Never miss updating your customers about fast moving market or rate updates again when you aren’t in front of your computer!

Related Posts:

1. Google Page Rank Update in Progress
2. Google PageRank Update is Under Way
3. Mortgage Marketing via Twitter?

First, LeadPress just launched monthly mortgage website plans, this means you can finally upgrade your existing site with an affordable monthly LeadPress plan!

Second, if you switch to LeadPress from one of the providers above, we’re going to give you a FREE 30 day Trial. Not only do you get a free month to give LeadPress a shot, but you get a free chance to see how and why LeadPress is the premier mortgage lead generation website available today!

Why Upgrade to LeadPress?

LeadPress not only gives improves the look and presentation of your website, simply put, it converts more visitors to leads!

Ever wonder why your existing website doesn’t generate many leads? We’re mortgage brokers ourselves and we were asking ourselves that very question three years ago when we set out to build the best mortgage lead generation website available.

LeadPress Upgrade Benefits

1. Optimized and fully customizable mortgage applications: Does your website have a Full 1003? If so, you’re losing 90% or more of your online conversions. Want to add fields to your applications, create a survey or completely new application? LeadPress does that and more.
2. Lead Management: View leads in online database or have them sent to email addresses you define.
3. Website control: Add new pages, upload video or images, customize menus, change website color theme and change home page style with ease.

Have Questions? Don’t Be Shy!

Related Posts:

1. Myers Mortgage Web Sites
2. LeadPress Mortgage Website Monthly Plans Are Here!
3. LenderHomePage Mortgage Website Design

We are waiving setup fees for a limited time! A $449 savings.

View Monthly Mortgage Website Pricing

Additionally, have also launched email services for those who may not need a website, but are in need of reliable email solutions.

LeadPress Email Services

• Pop3 and Imap flavors
• Compatible with Microsoft Outlook and similar email clients
• View webmail online just like Gmail or similar online services
• 1 GB of storage per user
• Reliable email hosting, so you can focus on selling!

View LeadPress Email Pricing

Are You an Alamode, 220Marketing, LenderHomePage or Myers Customer?

If so, click here to Get 30 Days FREE!

Have questions? Click here to ask away!

Related Posts:

1. LeadPress Mortgage Affiliate Program
2. LeadPress Mortgage Website Feature Tour
3. Myers Mortgage Web Sites

In this internal email David communicates Clarion’s future plans for adapting to the new financial, legislative and economic times we live in.

David Marr

Major (good) announcement.  But you have to slog through my writing style first.

Like looking at a nighttime wild fire in the distance with wind in your face, the sense of pending danger is not difficult to discern.  The question quickly becomes, leave with your safety knowing that it is easy to justify security of self and family or stay and fight to save what you have built, putting yourself in harm’s way, risking all, so that what is good can live to see the morning’s light; to stay and encourage those around who must remain for lack of choice to fight not just the flames, but the emotions of disappointment, fear, and disheartenment.  And in doing so, in fighting through the night with frustration’s sweat upon our soot-stained brows, we thereby plant the seeds for tomorrow’s rebirth, built on the shared understanding that we have saved that which is best — we have saved each other.

That has been my thought over these last 2 1/2 years, albeit overly dramatic.  Each phase of the night has had its challenges.  For those who have been here since March 2007 when the New Century campfire jumped its enclosure and scorched those closest to it, the immediate understanding was that subprime acted like dried kindling and was subject to spontaneous combustion.  Clarion was lucky to not have much of that around.  But, if you remember, stated income and Alt A loans were close to the flames and you had to come to me personally to approve those loans, regardless of what the investors would do.  We couldn’t trust the investors, i.e. Indymac, Countrywide, TB&W, etc, etc, etc, with our safety.  We could only trust our own judgment. The winds shifted and the flames grew hotter as FHA went W-2, jumbo loans died, Fannie and Freddie retreated to the watershed, and warehouse lines dried up.  The conflagration consumed hundreds.  It was at the end of 2008, at the darkest point of night and the most intense part of the flames when faith came alongside its weaker brother, hope, and we persevered without a clear understanding of how we could save much of anything.  It was then on November 24^th that the new mortgage business started.  You remember the moment when you awoke to the announcement like a shifting wind that had the flames blow back on itself that rates were to drop to the low 4’s.  How did you feel?  I felt pretty good, but I knew the night was half over.

