As our industry is going through some significant changes and readjustments we need pay particular attention to our lead vendors or the number of vendors we are working with if we are to maintain a profitable platform.

Many of us are discovering our vendors are running out of inventory. As we call lead companies and ask for 25 or 50 per day; many will say sure not a problem but what we are hearing is that many can not deliver. The reason, most mortgage companies and brokers are looking for lower LTV's and higher loan amounts. Program criteria is being is becoming conservative and it is getting more and more challenging to provide the type of lead the industry is looking for and still be cost-effective at the end of the day. For the lead company this means much higher lead acquisition costs as incremental advertising dollars are spent trying to get the pool of leads to satisfy the new appetites of the lead buyers. Don’t be surprised if lead prices go up or lead companies try new advertising methods to capture the audience lead buyers are now searching for.

By: Jay Conners
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.

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 don’t 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 didn’t. 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!Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com a mortgage resource site.

Sharon Hassler gives some great incite with her top 10 list of Steps to Finding the Best Mortgage Lead Companies. If you would like to read the entire article you can visit her site at http://www.blogaea.com/telemarketinglists/10-steps-to-finding-the-best-mortgage-leads-companies/


1. Does the mortgage leads company seem reputable?
2. Where do the leads come from?
3. How many times do they sell or recycle the same lead?
4. How about exclusive mortgage leads?
5. Can you cherry pick or filter your mortgage leads?
6. Is there a guarantee?
7. How much will each mortgage lead cost?
8. What exactly is your financial commitment?
9. Set aside a block of time to research companies.
10. Where do you find mortgage leads companies?

Saw a great article on Leadpoint Vs. Root Exchange on http://morinsight.com/about/ it goes into some nice detail as to the advantages and disadvantages of each platform. One of the main disadvantages people have told me is that some of us can get caught up in the bidding process. Those smaller brokers might be willing to hike up the price $50-$55 per lead but the larger brokers working on volume tend to bid around $35 therefore their lead volume might suffer. If anyone has direct experience with these companies we would be interested in your opinion

Thanks
Greg