What is a BAD Lead? It seems like an easy question to answer, but many of us find it difficult to hold ourselves accountable to the definition. Let me explain.

Over 80 percent of those we spoke with told us a bad lead is a bad phone number, a disconnected phone number or someone who said they did not apply. What we in fact discovered is that, at times, a good percentage of us are looking for credit for customers we cannot get in touch with or even some who want credit for leads that did not go to application. If the lead company provides a lead from an interested party and the contact information is valid, then they did their job. After that the onus is on us and our trained loan officers to close the deal.

There needs to be a healthy give-and-take in the relationship between the lead vendor and the mortgage company. Just like a dating relationship, we try to be on our best behavior, and somewhere down the line, our true colors are shown. Each of us needs to have a healthy appreciation of the other’s business; if we have that, we can put our best foot forward in maintaining a strong business partnership.

We all know changes occur in our operations, e.g., new loan officers start, programs change, new competition etc. Contrary to a few beliefs out there, not every lead you receive will fund. It is the lead provider’s responsibility to prevent you from getting “bad” leads and in fact credit those where the customer obviously was not interested. That being said, it’s the mortgage company’s responsibility to not take advantage of the situation.

In my travels to industry tradeshows and seminars, I am still amazed by the type of questions I get from lead buyers: “Greg, do you know what companies ‘guarantee’ their leads?” or “Can your company ‘guarantee’ a funding rate of 5% or higher? Do you give credit for ‘ineligible’ customers?” When I ask them their definitions of “guarantee” or “ineligible,” I get a variety of answers.

The simple truth is that their questions are a direct response to the frustration that has built up over the past couple of years. A healthy initial dialogue on the part of the lead buyer and seller is needed before marketing dollars are spent and contracts are signed. There are some specific questions to ask the lead provider in determining the overall value and lead quality they bring to your company.

2011 FHA Loan Limits. Has anyone see the new limits released by Mortgagedaily yesterday? For one-unit residential properties, the "floor" limit is $271,050, while duplex loans are limited to $347,000 and triplex financing cannot exceed $419,400. On a four-unit property, the limit is $521,250.

In high-cost areas, as required in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, the one-unit limit is $729,750, and the two-unit limit is $934,200. Three-unit high-cost loans are limited to $1,129,250, while the fourplex maximum is $1,403,400.

"Many areas are eligible for loan limits between the national FHA floor and ceiling based on area median home prices," the letter stated. "In such areas, the limits shall be at the higher of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 calculated loan limits for 2008 and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 calculated loan limits for the effective period stated herein."

For Alaska, Guam, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands -- the one-unit cap is $1,094,625, while it jumps to $1,401,300 on two-unit buildings and $1,693,875 on triplexes. The fourplex limit in these "special exception areas" is $2,105,100.

Because of Continuing Resolution provisions, the limit on home-equity conversion mortgages will stay at $625,500. The HECM limit is 150 percent of the conforming limit.

The loan limits are in effect from Jan. 1, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2011.

Well, things certainly have changed for us who are survivors in the mortgage industry. We had some real peaks in refinancing levels throughout this year thanks to the rates. There were lots of exciting things happening here for us at Home123 as well. As you may know we re-launched the multimillion dollar brand; HOME123.com in early 2010. Just this past week we launched our new lead division home123leads.com. We now have 8 verticals for our consumers and in addition will be launching a platform for REALTORS® called MobileListingTag. As well as a consumer smartphone application HomeCompare.

For those of you who are currently clients at home123leads.com or who knew me when I ran LowerMyPayment you know the quality of the mortgage leads you received. Reputation as you know is 100% everything in this business. We will never be nor do we want to be the huge lead company; however, we are able to customize our lead programs to your specific needs. We listen and we take the time to understand your platform. And unlike many of the surviving lead companies out there we share with you how we generate our leads and provide the secret sauce so you can apply it in your branch operations. Give us a try the next time your lead volume needs a little boost. I invite you to visit home123leads.com or give me a call at 1-877-564-2726. Be sure to visit as I will be posting ways in which you can generate your own leads and reduce your overall marketing budget for your operation.