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By contacting these 5 groups once a month, you will achieve a steady stream of referrals.

Drip Marketing

When you get a prospective home buyer, how do you follow up with them? Have you ever considered an email marketing technique called drip marketing? This is where you obtain their name and email address, then send them an informative article or newsletter once every three days or so. many loan officers are doing this to keep their name and contact information in front of prospective buyers and to educate them. You should do the same.

There are a few different ways you can do this. You can purchase auto-responder software packages that run on your company's web server. To do this, you need to have someone or hire someone who knows how to install server-side scripts and possibly install a MySQL database. You would also have to create your own content to use in your newsletters. You can purchase a series of 13 articles for first time home buyers for just $29 by calling Joe Kamenar at 215-480-2737. The articles come in HTML format, making it easy to use them on your own or with a third party service, such as the one described next.

The second way is to create your own content and use a third-party service, such as the auto responder package that is offered at MyCustomerList. In order to do this, you still need to know how to get your articles into the system, and create and maintain your various auto responder accounts.

The third way is to use a turn-key service that handles everything for you. One company that handles that is Home Investors LLC. They offer a service at DripMarketingPortal.com that provides several drip marketing campaigns, geared primarily for mortgage professionals. However, since one of the campaigns is for first time home buyers, you can get a discount if you only use that portal.

The major reason to use drip marketing is that often a person is not ready to do business with you right away. If you stay in their minds and help educate them, you will convert more prospects to clients than if you just sit around and wait for them to all you.

Reduced Closing Cost Mortgages

As you know, the fees associated with getting a mortgage need to come from the buyer's cash. If you have buyers who are short on cash, but who can afford a slightly higher monthly payment, I can wrap all the mortgage lender costs into the loan in the form of a slightly higher interest rate. This method does not increase the loan balance, and the most that I can wrap into the loan is based on the type of loan program for which your buyer qualifies. Typical fees that can be waived this way include:

• Underwriting Fee
• Processing Fee
• Lender Fee
• Appraisal Fee
• Credit Check Fee
• Settlement Fees

Fees that can not be waived under this program include:

• Title Insurance Fees
• Transfer Taxes
• Certification Fees

If you have a buyer who is short on cash, please give me a call so I can see how many fees I can make go away!

• Past clients
• New leads
• Sphere of influence
• Residents in farm area
• Local business owners

In this article we’ll discuss why these groups are so important to your business, and provide some ideas on how you can communicate your message that will result in a healthy stream of business.

Past Clients: They Already Know You

Turning past clients into repeat clients is critical for a long and prosperous tenure in the real estate industry. You’ve already navigated them through a home purchase or sale, and you’ve built credibility. Why let that work go to waste?

Most buyers and sellers will appreciate a phone call, an in-person visit, or mailings from you throughout the year. Simply telling them “Happy Anniversary” on the purchase of their home can keep your name and your services on their mind. Let them know that you appreciate referrals, and that you’re always available to answer their real estate questions.

Develop a “past client action plan” to plot out when and how often you will stay in contact with this important group. Add them to your monthly mailing list and make sure they receive annual holiday letters and cards.

One good idea for contacting past clients: On the first of the year after the transaction, send them a copy of the closing statement. Include a note to tell them that they may need the closing document when preparing their tax returns — and, of course, that you appreciate their business.

New Leads: Be Patient, Yet Consistent

Many sales professionals fail to realize the importance of staying in touch with new leads. Patience is required; practitioners must remind themselves that most buyers will not buy within a week or two of your first meeting.

Learning to stay in touch with new leads through e-mail, U.S. Mail, or by phone is important if you want them to remain loyal to you. Provide information that will be valuable as they prepare for their next transaction. For example, set up a search through your local MLS and e-mail them listings that match their criteria.

Some other communication ideas: Mail notes on your stationery just to check in and let them know you’re ready to help; mail ideas or clipped articles on buying/selling a home in your market; e-mail tips on how to secure a home mortgage and check their credit score; distribute newsletters; and e-mail information related to their personal interests, such as playing piano or traveling. Also consider setting up a drip marketing program (see article in left hand column).

