Mortgage Information

The job of a Perth mortgage broker is to help you choose the best
mortgage product for your home or investment property loan in and around
Perth. But how do you choose the best mortgage broker? Buying property
is the biggest financial outlay you will ever make so you need to know
you are getting the very best advice and guidance.

It is
important for your own peace of mind to choose a great Perth mortgage
broker: one who is experienced, knowledgeable, fully accredited, and who
covers a wide array of lenders with no conflict of interest. You will
know you’ve chosen well because you will feel confidence in your broker.

Attracting to leads to your mortgage brokerage is a vital step in
growing your business. After all, your business needs customers in order
to thrive. Leads are people who are interested in your products and
services. The goal of mortgage lead generation is to find those people,
share information about your products and services, and get as many of
the right people to buy your products or services. Both online and
offline lead tactics can work. Below are a few ways to attract leads to
your mortgage brokerage.

Offline Mortgage Lead Generation Tactics

Offline mortgage lead generation refers to practices that do not
involve the Internet. For example, direct mail is considered an offline
lead generation tactic.

Direct mail – Use the types of products
you intend to market to guide you in purchasing a suitable mailing list.
For example, if you intend to market reverse mortgages, you will want
to target homeowners over age 62. Similarly, if you are marketing
refinancing, you might want to target homeowners who have been in their
homes for at least a year.

Telemarketing – Telemarketing
involves calling potential or existing customers at their homes or
businesses. Many consumers are on the national Do Not Call list, making
it important to use care in purchasing lists to ensure compliance. It’s
often smart to call past customers periodically, especially if rates
have fallen and they could benefit from refinancing. Loan performance
software is helpful in identifying existing customers who could benefit
from a new loan product.

Events – Home improvement shows are
filled with homeowners looking to improve their properties, making them
ideal for generating leads for refinancing. A popular way to capture
names and phone numbers of leads is to hold a contest and have each
person fill in an entry form with their contact details. The downside to
this technique is that many people will enter for a chance to win, but
may not be in the market for a mortgage.

Online Mortgage Lead Generation Tactics

Online mortgage lead refers to lead generation practices that occur
online. The most common tactic involves using SEO or pay per click
advertising to direct interested people to specific mortgage “landing
pages” filled with compelling information and a call to action. The call
to action could be to call an 800 number or fill out a form.

Do-it-yourself online lead generation – Some mortgage companies have the
talent and resources to launch their own SEO campaigns to direct
mortgage leads to a landing page with an online form. As leads come in,
they direct them to brokers who call the lead, make the pitch, and
hopeful, close the deal.

Buying mortgage leads – Buying leads
from a third party lead provider is another tactic that can bring fresh
leads to your business. The lead generation provider invests in SEO,
website development, advertising, and more to generate as much traffic
as possible. From there, leads are captured and sold to mortgage
brokers. The benefit to using such a service is that you can specify
exactly what type of lead you are interested and pay only for mortgage
leads that make sense for your business.

Both offline and online
mortgage lead generation can bring a steady flow of leads into your
sales pipeline. No matter which lead options you choose, pay attention
to your conversion rates and continue fine-tuning the performance of
your mortgage lead generation campaigns.

The UK government’s Funding for Lending and Help To Buy schemes mean
that many banks and building societies are making the most of the
inexpensive funding available through these schemes and are approving
more lending to small businesses and those looking to purchase a home.

So these schemes have made it easier for the consumer to obtain a
mortgage, provided they meet the lending institutions criteria.

However, securing a large mortgage is still considerably more difficult
than it was prior to the credit crunch of 2007/2008. Lenders’ criteria
remain tough and recent FSA regulatory changes have also affected
mortgage underwriting. But there are still deals available and there are
a number of ways to improve your chances of having your mortgage
approved.

Increase the amount of your deposit

Maybe easier said than done but the larger the deposit you have the
wider choice of competitive mortgage deals you have a chance of
obtaining. There are significantly more mortgage deals available to
those with a 5 per cent or 10 per cent deposit than there were 3 years
ago but if you can find a 20 per cent deposit or more then you will open
up a greater range of choices.

