The July 2019 edition of 3Points with UWM President & CEO Mat Ishbia, covers major changes at the VA, significant updates from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and potential FHA enhancements.

By Pat Sherlock, Founder QFS Sales Solutions

Recently, an originator asked me for advice about changing lenders, citing three issues:

Homebot, a customer engagement platform that delivers financial scenarios to help homeowners build wealth, today announced major enhancements to the homebuying side of its platform. The latest release inserts lenders into the market search process by integrating prompts for buyers to obtain a prequal or preapproval, lock a rate, and inquire about down payment with a single click. And, to instill a sense of urgency, future buyers can see how their buying power has changed over time as well as which markets best match their lifestyle, price point, and buying timeline.

"The market explorer includes several natural conversation starters and instant LO contact to propel buyers toward next steps. Coupled with the enhanced personalization and lifestyle indicators that show the buyer's goals and timeline, LOs can work smart and focus on the buyers that are ready to apply," said Homebot CEO Ernie Graham.

"Homebot has had years of proven success in driving repeat and referral business from our borrowers," said Wes Tool, Retail Branch Manager, Planet Home Lending. "Now, Homebot's buyer tools give our LOs the ability to nurture new relationships earlier in the buying process. This is a powerful tool to help boost the prequal-to-app pull through rate, and to help buyers make smart buying decisions."

Once an LO adds their database of potential clients to Homebot, buyers can search and assess markets with confidence -- using investor-level tools. Homebot reveals in real-time whether an area is a buyer's or seller's market, sets expectations on buying timeline for each area, and tracks purchasing power based on current mortgage rates.

Dear Brian,
I love your articles in the Mortgage Leader but I am a bit confused. Everyone continues to tell me that I need to be generating deals from social media and other online methods. But you continue to advocate mailing to people and I am wondering why since it seems to be more expensive and less effective when I have tried it?
Alan G. Pennsylvania

[caption id="attachment_11630" align="alignright" width="185"] Brian Sacks[/caption]

Dear Alan,
Thanks so much for a great question.

I advocate direct mail simply because it works. Look at your own mailbox and I am sure you would agree that you get less physical mail then you did 10 or even 3 or 5 years ago.

But instead of being negative it’s actually a positive since your mailing has more of a chance of being opened and not lost in a big pile.

Let me break down the 3 biggest mistakes that most of us make when doing a physical mailing. Hopefully you will be able to identify why your campaigns aren’t working and be able to correct them.

1. Mailing to the wrong people.
You must have a very targeted list and make sure that what you are offering is congruent with list you are mailing to. For example, if you are mailing to a 55 and over neighborhood with an offer for first time buyer grant programs your mailing will fail because of this mismatch.

2. You only mail once and then determine it was a success or failure.                                 I am famous for asking “Who gets married on the first date?”
   If you have a budget of 1000 most people will mail one piece to 1000 people at a cost of one dollar a piece.However, it’s much more effective to instead narrow the list down to 330 people and mail 3 pieces to those same 330 people each 10 days apart.

3. Wrong Call To Action.
This is usually the biggest error. Most mailings are asking the recipient to call you. But the problem is that they don’t yet know and even worse, they certainly don’t yet trust you.
Instead, what I do is send them to a website to download a free report. That makes them comfortable that you are legitimate and will provide them with valuable information.