Lead Generation Techniques

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA) announced Wednesday that a new training initiative is now available for industry professionals interested in enhancing consumer relationships and advancing homebuyer education. The free-of-charge program called Creating New Customers will train mortgage brokers and other loan originators to lead consumer workshops across the nation.

“Creating New Customers has a dual purpose leading toward one unified goal,” said Dan Thoms, MBA’s vice president of education and business development, in the announcement. “By educating consumers on the home-buying process and enhancing the originator’s knowledge of consumer concerns, the program will help more Americans across the country realize the dream of homeownership.”

MBA said its educational arm, CampusMBA, will conduct 50 sessions nationwide, in which mortgage professionals will be given tools such as a CD-ROM packed with customizable materials and consumer brochures, and receive direction on how to conduct consumer homebuyer education seminars. Each session, with some available in Spanish, will last approximately three hours.

Every professional that attends the training program will be expected to deliver one homebuyer education seminar within one year of completing the course, MBA said.

Option One Mortgage Corp., sponsor of Creating New Customers, said in the announcement that it believes “that through this program, many consumers will receive the tools they need to become successful homeowners and that the mortgage professionals attending the classes will gain new insights into the value they can add to this most important consumer experience.”

One avenue that has reportedly been generating mortgage traffic is one offered by Myers Internet Inc., a self-proclaimed leading provider of technology and marketing solutions to the mortgage industry. The San Jose, Calif.-based company said it launched a new Web site product a few months ago that enables marketing to the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) segment.

With the new service, originators can post FSBO home listings and open house schedules, as well as easily upload pictures to showcase the property, add links to virtual tours and provide detailed property descriptions, according to company CEO Warren Myers.

“Mortgage originators using this product have been even able to find buyers for the homes that are listed on their websites” as each listing can generate as many as 20 to 50 leads, the executive said. Originators are continually pre-qualifying prospective homebuyers, he added, and also have the opportunity to originate a mortgage for the next home the seller is looking to buy.

Myers said it also offers a subscription service that provides the name, phone number and address of new FSBO listings daily, eliminating the time-consuming process of searching through newspapers, the Internet and magazines.

The FSBO Web site can be setup within a week, Myers reported, and training is offered to learn how to upload listings.