We had lost a great deal in the previous year and a half.  We lost many good staff.  We lost a good portion of our warehouse capacity.  The industry had lost the same and each company was suspect in their survival.  The challenges in front of us were as vigorous as those behind, the only difference was the positive belief that it would work out.  With the fire 60% contained, we began to rebuild our warehouse lines and staffing.  New systems had to be designed to control the flow of business.  I had to become a different leader than in the past.  No longer could I just encourage, I had to threaten compliance – or else.  In order to make it in the new mortgage business, excessive freedom had to be subordinated to the collective; the independent elements curtailed like clearing underbrush away from our new structure.  The message: we live together or die alone.

Why act as a group?  Would it not be better to join a small band out in the wilderness who can forage more easily than such a ponderous community?  Surely brokers with lower costs can compete forever in the new industry.  Maybe.  But I think not.  Independent brokers ultimately can’t survive in the harsh climate.  Currently the Fed, FDIC, Treasury, and Congress are occupied with the coming calamity of banking insolvency.  Small banks across the country will collapse due to a repricing of real estate.  In the next 2 years, over 1000 small banks will be taken over by the FDIC.  The FDIC will have to borrow money this year from the Treasury to continue the clean up.  Next spring, new rules will undoubtedly emerge that will effectively corral the remaining survivors into a coalition.  All originators will have national licensing and bonding.  Entities will have to have a minimum net worth probably over $250,000, maybe over $1M.  States will audit regularly because national rules will rightly focus blame on lax state oversight.  States will no longer be allowed to charter state banks that automatically have FDIC insurance.  Fees will go up dramatically.  Of course, I’m just guessing, but the causes of the fire and the depth of the destruction must be addressed so as to “never” happen again.

Is there such a thing as excessive competition?  I never thought I would say so, but yes, there is.  All of you know that lenders came out with crazy loan programs.  Anyone alive could get a loan for the sole reason that appreciation of the real estate would bail out bad underwriting decisions.  With that “firm” knowledge that real estate values would continue uninterrupted year after year with solid gains, lenders planted closer and closer to their buildings.  Non owner, stated, 100% CLTV, Option ARMS?  Come on, that’s a dry bush under the porch.  But lenders had overhead and bonus programs which required sustained profitability, so prudence took a back seat.  Plus, everyone was selling the closed loans anyway with nary a thought on buy back provisions.  Small banks, called de novo’s, started within the last 7-10 years took in deposits that were insured by the FDIC.  Their plan was to compete for deposits and loans.  They collected “hot money” as deposits which carry high interest rates.  In order to make money, they had to loan on riskier real estate.  In the short run, small banks profited.  But in the longer run, those real estate loans have started to go bad.  Too many banks chasing too few deposits and too many real estate loans act as dry tinder to this ongoing fire.  The effect will cause many hundreds of banks to fail and very few banks to lend in anything other that 1-4 family because the only real lenders are Fannie, Freddie, and Ginny, i.e. the government.  That is why the government must reinvent lending.  It must establish strong regional players that can pay the fees, control risks, manage stakeholders, provide transparency, comply with laws, and be punishable commensurate with failure in order to ensure stability. Therefore, for the next 10 years, competition will be limited.  New bank charters will not be approved.  The bar for existence will be raised to allow only those strong enough to survive.

