Very few people have enough money saved to buy a home outright. The vast majority of home buyers rely on loans to fund real estate. In May 2021, the median price of a home in the United States reached $287,148. Of course, the properties in many cities have much higher prices.
Given the consumer need for home loans, brokers and agencies have a significant opportunity to earn more money by arranging this financing. Before you can profit, though, you need reliable ways to generate leads for home loans.
The following article will explain some of the most effective options to identify and communicate with potential buyers in your area who will soon need home loans.
Use Content Marketing That Targets Your Audience
Content marketing serves three purposes. It educates readers about a specific topic (home loans in this case), establishes you as an industry leader, and gently nudges people to contact you about starting the home loan process.
Content marketing works best when you target your communications to a specific audience. Luckily, you already have access to plenty of data that will help you craft messages that appeal to prospective home buyers.
According to the National Association of REALTORS Research Group 2021 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report, 97 percent of home buyers 40 years and younger rely on financing to purchase their properties.
The percentage starts to fall gradually as people age and presumably accumulate more wealth. From 66 to 74 years old, the percentage drops to 69. At 75 years of age and older, only 54 percent of buyers use financing.
You have opportunities to generate leads for home loans regardless of a person’s age. It makes sense, however, to concentrate your efforts on younger people. Nearly all of them need mortgages, so more of them will respond to your content marketing.
Improve Your Website’s Search Engine Ranking
When people want to learn more about the home buying process, most of them turn to search engines for information.
Do not assume that having a website means you will generate leads for home loans. If your site doesn’t get listed on the first page of search results, it doesn’t even exist for most people.
Ideally, you want your website to become the first result that search engine users see. Why? Because over 25 percent of people click the top result. After that, the number of clicks falls rapidly.
- In second place, expect about 15.7 percent of people to visit your site.
- In third place, the percentage drops to 11.
- In fourth place, you only get 8.0 percent of clicks.
By the time you reach the tenth position, you can only count on 2.5 percent of internet users to visit your site.
When more people come to your site, you increase your odds of turning them into leads for home loans.
You can hire a professional to audit your site and make search engine optimization (SEO) improvements. In the meantime, make sure you:
- Write content that includes local keywords home buyers use when searching the internet.
- Include metadata that helps search engines understand what information your pages offer.
- Publish independent content that other brokers will want to link to.
- Create a sitemap that helps web crawlers find all of your pages.
- Stay active on social media and include CTAs in your posts that encourage people to visit your site.
There isn’t a magic solution for improving your site’s rank. Don’t feel discouraged, though. It takes time for search engines to recognize the improvements you’ve made.
Content With Home Buyers Through Social Media Platforms
A lot of people probably think that they have to go to a bank to get a mortgage. Your social media accounts give you an excellent way to reach people and tell them about other options.
Personal stories often work well on social media. Tell others about how a couple came to you with questions about buying a house. Explain that you can act as a broker able to lend them money to purchase the home of their dreams.
Don’t forget to add pictures. Most people respond emotionally to visuals. Plus, the pictures provide proof that you really helped someone.
Always include a call to action in your social media posts. You’ll generate more leads for home loans just by telling people to contact you.
Put Artificial Intelligence to Work for You
Some leads for home loans come from people who want to refinance their existing mortgages. Others come from current owners who want to upgrade to a nicer home or move into a more expensive neighborhood.
This is where artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a significant boon for your business.
You can’t wade through millions of data points to find people in your area who may want to refinance or sell their homes within the next several months. AI can!
ProspectNow’s algorithm reviews public information to look for signs that someone might soon need a home loan. Someone struggling to make payments, for instance, might need to refinance to lower their monthly costs. Someone who just added a new child to their family might need to buy a larger house.
When ProspectNow flags someone as a potential lead, you can reach out to that person to offer your services. The residential database includes a lot of addresses and phone numbers, so you can take the approach you feel will work best. You might slowly nurture the lead by sending postcards that cover your lending services. You can also take a more aggressive approach by calling the person and offering to help.
Since you have a head start on other brokers in your area, there is a good chance that you will capture and convert more leads.
Get Started With ProspectNow!
Don’t let your competitors generate leads for home loans before you have an opportunity. Start your free trial with ProspectNow so you can experience how the process works. When you have data on your side, you can expect to attract more business.