<!–[if !supportLists]–>1.      <!–[endif]–>Think like a winner. The first and foremost thing you can do is to get and stay motivated in 2011. The economy, the war, the bad news on TV…all these things get you down, but it’s more important to think about the things that keep you afloat. Focus on your past successes and future goals. Take a deep breath and go to work with the attitude that you are going to make things happen. Confidence is your main weapon in the battle against desperation, so don’t let yourself get down.<!–[if !supportLists]–>2.      <!–[endif]–>Focus on products that sell. There are a hundred or so niche markets out there right now that are absolutely flowing with cash for some people and dry as a bone for others. Sell what you sell best and don’t waste time on things you can’t move out the door. Expand your market for these products and watch your business grow.<!–[if !supportLists]–>3.      <!–[endif]–>Subsidize your cash flow with government spending. Obama has allocated a trillions dollars in funds to help bail our nation out. If you target the recipients of this money,  you have a great chance at getting your hands on a chunk of that change without filling out all the paperwork.<!–[if !supportLists]–>4.      <!–[endif]–>Keep track of your results. Measure response rates, evaluate your campaigns effectiveness and adjust accordingly. If you are careful about how much you spend and how you approach your marketing, you can save and make money in ways you never imagined. Eliminate non-performing campaigns and redouble your performing ones.<!–[if !supportLists]–>5.      <!–[endif]–>Connect with your customers. Employ a CRM or Customer Relationship Management package. This will keep track of your customers personal information, order history and other valuable details. Having this information on hand can help you build rapport and strengthen your relationship by showing that you know your customer. Face to face meetings show your interest, but a good phone call once in a while won’t hurt either. Keep a personal note or two about your client as well. If you are on the phone, and they say they are having a baby, jot it down in the notes section of your CRM. It might land you a sale later if you ask how the baby is doing.<!–[if !supportLists]–>6.      <!–[endif]–>Expand your market with new leads. There are a ton of great leads out there that haven’t been sold yet and they are waiting for YOU! Remember to use your leads wisely, also. If you buy a telemarketing list with address information, hit the same leads with a mailer. It will cost you a little more in the long run, but you’ll get an extra half to one percent return, which is well worth the added expense.

If you are looking for solutions to the challenges described above, be sure to visit our homepage http://www.bestratereferrals.com. We offer many direct marketing products and services including leads, lists, mailers, telemarketing training, live transfers and more. FQ2BS5VX9AKB

A lot of business owners are mystified and frustrated by direct mail marketing. The fact is, small and medium businesses can benefit so much from direct mail that they can hardly afford not to market this way. If you are looking to get into direct mail or are trying to increase your success rate with an existing campaign, this article is aimed to give you the tips you need to move forward and succeed in your efforts.

First, it is most important to understand the functions of direct mail. There are several things you can do with a postal campaign, such as lead generation, clearance of old product, broadening of your market base, creating repeat business with existing customers, branding and rapport building. Think about this when organizing your marketing and ask yourself, “How can I get the most out of a single mailing?”

Second, and almost equally important, is what your advertisement itself looks like. If you have a generic looking mailer that doesn’t stick out of the pile of junk mail the potential customer is bringing into their home every day, they’ll never even see your offer. The response rate for mailers is usually in the 1.5-3% range, but if your mailer is invisible, you can bet it will be lower. Use colors that contrast but enhance the overall message of the offer. Bold, sans-serif fonts are easy to read from a distance and really stand off a page. Find a designer who can create visually appealing designs that make sense to you. Before you print, show the proof to a friend or colleague and ask their opinion without giving yours first.

Third is information hierarchy. If you are selling a $10,000.00 product, it is not often a good idea to make the price the largest part of the design. Think about the order in which the user will absorb the information you are giving them. We live in an online era where short, relevant paragraphs separated by white space are the norm, and it is what your target audience will likely be accustomed to and expect from products they buy online all the time. Mimicking the web in your designs can assist in creating a comfort not often associated with print media anymore.

Finally, you must carefully choose your mailing list. If you aren’t targeting your leads right,  you won’t even get your foot in the door. Make sure you pay close attention to your demographics both at a regional and state level. Take into account local foreclosure rates and other financial factors in the areas you target. They may be in different shape than they were just a year or two ago, so know your mailing zones. Additionally, you may consider purchasing a dialer to hit your leads twice, once in the mail and once on the phone. Often, mailing lists include data such as email addresses and telephone numbers, so make sure to ask your broker if your records will include that info.

If you follow these guidelines, your mail response rate should increase in time. Best Rate Referrals has decades of combined experience in the direct mail industry, and we put these concepts into practice every time we do a mailing of our own. We want  you to succeed and see a great return on your investment, so we provide custom tailored direct mail solutions with hand-picked lists sorted and configured to your needs. Visit our homepage for more information on mortgage direct mail or to order leads, lists, dialers, mailers, telemarketing training resources and more.