Why all this explanation?  As I look around at the charred landscape, I see opportunity.  The formerly great have gone, either absorbed or burned.  Though the fire is not out and hard work is still in front of us, it is clear to me what must be done.  The work we have started on will provide transparency from beginning to end.  The reporting on individual LO’s and processors hasn’t been started, but must be developed.  If those stakeholders want to enjoy the freedoms and fruits of a free society, they must take up a pickax and join the effort.  There can be no half measures if an LO wants to take home a good portion of each harvest; he or she must work alongside the community in goodwill to provide what the community must have in order to survive or go to another community.

As for this community, we must develop those systems and procedures necessary to live and thrive under the benefits and constraints of a bank – for that’s what we will be as of next year.  SO HERE’S THE MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT FINALLY! (trumpets) I have pushed the last of my chips onto the table to acquire a small bank in Colorado.  It’s now under contract and should close in February, 2010.  The plan must be approved by every person working for the US government from Obama to my postman, but I think it will get approved.  I have worked toward this end for several years.  Thank God I didn’t succeed earlier or I might be dead in the ditch along with others.  I am very excited.

Once the bank transaction closes, Catalyst first then Clarion will be acquired by the bank as wholly owned subsidiaries.  Both companies will be able to originate in all 50 states without state licensing and regulation.  Each company will require its own type of qualifications, maybe bonding, maybe licensing, but that’s a ways off, but the benefits of this plan are huge: Interstate originations, internet advertising will be viable; following existing customers to other states; competing for a company’s relocation business will be worthwhile; working the family sphere throughout the country will be in play; and funding problems will be a bad memory.  Being a part of a bank with a substantial net worth eliminates funding issues like we had earlier this year.  State licensing will be replaced by national licensing.  At a time when the small to medium sized shops will have a tough time surviving, Clarion and Catalyst will have the best of both worlds: banking strength and entrepreneurial mentality.  Yes, Clarion will maintain 1099.  No, we won’t require LO’s to use in-house products at the expense of choice and price.

I have long expressed the belief that the sole pursuit of money is an empty endeavor.  Making money is a byproduct in the exchange of value for value.  We at Clarion have never tried to impose our personal values on anyone, but have made the clear assertion that those who agree with our values can find a home here.  So excessive commissions where the borrower is consumed instead of served is a style relegated to the Ameriquests of the world.  In the collapse of the mortgage industry and with this bank acquisition, I believe that this morality has survived and the hollow exclusively self-serving model has been beaten back for a while.  Those of us who are left continue to provide a solid value and were never the problem.  It was the greed of many.  My definition of greed is ‘excessive self interest’ with emphasis on excessive.  I believe when you love your neighbor as you love yourself, you have a multiplicity of benefit.  This Judeo/Christian ethic is part of our genetic makeup, not a religious pathos.  I don’t think flames can touch this belief as long as there are people willing to live it out every day.

So that’s it.  A new day will soon arrive that will look different than the dark night we’ve just endured.  Brokerage has been a good thing that was taken too far.  Like any natural force, the balance will be restored after a time.  The ground will be fertile for the new; the sun can nourish the growth without being overshadowed by previous giants.   Through your persistence, you have made it through the fire and my announcement.  Congratulations.

Related Posts:

1. Fourth of July Message From David Marr
2. This Is One You Really Need to Read
3. HR 3915 Manager’s Amendment Summary

VIEW THE LEADPRESS DEMO NOW!

We’ve also added the ability to use Google Chat in the header as well as a section at the bottom of each page which is perfect for adding legal, compliance or any other footer content you would like!

Google Chat and Mult-Level Integration

Using the built in LeadPress widgets, you can add google live chat to your header in a matter of seconds. You can also add multi-level menus using our simple drag and drop menu interface. You can nest menus as many times as you would like!

Custom Footer Content Integration via Widgets!

Using simple drag and drop widgets, LeadPress now enables you to add any content to your footer. This is great for keep compliance folks happy!

