I noticed two articles in the last 24 hours that when read separately are noteworthy, but when read together, become somewhat duplicitous. Early yesterday morning, Bloomberg had an article indicating that Morgan Stanley has decided to freeze thousands of home equity accounts within their portfolio. This is not wholly surprising, nor is it unprecedented. Other [...]

If you are a mortgage broker and you haven’t already figured this one out I will state it bluntly–no one trusts us! Sure there is an enormous amount of finger pointing going on. From Wall Street to Main Street everyone has an opinion on who got us here. Guess what? The customer thinks it was [...]

Customers in the research phase of any type of purchase are venerable, and they know it. This is why the person that helps and adds value during that time build a powerful loyalty. Real Estate Brokers are famous for this technique. They help people buy their dream home, which is always scary. During those hours [...]

I don’t think anyone disputes that we are now in a different mortgage market. The economy is shaky, buyers are nervous, and many prospects are not qualified for a variety of reasons. This makes effectively qualifying and nurturing leads more important than ever.
The Everyone Qualifies Market is Gone
During the real estate and mortgage refinance boom [...]

At no point in marketing history has it been so easy to own your market. If you have a product, service, or personal interest to offer and want to be the Internet leader in this space the path to success is relatively straight-forward. The strategy is really as simple as: If you want to be [...]

The visionaries behind The Cluetrain Manifesto prophetically summed up our current market opportunity in the first of 95 theses–”Markets are conversations.” The folks you want as customers are increasingly expecting conversations. Your challenge? Figure out how to make an introduction. And I am going to give you the secrets–step-by-step…Listen FirstSince markets are conversations, the nice [...]

Are you still fighting against using the Internet in your mortgage marketing plan? That stubbornness is most likely losing you new opportunities and even worse past clients. The facts are clear, up to 75% of borrowers go online to research their mortgage. And the current market, rate, and home value volatility is only going to [...]

Have you heard of Twitter? Chances are you haven’t, but everyday I see more and more loan officers and realtors pop into Twitterland. So, chances are your competitors have.
I may do a more complete post on what it is and how to use it effectively in your mortgage business and as a part of your [...]

As the market tightens and credit standards make it more difficult for borrowers to qualify your marketing needs to be fine tuned. This is no longer the days of everyone needs to refinance their mortgages for lower rates and better payments. This is a market centered around avoiding payment shocks, improving credit, securing equity, and [...]

Is the Internet important to your local real estate or mortgage business? Apparently, the answer is a big–YES!
I know I already hear the comments:
“Bill, all my business is referral business.”
“Internet leads suck!”
“People on the Internet are only window shopping. They never buy anything.”
“Internet only works for the big National guys with lots of money.”
Well, I [...]