Not all leads are created equal, and understanding this concept can save (and make) you a lot of money. First, it’s important to grasp the different types of leads you can expect to come across during your marketing campaign.

Real-time leads are generated within seconds of an opt-in, which greatly increases your chance of closing a deal. When the idea and desire for your services are still fresh in the consumer’s mind, it is much easier to sell something to them. This, of course, makes real-time mortgage leads some of the most expensive leads available, but with one of the highest returns on investment.

Pre-screened leads are prospects that have been pre-qualified by a lead company’s in-house call center before they can be sold. These leads are great because the chance of getting bad lead info is virtually eliminated, saving you lots of time that you would have wasted with bogus information. Additionally, these leads are usually guaranteed to meet the criteria for a sale, and this can increase the chance of landing a deal. These are sometimes referred to as “verified leads”.

Aged leads are time stamped data that is usually sold as 30, 60 or 90 days old. These leads are much less reliable than the leads above, but are also cheaper, allowing you to tap a broader demographic without breaking the bank. Often, lead companies will recycle these leads, having purchased them for a few pennies cheaper than they intend to sell them. When this is the case, there is often not a time stamp associated with the information, and these leads have generally been contacted several times already.

Exclusive leads are sold only to one or a very limited number of clients, usually under 3. Some lead companies twist their verbage, however, to allow them to sell these “exclusive” leads up to 10 times in some cases. Be sure to ask your lead broker what their policy on exclusive leads is, because it is not often a good idea to call a customer who has already received several similar offers in a short period of time.

Be cautious about dealing with larger lead companies, as they oftentimes have fine print allowing them to sell you short on what you are buying. Be sure to deal with a trusted company that puts a lead buyer’s interest first, rather than relying on bulk business. When your broker treats you well, be sure to stick with them, as a good lead broker is hard to come by these days. Sometimes, it is a good idea to look for companies that offer more than just leads. A well rounded direct marketing company Usually, these types of businesses practice what they preach and won’t sell you leads they wouldn’t use themselves. Still, it may be a good idea to start with a smaller sampling of leads when you are trying a new company to see what the quality of their data is like, but remember that small campaigns, especially in direct mail, can generate false positives in your marketing reports which could cost you down the line.

Best Rate Referrals is a direct marketing company based out of Las Vegas, NV. They are partnered closely with giant Leads360, and are a full featured direct marketing firm complete with an in-house call center, print & mail department and internet marketing division. Best Rate Referrals’ owner, Ray Bartreau, has created a proprietary lead generation and verification system that harvests high-quality leads from trusted and internal sources. The conversion ratios for leads used in correctly targeted marketing campaigns are generally higher than most other lead brokers due to this system being in place. They offer free leads with many purchases and run regular specials for new and repeat customers. Visit Best Rate Referrals’ mortgage leads page for more information, or call 1-800-811-1402 for more information.

With the idea that starting a family might not be such a good idea right now, many people are settling for rentals and leases rather than outright purchases of property. American’s simply don’t want to follow in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents with such an unstable economy and volatile global political environment. A recent study showed that 9% of women with incomes less than $25,000 annually said they were likely to postpone childbirth, while only 2 percent of women earning more than $75,000 a year said they would put off having children. This can seriously defer the desire to purchase real estate, if not eliminate it completely.

For the first time in history, there is a generation of US citizens who have not seen real estate as an investment, but rather they have learned from experience that it tends to go down in value. The apex of home ownership peaked in 2004 at 64%. This was due mostly to billions of dollars of toxic assets being filtered into the mortgage industry via the Wall Street “Bubble”. Many of these products have still not been eliminated and there is much evidence of this on bank balance sheets, despite banks posting record profits this year. Nearly 20% of all loans fall into the Alt-A or subprime category, which are considered to be potentially toxic assets. As far as loan modifications are concerned, nearly half of all modified loans re-default after 90 days. This is almost to be expected, however, due to the fact that over 17% of the population is unemployed or significantly underemployed.

People are turning to new means of living in the new millennium. More and more Americans are moving in with friends, living with family, consolidating households and getting roommates. Over 1 million households have disappeared since the recession has started. This means that you can expect a lag in the housing industry and household formation in the coming years. Recent annual housing starts have seen a jump since early 2009, but homebuilders are not optimistic about trying to fill the need for new inventory. Most people will agree that there are plenty of houses to go around at the moment in the existing supply. This increase in demand is a passing phase, as it is generally regarded as “cheap money” trying to do something quickly before the next dip.