Related Posts:

1. Google PageRank Update is Under Way
2. Google Page Rank Update in Progress
3. LeadPress Mortgage Website Feature Tour

Is anyone actually gaining clients from twitter? You bet, check out www.twitter.com/mortgagereports. Dan posts rate and market updates and people listen.

Why would somebody follow me? The same reason they would follow your blog, website or newsletter…. you are providing something of value. You mean I can’t just sign up and get deals? Nope, but the folks you are competing against appreciate your lack of effort / lack of understanding the medium… that’s for sure. This conversation is very similar to the one that occurred when websites were first used for mortgage marketing. Some folks were adamant that consumers wouldn’t trust a website, naysayers were sure that consumers needed to shake a hand before refinancing.

Bottom line: Marketers in virtually any vertical you can imagine are successfully marketing on twitter. The jury is no longer out on whether or not twitter is a viable marketing channel, the question is HOW it can be used in your overall marketing strategy.

Effort: As with any marketing tool, you get out what you put in. Signed up for twitter and didn’t get deals? You can’t be surprised at that, let’s be real. Twitter or ANY marketing channel takes work!

Strategy: Twitter can play a valuable role in any mortgage marketing strategy. It’s a great intro to eyeballs that you can then convert into becoming followers of your updates and industry news on your website / blog….where you can introduce them to your brand and value proposition or “why should I use you to refinance?”.

People that follow you on Twitter are real people, consumers. Twitter is simply a tool to get your message / value proposition / news & updates in front of those eyeballs. This is an opportunity to reach many folks you would never get an audience with.

How: There are so many “How to Market on Twitter” guides it isn’t even funny, everything you need to know has been written ten times over. Also, twitter doesn’t have to be about marketing, I am still able to network via my personal account ( twitter.com/tracerichardson ) where I share whatever I feel like, even if it isn’t business related.. Or I might post on business accounts I have such as @leadpress, @brokerscience @ipagio, etc….

I’ve learned a lot by taking part in the conversation and watching others. I’ve actually learned more by listening… The lessons learned are very similar to other mediums…. don’t spam, provide value, learn the rules of the game / etiquette, etc….

What is the point? The point is that the game is wide open. While a lot of peeps are using twitter in their overall mortgage marketing strategy, most are not. That equals opportunity.

Related Posts:

1. Double Your Twitter Follower Conversion Rate: Cute Converts
2. Mortgage Newsletter Marketing Basics
3. Mortgage Marketing Success: The Role of the Mortgage Website

Details: More information on the first ever MortgageBarCamp are coming in the following weeks. We’re focusing on a theme involving adapting, surviving and thriving in the current market with the many industry changes that have and are taking place.

Have questions? Leave them in the comments.

Need Information or want to participate / sponsor? Ping me at trace at leadpress.com.

Support MortgageBarCamp – Retweet this please!

You can use the handy retweet button on the upper right!

Related Posts:

1. TraceRichardson.com Launches!
2. Mortgage Podcast: LeadPress Round Table
3. LeadPress Does Carpool Confessions with LeadCritic

The 6 Step Opportunity Optimizer Process

The Opportunity Optimizer takes basic borrower data and creates a series of charts and graphs as part of a six-step process that illustrates the opportunity that the client has for optimizing his or her equity. The six steps are as follows:

1. Financial Snapshot
2. Financial Scorecard
3. Liquidity Builder
4. Asset Maximizer
5. Portfolio Optimizer™
6. Mortgage Coach Proposal

From the MortgageCoach.com “About Us” page:

1997, Dave Savage and Greg Wexler established WowTools and introduced Mortgage Coach to the industry. Initial offerings included the Total Cost Analysis and RateWatch™ reports. These tools were created as a result of feedback and ideas from Loan Officers committed to bringing value and creating trust with the homeowners they serve. Today, Mortgage Coach continues to build upon the foundation layed by Dave and Greg; Beyond our software solutions, Mortgage Coach has created a community where Loan Officers share and learn best practices and keen strategies to increase sales performance while continuing to build value and trust with homeowners.

