Being a loan officer, are you looking to build relationship with realtors? Have you been told by other loan officers to be cautious about realtors? Have you ever felt being snubbed by real estate agents when tried to approach them?

It is essential for a loan officer to have diverse relationships to get the maximum number of 1003 application form. However, there are various loan officers who are averse to work with real estate agents for some reason or the other. This article is a guideline for all the loan officers to create a solid and long term relationship with realtors and making the most out of it.

It starts with finding the agents and their bio data. There are various ways to get information about realtors and the kind of work they have been doing. Off lately, Linked In has emerged as best and most sought after platform to do this exercise. Linked In is a social platform for professionals where they upload their profiles. Loan officers who are looking for good agents to be their partner should start with this as it will give them knowledge about agent’s past and based on that information they can come up with more potent strategy to approach real estate agents.

Once you have made the list of realtors you should be targeting and approaching to be your business partner, next step is approaching them in an effective way. Bear in mind, a real estate agent is approached by approximately twenty loan officers in a week. How will you stand out? Here are some tips:

·         Your first call should not sound like a sales call. Do not dig deeper in the first conversation, keep it simple and make it more like an introductory call.

·         Write down on the paper before making a call that how you can create value for the agent and why it is beneficial for him to work for you.

·         No matter how impressive is your track record and for how many years you have given to this field, no one have enough time to listen to your rant. Create a precise and to-the-point version of your profile.

·         “Practice makes a man perfect”. Make sure you are impressively eloquent when it comes talking about key benefits of forging a partnership with you.

·         Be a good listener: communication is not just an art of speaking but an art of listening also. You will come across various realtors who want to talk a lot. Treat them the way they want to be treated.

·         Do not forget to give him your mortgage website address. Website, if made well, can do wonder for you. Moreover, setting up a website is no more a chore since the inception of mortgage website templates.

·         Another effective way to start communication with realtor is email. Send them an introductory email and set up a time for telephonic conversation. 

In today’s era of technology, irrespective of the scale of business, what connects it to rest of the world is “website”. Unfortunately, while some businesses have made fortunes out of it; others have witnessed a disaster. Website design is the key factor behind success and failure of every website. This article will highlight some web designing ingredients that can make or break the mortgage website.Web content: it is all about creating a value for the visitor and content is key in this regard. People visit websites to find the information they are looking for; therefore make sure there is ample information for visitor which could easily be fathomed. For instance, if you have a reverse mortgage websites, make sure content essentially is about reverse mortgage. Other than information, content’s presentation has to be very good. Poor spelling and grammar mistakes will make bad impression of a website.

Website’s compatibility with browsers: there are myriad of browsers around. Website must be designed in a way to be compatible with at least all the famous browsers. All the users do not happen to be tech savvy; they either do not have the enough time to upgrade the browser or download new one or they simply do not know how to do it. They follow the simple rule “as long as it’s working; no need to fix it”.  A brilliantly designed website must work with major browsers like Microsoft internet explorer, Firefox, opera and Netscape at least.

Photos and graphics: studies have shown that if a web page takes more than 10 seconds to load; visitor will switch to another website. Therefore, be extremely cautious about the about the size of graphic files and photos on the web page.

Multimedia: multimedia consists of video and audio clips, background music, pictures and flash movies. A good website is the one that cater both kinds of visitors; those who want to see all this and those who do not want to.

Creating a text of the information given in multimedia for those who do not want to see multimedia is also a great facility for the visitor. Also, if a plug in is required provide a link. Last but never the least; never forget the “ten seconds rule”.

Navigation of the site: studies have shown that if a visitor does not found the required information within three clicks; will click away. We can call it the “three click rule”. Ensure that visitor reaches to required area within three clicks from any other area of the website. Navigation becomes more significant in case of residential mortgage websites.

Conclusion: a best website is the one that saves the visitor’s time and provides the relevant information. A website that does it well will certainly lead to success.

Article Resource: http://imortgagesites.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/ingredients-of-brilliantly-designed-mortgage-website/

Forewords:
Launching a business on internet through website and yielding good results from that website is a laborious task that requires proper homework and lots of efforts. The task becomes more laborious and tough when it comes to representing a complicated and fickle business like mortgage consultancy on internet.I personally know various mortgage professionals who are struggling with their mortgage websites and worst is they have been unable to find the reason. This article will elaborate 5 most common mistakes that mortgage professionals make and have their money sunk.

1) Do not be a “BULL”:
yes, you read it right. Do not be a fighting bull who knows nothing but to attack the bullfighter. Websites do not work that way. Just the way you would or you had dealt with your new office in other state and prepared all the cash outflows and forecasted the inflows; websites of your mortgage consultancy needs the same attention. Hence, keep your expectations real and prepare the “ROI” and other necessary forecasting.

2) No subscription option:
let me explain this to you by drawing an analogy. Would you say good-bye a mortgage-seeker visiting your office first time without having his contact information and other important details? Never! Same way, how can you let the visitor visiting your mortgage website first time go without getting his important details.

Subscription option should be, least to say, ubiquitous on the website. You should leave no stone unturned to make sure that every visitor subscribed with the website. Whether having subscription option on every page or by offering the subscribers something exceptional; make it your top priority.

3) Inertia is equal to disaster:
is the mortgage industry in state of inertia? Definitely not! Then how come your website is inert? Speculations and news are inherent part of mortgage industry and that makes it extremely unstable and changeable. If you want your website to be the perfect representation of your business, makes sure you add new things on regular basis.

Opt for the option of buying mortgage website templates as it will make you more autonomous and you can add new content easily.

4) Neglecting the post website-creation work:
no matter how wonderful and classy website looks or how amazing functionalities it has; absence of proper marketing plan will never take it places.

