Be Smart about HARP: Guidelines for Marketers to Maximize ROI
Posted on Wed, Nov 16, 2011 @ 01:22 PM
"Start with the end in mind." That quote serves as a guideline for good strategy, efficient time management and in this case...strong ROI. In today's blog, we'll provide marketing tips to help you originate loans under new Home Affordable Refinance Program, better known as HARP, which was announced on November 15, 2011. The key is to start by targeting HARP prospects that will sail through underwriting and close quickly.
The Starting Point - Managing Response
Many consumers who are underwater on mortgages are eager to refinance but have not been able to - even under the prior HARP program. Direct mail and other marketing programs for the new HARP program should have very high responses.
The prospect of strong response may elicit groans from loan officers and production teams. Those complaints are because they experienced high fallout or non-qualification of prospects from the previous program, primarily because of LTV (loan to value) or credit issues. The new program virtually removes the LTV limitation, so the biggest obstacle is gone. Plus, Tranzact Information Services (TIS) has a simple solution that identifies consumers that are highly likely to qualify under the new guidelines:
For HARP prospects, look for:
1. Very good mortgage payment history.
2. Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac must be the investor in the current loan.
3. The current mortgage must have been originated on or before June 1, 2009.
4. A consumer with a credit score that meets your lenders' guidelines.
(Check the Fannie Mae announcement from 11.15.11 for full details.)
Tranzact Information Services (TIS) offers acquisition lists, data, appends and real-time scoring for all these criteria. Plus the data can be pulled in one pass from all three credit bureaus from TIS' Intelidata Express platform, to maximize the available universe.
Try Lead Screening and Scoring to Identify the Quality Leads
Consumers are already running searches on the Internet to learn more about the program. While some mortgage companies may market using only keywords, spending $10 or more per lead, many respondents will be unqualified. That's true even with leads purchased from outside sources. The key is to take advantage of the media coverage in the next few months to create urgency, yet identify and target only those able to truly qualify. Let other companies sort through inbound response and spend valuable loan officer time speaking to prospects that will not qualify. Focus on outbound mail, outbound telemarketing, or even a component servicer armed with a list of qualified prospects. If you do rely on inbound leads, use a professional lead screening company, such as Tranzact Information Services to score the lead for the "best eligibility" for HARP or other mortgage products, and route the lead to the appropriate loan officer.
Where Can You Find the Most Qualified Prospects and Instantly Run Counts?
Tranzact Information Services, with 15+ years of experience providing mortgage data for marketing, has solutions to identify the best HARP prospects using our Intelidata Express platform.
Get FREE Counts Today
Simply call 800-488-9113 or complete the "contact us" form and we'll set up a demo of Intelidata Express and run counts for your market area, for HARP or any mortgage program.
The End...At Last
If you "start with the end in mind" you will see that good strategy and smart targeting can kick off an efficient and profitable loan origination process. Before you go...consider signing up for our free blog, which covers best practices in financial services marketing.
