant account usually indicates that a company is in good credit standing and has a good rapport with their clients. If a broker only accepts a wire, money order, or pay pal, this may indicate a scam. Be careful!
- Does the consultant make the list sound too good to be true? (Remember the golden rule "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is)." This is another red flag warning that could indicate a ‘stale’ or outdated database.
- Do you feel pressured to get the list? Pressure from a list broker means they are inexperienced with the process of direct marketing and therefore may not have your interests at heart).
- What else can you see your list consultant helping you with (make sure that you have enough rapport established to know you are working with someone that you can bounce ideas off of or someone that can give you ideas for other projects you are planning.)
- The best list brokers are great marketers first and foremost and thus their emphasis should be on more than just finding a good list though this is their #1 task obviously.
You see, most of these tips come down to the attitude and mental capacity of the list broker. Since you are dealing with information, the person you are buying it through should be very excited and knowledgeable. In a sense you are buying into the data broker’s confidence and their intent on building a real relationship. If you can detect those that are genuine and good at establishing these ties then you will evolve a very close relationship with your list broker and run most of your needs through this person.
Of course the goal for any broker is to have a close repeat relationship with their clients but few actually get that this takes work and effort and that most advertisers are willing to look at a new broker at the first sign of incompetence.
So what about budget? 99% of new list buyers are concerned about the cost of data. If you have experience buying data you know that a good list is worth way more than you paid for it. New list buyers are a different breed so this is very important information if you are new to buying databases for marketing. DO NOT GET FOOLED BY CHEAP DATA. If you really click with a list broker that has a passing grade for all 10 tips I mentioned above, then you should be OK with the price of the file you are considering. The key is not to negotiate the price of the list down but the minimum test quantity.
Most list brokers can bend on this rule of quantity before they can on a rule of price. The reason is that given the opportunity, most list brokers and managers will want to let a good offer try the list especially if their issue is the quantity mailed and not the price of the data. I get business owners and buyers of data calling me every day and the first thing they do is try to beat me down on price. My common response is simply “how can you beat me up on price if you don’t even know how the list performs. Let’s try a small test (toe in the water) and go from there.” This tactic works well because the price relative to response determines the quality of a list and not an assumed price break before any testing. This can only put you in an antagonistic relationship with the list broker from day one.
To further this, every list broker is out to earn money from selling data. If they can drop the price in half or create some kind of amazing discount out of nowhere, realize they may not care about what they are providing and instead give you an ‘inhouse’ all profit file while telling you it’s a great file from XYZ publication.
HARP Re-Finance Loan | Brad Dawson x236 | brad@blackbookdata.com
HARP leads are new to the mortgage community so let’s try to make sense of requirements for a HARP re-fi and show what data sets are working well to get those deals closed. First off let’s define what HARP is, HARP stands for Home Affordable Refinance Program, It’s also commonly referred to as a DU re-fi or DU Plus program. The terms may be different but they are describing the same program. So for our purposes here, DU and HARP will be interchangeable. This is part of Congress’ effort to jump start the mortgage market and keep people in their homes. If you have been in the industry for any amount of time you probably already have your own ideas of just how effective this program will or won’t be, but we’ll focus on the requirements for getting those deals done.
The basic tenants of the HARP deals are as follows:
- You will be working with the servicer to get these deals done. The original lender does not need to be the servicer for these deals. This presents some very unique opportunities for those of you who work directly for the lender. So if you work for Bank Of America, there is a gold mine in these deals with the right kind of data. If you are a broker, there is still a gold mine but he data you’ll be using will be a bit different.
- The first mortgage can be up to 105% LTV. No appraisal is required but the AVM will vary by servicer. Juniors can be subordinated to unlimited CLTV!
- The type of loan you’ll be transition people to is straight forward. A 30 year fixed will need to be put into another 30 year fixed. If you have an adjustable you can take them to a 30 year fixes or another adjustable. A 30 year fixed can’t be transitioned over to an adjustable.
- Borrow may not have any late reporting mortgages in the last 12 months.
- There is not had credit score requirement but there will be rate adjustment for scores under 740
- The loan must be agency loans, fannie or freddy
So let’s talk about the data for getting these done.
If you are working for the Lender/Servicer, Bank of America, Wells, etc.
You have an advantage that is unique and you have the opportunity to provide real benefit to your borrow. Using a soft inquiry lead (which your employer already does at the wholesale level) you have the ability to screen via the soft inquiry and find your existing customers that eligible for a HARP refi. This is usually done with the borrow name and partial SSN which are provided with our leads. We are screening the credit report so the other requirements are read directly off the credit and ensure that your prospects meet the specific requirements for the HARP program. If you can imagine the scenario of calling Johnny Borrower with your internal customer information and our lead and letting them know that they qualify for a reduction in their interest rate with out an appraisal then you already have half of the deal done. Please give us a call and let us go over this unique opportunity.
If you are a broker;
As a broker, you will have the same opportunity to help your borrow and gets deals funded but the tact you will take will be different from the LO who is working for the lender. Since you don’t have access to look up customers via an internal system your marketing will be done in a more traditional manner. Direct mail has proven to be a solid method for getting these borrows and the mail piece is simple. They are already approved and since you’ll be screening via the same soft inquiry process that the institutional lenders are using you’ll have the same added advantage of knowing what’s on the credit report before a single piece of mail is sent or a single phone call is made. Once the borrower’s eligibility is verified you’ll be pushing the re-finance through the servicer. Please call us to get more details about this unique opportunity. The deals are the middle ground between an FHA re-finance and a conventional deal. These require less effort than a convention and a better paycheck than a streamline.
