When I was young, G.I. Joe® and Barbie® dolls were all the rage. We often engaged them in pretend drama on our family room floor against the imaginary forces of evil or in building relationships. So, it was a great treat for all of us during the NFL season to see the Rocket Mortgage® commercial that included Barbie in a home buying battle that represents the real world for today’s borrowers.
The Rocket bowl game commercial is a great example of the confluence of the online real estate search and mortgage experience. And this is the real play for lenders who intend to lead in the purchase money market. In our InFocus article this month, Senior Partner Garth Graham makes the case for mortgage lenders to move their marketing efforts to the top of the funnel by incorporating real estate search, real estate research, real estate referral partners and the lender’s financing offers into a single online ecosystem for the convenience of the buyer. STRATMOR contends that lenders have an opportunity to engage earlier in the borrower relationship by becoming part of the new way consumers search for, select, and buy their new home.
In 2020 and 2021, originators could barely take a step without tripping over a loan, but lately, those loans have become a lot harder to come by. Now that the “hunt” is on, are LOs looking in the right places for new business? In his April Customer Experience Tip, STRATMOR Group’s CX Director Mike Seminari discusses the two major misconceptions that originators have in the hunt for new business and suggests three places that originators should look to find customers. Don’t miss, “Are Originators Looking in the Right Places in the Hunt for New Business?”
Thank you for joining us this month. Lenders, if you need help with the purchase environment, STRATMOR is here. Reach out to us today to find out how we can help you provide an integrated online environment to attract new borrowers.
We’re living in a mad world. I don’t just say that because I’m writing this as we come out of March Madness, when literally anything can happen and often does. I say it because if you are a lender or, for that matter, a real estate agent, you’ve been working in a frenzied and chaotic business for at least the last two years.
Traditionally, we could predict how our business might change, or could see the changes coming. Sometimes, we were surprised when we were forced to change by regulators. In the last two years, we have experienced huge change, driven by a (hopefully) once in a lifetime pandemic. But today, the big change is coming from the consumer. Lenders who realize this, focus on what is really changing and why, and then take action that will set themselves up to grow during a trending cycle where most lenders will not.
Part of this story is about the opportunity to redefine the balance of power between lenders and real estate agents when it comes to influencing a borrower’s lending choice. Maybe, instead of exerting copious amounts of effort trying to resurrect waning real estate partner relationships (when they have not heard from a loan officer for the better part of the last two years), it’s time for a new strategy.
Lenders have an opportunity, thanks to the changes we are seeing in consumer behavior, to engage in the borrower relationship from the very beginning of the process. Now is the time for lenders to incorporate real estate search, real estate research, real estate referral partners and the lender’s financing offers into a single online ecosystem for the convenience of the buyer.
And we have borrower Barbie® trying to buy her dream home in this competitive market to show us how this could work.
Originators could barely take a step in 2020-21 without tripping over a loan, but lately, those loans have become a lot harder to come by. Now that the “hunt” is on, are LOs looking in the right places for new business?
STRATMOR Group offers a suite of data products and mortgage advisory services to power your performance–including industry-specific studies. Get the data driven advantage!
Shifting from refinance to purchase business will be significant change for CD lenders who have trained their staff and optimized their processes for refinance transactions. STRATMOR Sr. Partner Garth Graham digs into the changes CD lenders need to make to have success in a purchase market.
STRATMOR Principal Tom Finnegan analyzes data indicating lenders would do better to worry less about missing out on the newest technology and concentrate more on giving technology context through process and adoption.
By all accounts, the buzzword for mortgage lenders headed into 2022 is growth. In our meetings at the most recent Mortgage Bankers Association Annual Convention, virtually every lender we spoke to said that their number one priority for 2022 was to achieve growth.
Recently, Brett McCracken and I discussed technology innovations. Blockchain and eClose advancements were at the top of our topic list. These discussions reminded me of a time early in my mortgage career when I led a sales team for a mortgage software company.
What a ride the last two years have been in the mortgage industry! In this article, STRATMOR Senior Partner Jim Cameron uncovers the trends and challenges lenders are facing as the mortgage industry moves into a “classic down cycle” market in 2022.
Shifting from refinance to purchase business will be significant change for CD lenders who have trained their staff and optimized their processes for refinance transactions. STRATMOR Sr. Partner Garth Graham digs into the changes CD lenders need to make to have success in a purchase market.
Feel free to reach out with any questions or needs we might be able to help with.
