Mortgage Insurance Lead Companies
Mortgage lead companies are responsible for generating mortgage leads and providing them to mortgage selling companies. Leads are nothing but queries from people who wish to obtain mortgages. Mortgage selling companies are always on the lookout for good leads from mortgage lead companies.
Mortgage lead companies have different means of operation. They may operate either through telemarketing (call centers) or through websites. Leads that they provide may be exclusive or non-exclusive. Exclusive leads are those meant for only a single company, while non-exclusive leads may be repeatedly sold to a number of companies. Of course, the former cost more. Leads must also be fresh, i.e., they must be newly introduced into the market of mortgages.
Telemarketing mortgage lead companies have a success ratio of 8 to 10%, which means for every 100 leads they provide, 8 to 10 have a chance of closing successfully. Call centers rely on personally calling people from a particular list, which they may have obtained from a cell phone company. When they find a person interested in acquiring a mortgage, they record their contact details and information on credit history, mortgage requirements, etc. These are then forwarded to the mortgage company, who follow up on the case.
Mortgage lead companies working out of call centers charge anywhere between $35 to $65 per lead sold, irrespective of whether it closes or not. If working on an hourly basis, then they may charge $25 per hour. Outsourced business to Asian call centers may cost much less. Mortgage companies are contracted with call centers throughout the world and they get leads once a week, typically on Mondays. There may be an average of 25 leads per week. Some call centers also provide a hot-transfer service, in which the call of a potential mortgage buyer is directly forwarded to an official in the mortgage company.
Websites working in the mortgage-lead generation business are also tremendously busy portals. These have their own mortgage calculators, which pre-qualify mortgage queries. According to this, people are made to fill online application forms, which are then sold to mortgage companies. Mortgage lead generation websites are contracted with particular mortgage companies, just like call centers.
Lead generation websites may charge on a monthly or annual basis. The charges depend on the nature of the website. However, there is widespread skepticism among mortgage companies regarding lead generation websites. A large number of them are sham websites and provide fabricated lists.
Mortgage lead companies are the backbone of the mortgage selling business. Every mortgage company is affiliated with several lead generation companies so that its staff can be free to do documentation work on the mortgages and not take the trouble of marketing.
Mortgage companies rely on mortgage insurance to protect themselves from defaulting mortgage borrowers. If a mortgage buyer does not make the payments, then the insurance company pays to the mortgage company. Mortgage companies buy their insurance from insurance providers and pay premiums on the same. These premiums are then passed on to the buyers of the mortgage. Buyers may have to pay for the premiums on an annual, monthly or single-time basis. The insurance payments are added to the monthly payments of the mortgages. Mortgage insurance policies are also called Private Mortgage Insurance or Lender’s Mortgage Insurance.
Generally, mortgage companies need to be insured for all mortgages that are above 80% of the total property value. If the mortgage buyer makes a down payment of at least 20% of the mortgage value, then the company may not require an insurance policy. But typically, mortgage buyers cannot afford to pay 20% of the down payment, and hence most mortgage companies require insurance, and these insurance premiums increase the monthly payments of the borrowers.
Thus, the mortgage lenders get to choose their insurance providers, but the borrowers of the mortgage are obliged to pay the premiums. This is where the controversy against mortgage insurance begins. But paying a mortgage premium allows the mortgage buyer to be able to buy the house sooner. This also increases the cost of the house and enables the person to upgrade to a more expensive house sooner than expected.
Sometimes the added cost to the borrower due to the payment of insurance dues to the company is added in the monthly payment itself. In such cases, the payment is called as a capitalized payment. Capitalization provides some benefits to the borrower, as the entire payment then becomes tax-deductible.
Mortgage insurance must follow the guidelines of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Both government and private financial institutions can provide mortgage insurance. The premiums payable on mortgage insurance depend on the purpose for which the borrower is buying the mortgage. In general, mortgage premiums on housing are higher than for other purposes.