FHA Loans | Brad Dawson x236 | brad@blackbookdata.com
If you have been in the mortgage business for any amount of time you already understand that FHA streamline deals are virtually dead when the economy is good and FHA deals are the shelter that the mortgage community runs to when times are bad. This current economic cycle is no exception to this rule. As the conventional wholesale channels have dried up the mortgage community has gone after FHA streamlines to ensure their deals get funded. So just what does FHA do and how does going after an FHA deal differ from form the standard conventional underwriting requirements? The requirements for FHA streamline have changed recently but the basic principles that make FHA loans so attractive to the borrower and the broker are still in place.
Easy credit qualification - Depending on whether your underwriting is done in-house or not, the minimum credit score will generally be around 640 or better. In some cases where underwriting is done in-house deals can close with scores as low as 580. Those who can fund with lower credit scores will have a slight advantage as they are able to reach a part of the market that is untouched by their competition.
No income qualifying – This is perhaps the most alluring aspect of an FHA deal. The FHA’s position when refinancing an FHA insured loan is that they have already passed the income requirement when the loan originally funded, and if they are paying on time there is no need to re-qualify the income again. This lack of income verification contributes to the ‘stream line’ process and accelerates the closing.
No appraisal – This is another major factor in the ‘stream line’ process. Refinances that are not ‘cash out’ do not need to have an appraisal. The guidelines have changed as of November 2009, but the basic tenant is still the same. This is very attractive given the current state of the housing market where value declines have made conventional deals nearly impossible. Streamline refi’s without an appraisal make sense for certain loan vintages.
Benefit to the borrower – The main goal of the streamline refi is to reduce the borrower’s payment. With rates where they are today nearly all FHA's are candidates for a stream line refi.
So how does a ‘soft inquiry’ lead help you fund more deals? The answer is fairly simple once the process of the ‘soft inquiry’ is understood. The process is basically a credit inquiry that does not affect the credit score of the borrower. This process allows for screening of loan balances, mortgage type, credit score, and all the reporting details that are available on a credit report. This real time screening produces qualified leads for your streamline deal and result in a qualified response.
Here is an example of a typical inquiry based upon the current streamline guidelines as of January 8th, 2009.
Number of Mortgage Trades =1
Credit 640 or Greater
Current Loan Balance 200k or Greater
Current Loan Payment 1k or Greater
Current Mortgage Reporting Status = Paid As Agreed
Loan balances will vary according to location and current FHA limits. The soft inquiries are flexible and can be altered to meet your needs.
Please give us a call to speak with an experienced consultant. As a mortgage professional you already understand the role the seasoned loan officer plays when closing a mortgage deal. A seasoned loan officer makes deals happen where less experienced ones stumble. The same holds true for your marketing consultant. An experienced consultant understands the market and your needs. Our staff will help you meet the challenges you face in today’s mortgage environment.
The Direct Marketing Experience | Jennifer Tenorio | Jennifer@blackbookdata.com
The point of Direct Marketing is to increase your business. It is as important to us as it is to you for you to succeed and get an excellent return on your investment (ROI). In order to get the best out of your direct marketing experience, here are a few tips. This article will focus specifically on marketing via direct mail.
Things to make sure you do:
Get the right list
In direct marketing, whether you are telemarketing or sending out direct mail pieces, it matters WHO you target. If you have a lengthy application process, it is even more important that you pre-qualify your audience. With Black Book Data, we can target any audience down to the very specifics. For example, we can use bureau data to find exact credit scores for mortgage and credit marketing, or we can use consumer compiled data to find people with certain magazine subscriptions, interests, tendencies, and even homeowners with pools! It is important to find the right balance between a narrow target and an overly filtered target audience. A consultant at Black Book Data will walk you through all of your options and let you know what is important in targeting your audience.
Have a creative mail piece
Your direct mail piece (what the consumer actually gets in the mail) is extremely important. It should include all of the following elements:
- Make them open (and then read) the envelop/snap pack/postcard
- Attention getter that stands out on your page
- Identify the problem the consumer is having (needs a new mortgage, is missing out on a great vacation deal, needs help consolidating their debt, need a new pool cleaner… )
- Solution! This is your product. Sell it.
- Call to action! Make sure your phone number, website, etc stands out. Let them know when you are available (hours of operation) and give them a reason to call you now!
Train your sales team
It is exceptionally important to have an armed-and-ready staff available to answer the phones when the mailer goes out. Be sure everyone really knows your product, can answer questions and sell, sell, sell! Once the mail piece and the marketing list get the client in the door, it’s up to you to CLOSE THE DEAL.
Track your results
By keeping a good record of the different techniques you use in your marketing, you will soon find the perfect niche that works for you and your company. You should try different mail pieces and different types of marketing lists (even if you just change the filters up to see what kind of people are responding to your letter). There are several options for keeping track of your marketing campaign, such as call tracking systems that can record all incoming calls. These systems will even set up different 800 numbers for each campaign (each set of mailings) so you know which letter, which list, and which approach gets you the best response!
Don’t give up
You might not get calls right away. Many factors attribute to the time it takes for a mailer to reach your target audience. For example, the time of the year that you send your mailer, the size and weight, and how many different destinations your mail is headed to – all affect whether you will get calls in 3 days or 14 days. Remember to give yourself a fair chance at direct mail. Send out at least 2-3 different mailers and talk to a consultant at Black Book Data to get the best targeted, pre-qualified lists!
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