I will go even bit far and say that vigorous marketing campaign is more important on cyberspace as competition is tougher. Therefore, pay proper attention to this aspect. Search engine optimization activities that you may have found clerical and not so importance are paramount and can be the make or break point.

5) Not keeping up with latest developments:
cyber space is extremely dynamic and always on evolution. Old techniques and methods, on regular basis, are being replaced by the new and contemporary ones. Therefore, make sure you have an eye on all the latest developments and innovations.

For instance, I know various mortgage brokers who think social media is for fun stuff and cannot be taken seriously. They are in dire need to understand that it can do wonder to your website and business. Another example could be growing trends of buying templates and neglecting the custom mortgage websites.

Article Resource: http://imortgagesites.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/mortgage-website-not-working-you-must-be-committing-one-of-these-5-mistakes/

Marketing of a mortgage website and bringing traffic on it is certainly an enduring and difficult task. I have met various mortgage professionals in state of shock and surprise that creating a website is not even equal to getting half of the job done.

What many brokers fail to realize is that setting up a website is one thing and generating leads through website is a different ballgame altogether. Let me draw an analogy to simplify it for you. Does setting up a posh office in best locality of city guarantees you lots of clients? NO. In spite of all the money you have spent on that office; there is still a dire need of using personal contacts and launching a vibrant marketing campaign to let people know about your business and services. A website works the same way. No matter how much you have invested in the process of creating it and how fantastic is the product; strenuous marketing efforts are required to yield the desired ROI of mortgage website.

The spectrum of activities to market the website is too broad. There are unlimited marketing techniques, methods and strategies. In this article, I will highlight a relatively economical and quite effective method of marketing a mortgage website without having you paying thousands of dollars monthly fees to the webmaster which is “social media marketing”.

Social media is still being underestimated in mortgage industry. Many of my broker colleagues feel social media is the play stuff and something for non-serious activities. But let me tell you, if done well; it can do wonder for you. Rest of the article will be about a tried and tested plan to launch a highly effective and economical social media marketing campaign.

Do not open too many fronts in the beginning:

Social media is not just about face book and twitter anymore. Over the last few years, various other platforms have been introduced. I would suggest start with face book and twitter as they are the most popular ones. Once your presence has been established there, then go for other platforms. It’s also important to figure out which social media platform is pertinent to your services and it starts with identifying the target market. If you have reverse mortgage website, figure out at which platform you can find maximum of your target market.

Is it all about We-We?

Your social media activities should not smack of narcissism and arrogance. Keep it easy, light, Informative and entertaining. Intersperse your social media content with industry information and other important development and analysis on mortgage industry.

Is it one-way traffic?

The biggest benefit of social media is the interaction opportunities it provides. Be quick in your response to the queries of social media group. In the ends, it’s not about you but about the potential clients. In some cases, interaction holds utmost importance. For example, if you have a residential mortgage website; your target market will be the people buying home first time or buying second time after ages when their knowledge about mortgage has been faded. In this situation, you are likely to be engulfed with questions from mortgage seekers and timely answer will enhance their trust on you.

Article Resource: http://imortgagesites.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/highly-effective-mortgage-marketing-plan-for-mortgage-professionals-on-budget/

There is no dearth of articles and tutorials on internet teaching and convincing mortgage professionals to have a website for the online marketing of their business, and tips to have the best website. Yet, I have come across various mortgage brokers whining on the ROI of their website, in spite of paying hefty amount to webmasters. 

The problem with most of the webmasters is that they fail to understand the difference between mortgage website and any other website. This article will tell you how website to market the mortgage distinct from websites representing other businesses. 

Key thing is "BUILDING RELTIONSHIP":

Home is something people are emotionally attached to and buying a home is quite a sentimental procedure for the people, and this is where various websites get it wrong. Website for mortgage - indeed the ultimate purpose is to generate sales - should have a look and feel as it intends to serve and inform the visitors. Below are the 3 tips to have a website to create a strong and potent relationship with the visitors. 

1) Firstly, try to make the visitors realize that you work for them rather than the financial institutions. Since mortgage industry is replete with difficult jargons and a lot of difficult calculations help them increase their knowledge about mortgage industry and keep on coming up with different options and solutions for them. 
Avoid the aggressive and intrusive marketing also. Refrain from the words like "hurry up" and "before it’s too late". Let visitors have their time and tell them you are always there for them.

Another way, now a day, to increase the credibility of websites is social media presence. Social media platforms like face book and twitter are rage and certainly best way to convey business news and information to maximum number of people. 

2) For most important decision of the life, client can get skeptical about whether to rely on website or not as it lacks physical existence. Therefore, mortgage website should have pictures, complete profiles and phone numbers of mortgage professionals. 
Another way to increase the credibility of website these days is creating social media profiles of the entire mortgage team. 
Upload the written testimony of previous clients and if possible, upload their video message talking about your services and how you helped them to opt for best mortgage option. 

3) A website is not just about providing information to visitors but responding to their questions and queries and also indispensable. A common mistake is mortgages brokers take "ASK A QUESTION" option on their website for granted and rarely check the questions asked by the visitors. Lack of technical knowledge would withhold mortgage professionals to interact with visitors as they were dependant on webmasters to make even a slightest of change in website. However, custom mortgage websites have resolved this issue to a great extent and now brokers are relatively in great control on website. Frequent interaction with visitors is essential to make sure website generate leads and yield expected result. 

Conclusion:

just like the conventional mortgage business, success of mortgage website lies in building a trustworthy and strong relationship with the clients and prospects. And in order to get that kind of website, you - the mortgage professional - have to be in maximum control. Buying mortgage website templates is certainly the best way around to enjoy the maximum autonomy.