ITS 2 AM AND THE PAJAMA WARRIORS ARE THINKING ABOUT REAL ESTATE
There is something sadly ironic about all those "pajama warriors" who apply online for a mortgage at 2AM. I often wonder why they are choosing a mortgage company in the most impersonal way EVER, yet are desperately seeking one of the most personal relationships in the business world.
Crazy, isn't it? But then, its a brave new world out there.
Isn't that what we are supposed to be doing with our blogs? Allowing people to connect with us personally? Aren't we trying to teach the Internet audience that there IS a better way to choose a real estate professional than a great big impersonal site that (in disguise) is actually going to sell your information to the highest bidder (not the best agent)?
Well, fellow bloggers, we aren't there yet.
I have been asked by the management of our mortgage company to handle some Internet leads that were generated by one of the best known online lenders in the country. Frankly, because they have severely cut back their staff, they can no longer handle all of the leads that are flooding in. You read me right. FLOODING IN.
Although I must make time above and beyond the mortgage madness that already exists at my desk, I confess, my insatiable curiosity got the best of me. You know how we bloggers are always looking for fodder.
I couldn't help but wonder: What in the world goes on inside the head of someone who starts the real estate buying process while in their pajamas? Seriously, I want to know.
I COULD WRITE A BOOK ABOUT WHAT INTERNET SHOPPERS DON'T KNOW
Do they know that they are one of thousands of leads and that getting someone good is a pure crap shoot?
Do they know their information is being farmed out and sold to a mortgage broker exactly like that one the Realtor COULD HAVE referred them to in the first place?
Do they know that they are at risk being deleted/ignored just because they didn't fill out the application correctly (example: filling out your weekly pay instead of your monthly pay). That a do-it-yourself mortgage application could cost you the ability to become qualified?
Do they know that most Internet "pre-qualifications" are considered pure garbage by Realtors?
And finally this: Do they understand that SO MANY OTHER applicants are simply...(name one: (1)bored (2)playing around on the Internet, (3) engaging in wishful thinking) that they stand the risk of being LAST PRIORITY when it comes to the person looking at that lead? Think human nature here.
GO LEARN TO FISH, PLEASE
I have come to realize that Internet applicants are some of the most insecure and intimidated real estate shoppers out there. Warming them up, persuading them to call back, making that ever critical connection? Tough road. Even for me with a gift of gab, a genuine concern, and years of mortgage experience.
Much of that insecurity could be wiped away if we could teach them a different way to fish. Instead of throwing their line into that huge murky lake, they can go into the store, look straight into a clear aquarium and say, "I'll take that one".
So why don't they? Do they really expect to land a prize fish out of the murky old lake? With bait that has been haphazardly plunked onto the hook in the middle of the night during an insomniac attack?
This is how I see our challenge: How do we guide the masses away from these huge impersonal sites and into the world of Web 2.0? It is better for them. It is better for us.
I will share with you what I learn on this journey. Stay tuned.
Update: Click here for the second installment of this series.
Confidential to DM : Thank you for sharing your experiences with your own online leads, which helped me write this. You are a gentleman and definitely a Prize Fish.
Written by Janet Guilbault, California Mortgage Expert Based Out of the San Francisco Bay Area
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Great post and excellent points! I don't think most consumers realize that when they think they are "applying" for a mortgage, they are really just turning themselves into a commodity as a "lead".