Short sales are still a big factor in today’s market, but not so much that they will affect the housing industry in a major way. Short sales simply put more inventory out, but are ultimately dominated in numbers by foreclosures. When you begin to see the foreclosure numbers stabilizing, the industry as a whole will follow suit. Option ARMs are still rampant throughout the country, with over half a million still out there. Unfortunately for lenders, nearly 35% of these adjustable rate mortgages are non-performing, leaving a big problem for banks until 2010 when many of them are set to hit their recast periods. Judging by past performance, there is little reason to believe that these loans will come through and not just turn out to be bad deals themselves. The shifting of a loan’s category is one tactic banks use to keep the number of non-performing loans off the books, but this only buys banks time and doesn’t actually improve anything.

Mortgage rates are predicted to rise in the near future due to the insanely low rates that currently are in place. Over $1 trillion dollars in mortgage back securities have recently been purchased by banks at this artificially low rate of 5%. The historical 40 year average for mortgage rates has been 8.5-9%. This is making many American re-evaluate retirement plans, opting to stay in one place and settle down rather than move around a lot like past generations. With no new home building and move up buying stagnant, it is obvious that the housing industry is in for a struggle which may affect our children quite dramatically, and could last more than a decade. Unless Wall Street is the subject of some serious reform, there is little that can change about our current situation.

Think about this for a second……We are all taking more applications now than we have in the last couple years but for most it’s the qualifying the prospects that is the issue. I talk to so many Loan Officers and Brokers a like that just throw that stuff away…….WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? Your trash is another man’s treasure and actually its a treasure to you but most just don’t know it yet.

Here is what I would be doing if I was a full time LO….

Do which ever marketing I like best and then really really WORK THE LEADS! Work the potential Refi to the bone until there is absolutely no deal there. On all the turn down leads we have all got to start helping these people. There are other ways that may require any Loan Officer to get out and network to help the homeowners in other financial ways….

I would try building relationships with other professionals in other lines of finacial services….

First- credit repair companies–I know most of them pay you a commission for the repair job and then they send you the borrower back for the loan after things are fixed. You not only go the extra mile for your client but you also make a little money on the side form the CR company.  This helps you help a client that needs it and that gives you the chance to put them in your client base for later as well as earn referrals through them.

Another example would be to learn loan modification. 9 out of 10 applications taken DO NOT qualify for a loan, so in my mind you should try and modify their loan with their current lender and make a small commission for HELPING your client. Again this was a turn down before and it could be turned into revenue and maybe even a future deal and more than likely a referral or two for another modification. (you would not believe how much home owners talk about not being able to refinance with each other) If you go the extra mile on either of these two ways or even debt settlement or something like that you will be helping home owners the same way, FINANCIALLY, and still be making money as well as building your client base for future.  Some of these companies are set up differently so finding the right one for you can be difficult.  I have done extensive research on this and if you would like information you can email me off the board for the names of the companies I would suggest using.

Sorry to go off on a rant but i see so many people complain about turn downs and lenders not lending to hardly anyone, but really they should be trying to figure out how to try and help these clients out. There is a lot of money to be made rehabbing or modifying loans as well as credit repair and settlement. START DIVERSIFYING IF YOU WANT TO LIVE AS WELL AS YOU MIGHT HAVE IN YEARS PAST IN THE INDUSTRY!  Especially considering some of the people you all run into can’t even modify because they are too far upside down.  Another GREAT way to build Realtor referrals for short sales.  You simply can’t loose if you build yourself a network of industry professionals to send your turn down and bail out deals to.  Net working has never been easier with over 95% of all home owners in need of some sort of financial service.  You area already taking the time to talk to them to find out about the refi…if you turn over just half your turn downs you not only cover part of your over head but you also build your clients for later.  We know lenders will lend again at some point.  he who has the biggest over all client base will be the one who makes the most money when this happens.

I’m in hopes this message gets at least one person motivated again, all the negativity does get overwhelming after a while and there truly is a ton of money to still me made in financial services. Lets get on it!

This is a very popular subject where ever you may live. I use this as a sales tool and it helps sometimes. If I can save someone an extra $150.00 per month doing a rate and term refinance that may get blown off by some customers but now they see that as an extra few tanks of gas!!

I know this may seem trivial but it works. Keep this in mind because I deal with FHA for about 95% of my total loan volume for the past several years I see folks that have real need to save money.

The majority of them are very thankful to save that money and not being stuck in a sub prime loan even though that may be what they had before we spoke. I wanted talk about the gas prices with you guys/gals because I feel if you work it right it will help you connect with your clients and it may even give you a reason to call some of your past clients.

Stay tuned for my next update and we will continue to explore more opportunities with FHA and how to help close those deals!! Here is what I do when I can show my clients extra savings.

First find out what it is that they are looking ot achieve in this refinance. Most likely it will be savings or something of that nature. Current events if brought up in innocent conversation could spark some kind of response that you can work with as a sales tool to better your chances to close that loan.

My example above about the gas prices has been and will continue to be a big attention grabber for a long time. Well if I can show them how to save an extra $150.00 each month or more that is just one more angle I can work to show its worth to them.