And the better deals available
do not just come with a lower interest rate, lenders are also prepared
to be more flexible with their lending criteria for mortgage customers
looking to borrow at a lower loan to value ratio.

Pay down your credit cards and personal loans

Mortgage lending is rarely based on a multiple of your income as it
once was. Now, the majority of banks and building societies use
affordability criteria to assess whether they are prepared to lend you
the amount you want.

The cost of funding unsecured debt such as credit cards, store cards or
personal loans on a monthly basis will have a large impact on the
amount a lender will offer you on a large home loan.

Ensure your credit record is healthy

All high street banks and building societies will check the credit
record of mortgage applicants before approving a mortgage. So it makes
sense to obtain a copy of your credit record to check it is actually
accurate. This can be done online for a minimal fee through the major
credit reference agencies so is definitely worth the effort. Bear in
mind that if you have recently paid off a chunk of an unsecured debt it
may not be immediately reflected on your credit check. But if there are
any incorrect details then make sure they are corrected. Find out from
your preferred lender which credit reference agency they use so you can
check the appropriate details.

Another factor affecting a credit
record in the UK is the electoral role so make sure you are on the
electoral role for your current address.

Look for a lender beyond the high street

Many mortgage borrowers do not appreciate that there are many lending
institutions apart from those household, high street names. Whilst this
type of non-traditional lender may not be suitable for a first time
buyer if you are seeking a high value mortgage of a million pounds or
more you may find the non-traditional lenders more amenable to approving
the mortgage you want. Many specialist high value mortgage brokers have
excellent relationships with private banks, for instance, that are very
willing to approve large mortgages for high net worth individuals and
with lending terms far more competitive than the traditional lending
institutions.

The mainstream mortgage market in the UK has, in recent years, been
beset by a number of crises brought on by the economic slump. This has
made it difficult for ordinary borrowers to reliably access mortgages
that would have been easy to secure a few years ago in better times.
But, conversely, the high net worth mortgage market servicing those
looking to borrow 1 million or more has not suffered in the same way and
continues to prosper.

With continuing economic uncertainty within the Eurozone and the wider
global economy many overseas investors are buying property in London’s
most prestigious areas resulting in a London property market that is not
suffering the same stagnation or downturn as in many other parts of the
UK. High end estate agents and mortgage brokers are benefiting from
these prosperous times whilst their counterparts in other regions are
still feeling the pinch of the recession. However, there are only so
many prime properties that are desirable to wealthy overseas investors
looking for a prestigious address in the capital and estate agents are
struggling to keep up with the continuing demand, especially when many
of the very top-end homes usually remain in the same family for several
generations.

The pressure has been eased somewhat by some of the
high quality new developments of recent years such as the Shard or the
homes at One Hyde Park but, nevertheless, there are still waiting lists
of high net worth buying wishing to invest in the London property
market. This is making anyone involved in selling property think about
the less obvious alternatives for buyers wanting a family home. For
instance, many period apartment buildings in the capital were originally
a single house and can be returned to that state without too much
difficulty, provided planning permission can be obtained. This is
clearly not an easy solution as every apartment in the building would
have to be purchased but it can be one worth considering, especially if a
potential buyer has been waiting a long time for the right property to
come to the market. Even more so if they have lost out to higher bidders
when their ideal property eventually comes up for sale.

Another alternative to waiting for the ideal family home is to consider
buyer a commercial building that could be developed for residential
use. Again, not an easy option but commercial building often have high
ceilings and large spaces that can make excellent and unique family
homes. With property developers buying such buildings and waiting for
their short leases to expire there is clearly a market for converting
commercial buildings into residential property. An added bonus is that
planners tend to look favourably on converting commercial buildings into
new homes.

So London’s prime property market continues to be
buoyant, unlike the mainstream market, and still has many opportunities
in the most sought after postcodes for investors willing to think
outside the box. Savvy developers are helping meet record demand for top
end properties for high net worth buyers and specialist London mortgage
brokers are also helping by arranging large mortgages for these, often
overseas, buyers.