Refinance Marketing Made Easy: Leverage Your Database, Make Money

The current low mortgage rates have led to a spike in refinance marketing. This has created a high number of mortgage applications and refinances in what is normally a quieter time of the year.

Chances are, you’re enjoying the effects of these lower rates on your loan volume. But, are you taking full advantage of the opportunity that you have at your fingertips? You have an entire database of closed clients who could probably benefit from a refinance with you. 

Current Mortgage Rates

According to BankRate, mortgage applications are 10 percent higher on an annualized basis, up 6 percent since last week alone. And even though refinance applications did fall 1 percent, last week they were still 152 percent higher than this time last year. 

Currently, 30-year fixed mortgage rates are about 3.50% on average. Therefore, unless your borrowers purchased in 2012 or 2013, they probably could get a better refinance rate. 

Causes of The Current Rates

Mortgage rates are affected by so many factors, that it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what leads to a mortgage rate spike or drop. Currently, however, there is no doubt that the Coronavirus is affecting mortgage rates. 

In response to this, on March 3, 2020, the Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates by 50 basis points. This cut equals a half percentage point, and led to some stock fluctuation. 

It is important to note that the Fed Rate does not directly cause a change in mortgage rates, however, we may see mortgage rates change along the way.

Refinance Eligible Clients

According to Black Knight, there are currently about 11.1 million homeowners who could improve their mortgage rates by at least 0.75%. This would save these homeowners, on average, about $270 a month. 

There is no doubt your database is full of past clients whose mortgage rates are well above the current mortgage rates. 

How Does This Affect Homeowners?

Homeowners have been hearing the news about low mortgage rates for some time now, however, many have no idea what that means for them. They may want more information about what is involved in a refinance, or at a very minimum, if they could save money on their monthly payments. 

As their loan officer, it’s your job to be an advisor. You can help them understand what low mortgage rates mean for them, and if they should refinance their mortgage. They may not even reach out to you, so it’s important that you market to them at the perfect time. 

The Sledgehammer Approach to Marketing

We’re probably telling you information that you already know. So, what do you do with this knowledge? Start marketing to the borrowers in your database now! But, how? 

You could mass blast an email to everyone in your database, informing them that rates are low, and it may be a good time to refinance. However, this sledgehammer approach without any filtering may end up backfiring. After all, some of the people who receive the email may still be in the process of applying for their first loan with you, or may have an incredibly low mortgage rate already. Sending the wrong messaging to your contacts is one of the quickest ways to lose your audience’s trust. 

Doing Refinance Marketing the Right Way

Okay, so you know how not to approach refinance marketing. But how do you do it the right way? 

First, the most important rule to remember in marketing is to send the right message, to the right person, at the right time. When it comes to encouraging refinance applications, you want to target those customers who have 1. Already closed a loan with you and 2. Could save money by refinancing their mortgage.

That’s where your database steps in. 

Using Data to Gain Insight Into Your Borrowers

Your database should include all of your borrowers’ loan information, such as when their loan closed and what their mortgage rate is. (If you’re still grabbing this information from your LOS and don’t sync this with your database, consider this solution ASAP.) Loan data will help you narrow down who would benefit the most from refinancing their mortgage with you. 

Creating the Right Message

Now that you’ve determined who would be most likely to want to refinance, it’s time to market to them. You have many different options for how you want to approach this. You could send them an email, call each one individually, do a voicemail drop, or even send them a video message. 

However you choose to communicate with your clients, it’s important to be sure that you hit a few key points. 

1. Why should they think about refinancing? 
2. What financial considerations should they keep in mind? 
3. Why are you the loan officer they should choose for their refinance?

If you’re able to answer these questions in a friendly and non-pushy way, you’ll likely gain many new refinance loans. 

Easily Mass Marketing to Your Most Refinance Eligible Clients

If you want to mass market to all your past borrowers who are the most likely to want a refinance loan, how should you go about that? 

Well, if you have a data-powered CRM, like Jungo, the answer is easy. All you need to do is run a report of which of your customers have a mortgage rate above a certain percentage point, and then market directly to them. 

Here’s a short video of how to create a report just like this: 

And once you have your list of clients to market to, it’s time to send them an email inviting them to learn more about how much money they could save with a refinance loan. 

Here’s a video showing you how to do this in your Jungo account: 

Bottom Line

Segmenting your database will make your sales efforts more powerful, effective and will allow you to spend time on the right people so you can get more refis in your pipeline. After all, if you reach someone at the right time with the right message, they are going to actually care! You are providing them value.

A data-powered CRM will help you market smarter, and earn more business. Refinance marketing is easy when you know who you should be reaching out to, and when!