Remember it’s you and them and most times it’s over the phone you have to find a way to be professional but create a connection between the two of you that will allow you to stick out in their head especially if they are shopping.

Who would you go with someone that is connecting with you on your needs and helping you solve problems that involve their bottom line or some rate quote from a huge company that is trying to meet their quota and has no time to build that all important word “rapport”.

When buying a home, there are two stages in the home loan approval process.

Stage 1 starts when a home buyer submits a mortgage application to his loan officer for a pre-approval.

A pre-approval is a “walk-through” mortgage approval that says — at a given purchase price and down payment amount — the home loan application will very likely be approved.

Stage 1 ends when the buyer signs a purchase contract on a home. At this point, the “walk-through” approval is useless because the buyer now needs a real home loan approval from an underwriter and not a loan officer.

Thus begins Stage 2. During the second phase of the approval process, a mortgage underwriter is reviewing income, assets, credit, job history, and other items, too; the underwriters job is to make sure that the buyer meets the bank’s criteria for lending.

If the loan officer did his job in Stage 1, Stage 2 is just a formality. And most times, it all goes according to plan.

Occasionally, though, a home buyer sabotages his own mortgage approval by inadvertently changing his “risk profile”. It doesn’t happen on purpose, of course — it just happens.

So, consider this a quick primer of what not to do while you’re between Stage 1 and the completion of Stage 2 of the home loan approval process. Following these pointers will help keep the risk profile consistent.

1. Don’t buy a new car (or take on a larger lease payment)
2. Don’t quit your job or change industries (and certainly don’t switch to a heavily commissioned role)
3. Don’t transfer large sums of money into or out from your bank accounts (and remember that “large” is relative)
4. Don’t miss a payment to a creditor (even if you don’t think you owe it)
5. Don’t open a new credit card (even if you’re getting 10% off your new bedding)
6. Don’t accept a cash gift without talking to your loan officer first (because there’s rules on how to accept them)

There’s other items, too, but this a good start.

We need to educate our borrowers on this stuff and I don’t care if it is a purchase or refinance loan. If we are educating our clients of the above items we are letting them know how to better there experience and make the process easier on them too.

When you ask the borrower for the tax returns and they immediately respond negatively, this is your shot to show why you are an expert. At this time educate the borrower about adding back in losses, this will create value in your word and ultimately trust. Explain to them it doesn’t hurt their chances to get a loan, it actually does the opposite and improves the chances. Let the borrower know showing taxes only gives you and a Lender a full picture of all options and avenues. If you get the taxes and are not sure how to determine let the Lender make the decision if the loan needs to be Stated or not. During a purchase the borrower doesn’t always need to have income that will support the property the property should support itself. Your borrower doesn’t need to be $1 Million liquid to buy a property or have the best taxes ever. A Lender will care about the income the property is making, not what the borrower makes before owning this property. * Currently in the Market Stated is getting more and more difficult to close with most Lenders anyway. So knowing what to do is key. Investor Stated is not happening anywhere from what I see, and this will remain until Lenders start getting aggressive again.

Who do you choose?
If you do a simple internet search for credit repair you’ll see tens of thousand of companies. What does one do that the other can’t, or even that you can’t do for yourself. I’m sure you’ve heard the same regurgitated response, “you can repair your credit yourself.” You can build your own plane too, but would you really want to fly in it? Do you do your own taxes, or do you hire a professional? Do you represent yourself in court, or do you hire a lawyer?

I literally laugh out loud at those who say, “I have a credit repair letter.” They must be delusional if they think that using the same letter, in the same format, stating the same thing over and over hasn’t been caught by the credit bureaus. Or mortgage brokers who say, “I repair my clients credit all the time,” “no you don’t, please stop fibbing,” is my reply. If they receive the same level of results that we here at HTDI Financial do, they should leave their current profession and start a credit repair company themselves. Incidentally, if this is the case, I can help you out there as well.

Consider this … It is illegal for a credit repair company to guarantee results!!! ILLEGAL!!! We can not guarantee the removal of any one specific item, that would be like a lawyer guaranteeing a verdict of “not guilty.” So how do you gauge the caliber of a credit repair company if they are adhering to the law? That’s easy … statistics. What is their average deletion rate? Do they limit their disputed tradelines and the bureaus they go against? I have scoured the internet for average deletion rates and we are by far the leaders of the pack. We are so good that we actually have other credit repair companies outsource their work to us so they can have the same level of success as we do.

• We go against all three credit bureaus simultaneously and an unlimited number of negative items.

Results as of 01-07-2008 (real time at www.htdifinancial.com)

1st Round 46.50%

2nd Round 20.97%

3rd Round 18.76%

4th Round 14.75%

To achieve the industry leading results in a legal and ethical manner there is no other choice but HTDI Financial.