“I’m always an optimist, but the big difference this year compared to previously, is all of the (mortgage) industry is on the same page,” Nabors said. “We are all together and united on this, and I’m hoping that will be the biggest advantage. Anytime you can unite the industry on issues, it’s always going to be an advantage.”
New technology makes early contact easier
Several companies have introduced new technology to reach potential mortgage customers before they apply for a new loan. Gehrke said even if trigger leads don’t go away, eventually brokers who wait for that lead may be playing catch-up.
“People are talking about this, loan officers are talking about this, and want to get in front of the application,” Gehrke said. “The data supports getting in front of that application, because if you’re not talking and working with buyers and borrowers before they’re putting in an official application, which would trigger a hard credit pull, then you’re behind the curve.”
Gehrke sees the benefit in AI allowing brokers and loan officers to keep in touch with past customers, which allows them to stay in the client’s mind and earn repeat business.
“If you’re a loan officer that’s been in this business for a long time, and you’ve been diligent about keeping contact information up to date, and you dump that into a program, and you let this thing run and analyze different data points,” he said. “There’s so much capability when you see what is capable in artificial intelligence, developing agents that may look at other databases, assess equity levels, try to understand other pieces of consumer data, and combine all that very quickly. It is game-changing.”