Mortgage Coach is actively endorsed and used by lenders, bankers, and brokerages, including most of the nation’s top 200 loan originators. Unique and powerful tools empower loan officers to improve closing ratios, increase referrals and grow revenues. Mortgage Coach equips mortgage professionals with invaluable insights and patented reports to show borrowers how to create more wealth by integrating the mortgage decision into their financial plan. Borrowers benefit from knowledgeable advice while originators reap the rewards of attaining the trust and referrals of prospects and clients alike.

RateWatch Program Benefits via MortgageCoach.com

• Protect the pricing quoted to your clients and keep your promises
• Maximize profits on every loan
• Avoid surprising midday re-pricing
• Ensure that loans are locked in at the right time

Educational Overview Offerings via MortgageCoach.com

• Mortgage Coach Fundamentals
• Divorce Planning Part 1 – Anatomy
• Divorce Planning Part 2 – Marketing
• Maximized Seller Buy Down
• Getting Referrals from CPAs and Financial Planners

MortgageCoach Pricing and Contact Information

MortgageCoach charges $695 annually, which breaks down to $57.91 per month. MortgageCoach also offers a re-pricing alert service called RateWatch that costs $300 per year.

Mortgage Coach is located at 20 Fairbanks, Suite 174, Irvine CA 92618.  They can be reached at 949-608-3000.

Related Posts:

1. LoanToolbox Mortgage Marketing for Loan Officers
2. Mortgage Marketing Success: The Role of the Mortgage Website
3. Mortgage Marketing via Twitter?

One way lenders are countering the lack of control and negative outcomes due to poorly handled appraisals by the AMC’s (Appraisal Management Companies) that lenders are forced to work with is by becoming AMC’s themselves. You heard me right, lenders are now starting their own AMC’s. This will give them more control over the process and help alleviate some of the bigger issues being created by HVCC.

Common HVCC Issue Lenders are Trying to Counter:

Via AppraisalScoop.com: Inman News author Jack Guttentag wrote in today’s story Appraisal rules backfire in down market:

“Because AMCs operate nationally but do not have appraisers everywhere, more appraisals are being done by appraisers who are not familiar with the local market. Appraisers working for AMCs are also paid less per appraisal than independents, which may induce them to invest less time.

Less knowledge by appraisers means more scope for bias, and in a declining-price market, the prevailing bias is toward lower values.

Related Posts:

1. HVCC Repealed: How HR 3044 Might End HVCC
2. HVCC: Home Valuation Code of Conduct Update
3. Mortgage Lending in Crisis: Insufficient Warehouse Lines Affect Lenders

With the launch of LeadPress, I converted Ipagio to a mortgage marketing blog, revived it’s twitter account and revived the BrokerScience twitter account as well. In doing so I followed around 275 mortgage related peeps but with a little twist. When you follow people on twitter, some of those people will follow you back, so I was curious about how the account picture on each account would affect the likelihood of people following me back after I followed them.

BrokerScience used a picture of my dog Hoss and the Ipagio account used the LeadPress logo (RSS / House image) as shown below.

Twitter Conversion Results

While highly unscientific, of the 275 people I followed, 65 followed Ipagio back and 145 followed BrokerScience, a 223% improvement in conversion. BrokerScience even had a notation in its description that I was no longer using the account and to find me at @tracerichardson. There are many other factors that may have impacted the results such as BrokerScience being more well known and the like (I’m not sure this is even true, actually), but my conclusion is that the biggest factor that came into play is that cute converts, a picture of a doggie will get more follows then a non-animated object that’s not cute.

Conversion Conclusion

Puppies, kitties and small furry cute creatures are the call of the day. Just like sex sells, cute converts.

Related Posts:

1. Mortgage Marketing via Twitter?
2. TraceRichardson.com Launches!
3. Mortgage Rate Lock Best Practices