Two businesses are offering mortgage leads for free, while several other companies are touting services that improve conversions and productivity.
A new mortgage lead service announced last month by Home-Account Inc. is paid for by lead prospects. The borrower is qualified online, then presented with the best options. Only one lender is chosen by the prospect.
“There is no lead-generation, no commission and no expense for the lender to participate,” Home-Account explained. “The lender is introduced to the pre-qualified current or prospective homeowner and given 48 hours to make contact. The customer then goes through the bank’s normal origination process.”
Kelly Media Group is giving away 10 Internet leads valued at $350 with every $1,000 order, a news release today said. The offer, which runs until May 15, applies to Internet mortgage leads and loan modification leads for all voice broadcasting campaigns targeting loan workout, refinance and FHA prospects.
“The free lead offer is exclusively for ‘press 1’ live transfer lead packages and direct mail marketing campaigns,” Kelly stated.
Buyers of leads from the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace will no longer need to wade through a cumbersome process to obtain leads. Leads360 Inc. and LoanSifter Inc. have teamed up to provide an automated system for originators to retrieve Zillow leads.
Zillow leads are automatically sent to the originators and stored on Leads360’s system for lead management. LoanSifter provides the price quotes for Zillow loan prospects. The alliance improves originators’ capacity and turnaround, enabling them to “transform Zillow into a major source of business.”
Los Angeles-based LeadPoint announced last week that it has hired Gina Anastasi as its chief operating officer. In addition, Dr. Ben Zamanzadeh was hired as vice president of engineering and Brian Walby was recruited as vice president of voice sales
LeadPoint, which claims to be “the world’s first and largest leads exchange marketplace,” said in March that it launched the LeadClass Quality Scoring System — which it claims is the first of its kind. The new system analyzes historical performance factors such as return rates, buyer feedback and random sampling. Leads are then placed in one of three pricing categories based on the likelihood a prospective borrower can be reached.
MortgageDaily.com advertiser LendingTree issued a statement last month highlighting its recently launched services for FHA leads and reverse mortgage leads. The Charlotte, N.C.-based firm also touted its simplified, “cutting-edge” filter technology — which it claims provides lenders a more streamlined approach to customer targeting.
Two weeks earlier, LendingTree Chief Financial Officer Matt Packey reported that falling mortgage rates and ongoing governmental stimulus efforts combined with its cost-cutting efforts would likely lead to better first-quarter earnings than previously projected. Should conditions remain favorable, LendingTree expects to boost its marketing budget.
The program guidelines of another MortgageDaily.com advertiser, AllRegs, have been incorporated into Leadmark, a March press release indicated. Leadmark — which costs between $150 and $450 a month depending on volume — provides access to a lead aggregator, dozens of generators and lead management tools.
Mortech, which owns Leadmark, said last month that its Marksman offering has been enhanced with customer relationship management features including personalized e-mail campaigns. In addition, the service now includes an interactive live communication tool that enables lenders to view and recover unworked leads.