Mortgage brokers and loan officers often rely on free mortgage internet leads to grow their businesses. The issue may be that some leads are not qualified or vetted and are significantly less likely to result in a genuine opportunity to liaise with interested homebuyers and discuss how you can meet their requirements.
In short, a mortgage lead could be a shared lead circulated to multiple businesses, agents, and professionals; an unqualified lead, where the customer’s intent hasn’t been checked or verified; or low-quality leads, which are less worth your time following up on.
Today, we’ll clarify the different types of mortgage leads you might encounter and the characteristics to look for that offer assurance that leads represent great prospects for conversion.
Which Sources Can Mortgage Leads Originate From?
A mortgage lead is a homebuyer or other borrower, such as a business, who has expressed an interest in mortgage financing. Leads can come from multiple sources, including:
- Advertisement responses
- Website contact form submissions
- Referrals from associates or business partners
- Mortgage lead databases that incur a cost
The value and quality of the leads you receive will differ between sources. Direct referrals may also be unsuitable if there isn’t a process in place to gauge the homebuyer’s intent before passing on the lead.
How does Insurance Pro Agencies provide free mortgage leads? We utilize a tried and tested lead generation system, which ensures that we and our partners achieve simultaneous business growth, assisted by comprehensive lead nurture guidance to explain the best way to approach each lead to optimize revenues.
Is it Worth Buying Paid Mortgage Leads?
While we’re focused on free leads, it’s also important to explain that some brokers and loan officers might choose to pay for leads, which can have pros and cons.
- Paid leads differ substantially in quality and value. While pre-vetted leads might be a surer way to make a sale, the cost of buying leads is often prohibitive, particularly for smaller businesses without the budget to invest.
- Free leads can be accessed through your sales funnel if you have the time and expertise to develop this, or they might reach you through partners and referral schemes.
Insurance Pro Agencies runs a specially developed referral program, and we commonly consult with ambitious loan officers unsure how to get free mortgage leads that are both highly targeted to the products and services they can offer but that far eclipse the low quality they might expect from other sources.
Our high-intent mortgage leads are provided free of charge, based on our collaborative mutual growth model, developed to assist retail lenders and loan officers looking to scale their businesses.
What Are the Best Types of Mortgage Leads?
Mortgage leads can be loosely grouped into the following categories:
Shared Versus Exclusive Mortgage Leads
Leads passed to more than one business are less valuable because the homebuyer will be contacted by multiple officers or brokers, all offering comparable products or services. These leads can also be tricky because a consumer being contacted several times a day might find the volume of communication disruptive, reducing the potential that you will be able to close a deal.
In contrast, an exclusive lead is passed only to you, with all the information you need to make a personalized approach to further explore the customer’s requirements.
Qualified Versus Unqualified Mortgage Leads
Unqualified leads are rarely viable since they may not have shown any specific interest or might not yet be able to proceed with a mortgage agreement. Qualified leads are the opposite–they refer to leads expecting to purchase a mortgage product in the immediate future and actively looking for solutions or products that match their expectations.
High-Quality Versus Low-Quality Mortgage Leads
Finally, high-quality leads are always desirable. You might define ‘quality’ as a homebuyer lead looking for a mortgage borrowing product above a certain value or within your trading area, but the better the quality of the lead, the more likely it is to be an excellent business prospect.
The key takeaway is that free mortgage leads can add tremendous value–provided that the source of your leads is an established, reputable partner who offers leads who have shown a clear interest in the types of products you offer and who meet all your core client criteria!