Sphere of Influence: Stay Top of Mind

When asked how they found the real estate practitioner they used, 44 percent of all buyers and 43 percent of all sellers say they were referred by a friend, neighbor, or relative, according to the 2005 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers.

It’s of the utmost importance to maintain a consistent form of communication with friends, friends of your friends, family, and coworkers. Provide information about what’s going on in the real estate market, offer free reports for buying or selling a home, give tips on when to refinance and how to build home equity. Whether you make these contacts through mail, e-mail, or a quick phone call is up to you.

If you do choose to use e-mail to contact your sphere, make sure your contacts have “opted-in” to be a part of your e-mail marketing campaign. Same goes for phone calls; make sure that you don’t violate any Do-Not-Call rules.

Farm Area: Become the Familiar Name

Repeat business and referrals are essential, but don't forget to cultivate your new leads, too. One good way to develop new business is to set up what a farm area in your marketplace. It can consist of 100, 200, 300 or more properties in a local geographical area such as a subdivision.

Contact residents within that area once a month to become the name they know in local real estate. When they’re ready to make a move, you want to be the first person that pops into their head.

Marketing ideas for your farm area could include mailing tips on selling or remodeling a home; articles about when to refinance; news on local community events; and statistical updates about what properties are selling for in your particular farm area. You can create a neighborhood Web site, with local news, garage sale listings, and your real estate information; and prepare an end-of-the-year report on average days on market, average sales price and list to sales price ratio.

Make sure that if you set up a farm area, you try to develop a personal relationship with many these contacts by making a visit periodically so your names match the correct occupancy. If you are using the tax records as your source of information for names and addresses in your farm area and one particular piece of property is rented by someone the mailing piece may not carry as much clout. Remember, rental tenants may be future buyers.

Local Business Owners: Great Source of Referrals

One often-neglected communication group is local business owners. Incorporating a good communication channel between you and local businesses, and keeping them informed of local real estate conditions, can win big points for you — especially for future referrals.

Most local entrepreneurs are eager to know the status of the local real estate economy, as it often has an indirect impact on their current and future business. Many of the business leaders are the first contact with new families moving to the area, as well as with new employees going to work for their company.

Ideas for contacting this group include providing updates on the average sales prices, days on market to sell a home, and other important real estate data, residential and commercial. Send a monthly or quarterly newsletter to this group, and make a point to visit your local business contacts in person to ask for future leads, references or testimonial letters. As fellow businesspeople, they’ll appreciate the follow-up.

Steady Communication = Good Business

Remember, contacting any of the above groups in person or by phone is a key to the success of getting referrals; don’t just rely on mailings. A personal visit can go a long way for building relationships with these groups.

Staying in touch with these five groups correctly and consistently can keep your sales pipeline full of referrals and future business transactions for many years to come.

About My Services

I would like to help you with the task of providing financing to your clients. To do this, I am able to do the following for you:

• Be available when you have an Open House to help greet buyers
• Help explain the various financing options and mortgage programs your buyers have access to
• Pre-qualify any buyer who has not yet talked with a mortgage company
• Determine the largest mortgage for which your buyers qualify
• Resolve any issues on your clients' credit report that can affect their mortgage.
• Obtain a loan commitment from our lenders
• Provide your buyer with a Good Faith Estimate of closing costs
• Determine any seller assist that a prospective buyer may need and qualify for
• Co-ordinate all aspects of settlement including title search, appraisal, and other services

At Your Company Name, we offer mortgages for most buyers, including ones who are self-employed or who have damaged credit. We have lenders who offer 100% financing meaning no down payment for qualified buyers.

We also offer mortgages with start rates as low as 1%, making it easier to get a buyer into a home.

If you have any questions about how I can help you get financing for your clients' homes, please call me at Company Phone #.