It could be good news for other mortgage rate table competitors while Google takes the time to obtain licensing in the states that require it.

A spokeswoman for Google Advisor, which launched its comparison ads program in 2009 and got into the mortgage leads business earlier this year, told RMD she was not able to comment on the matter. However, in a search for mortgage rates in several states, a message pops up informing users that the Google Advisor mortgage rate product is not available at this time for those states.

An independent study from Leads360 showed consumers using Google’s comparison ads converted better than any other lead provider.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker

With the use of TARGUSinfo’s home value data, Reverse Mortgage Directory can verify home values in the case of any discrepancy, and can confirm estimated home values to ensure that a borrower qualifies for a reverse mortgage, in addition to verifying identity information.

“The ability of TARGUSinfo to provide insights about consumers in real time allows us to adapt faster and better, and ensure that a higher quality borrower is provided to our network of lending partners,” said Gretchen Williams, Director of Sales and Customer Relations, Reverse Mortgage Directory.

Reverse Mortgage Directory has been using the data for several months, and says the results have been positive.

“It’s been benefiial to us,” Williams said. “In this industry, since it is ever changing, [it is important] that we make any adjustments we can to help make our partnership with clients stronger.”

Written by Elizabeth Ecker

Lead-seeking originators can use the site’s Lead Central tool, view the lead-providers, read about them or visit their websites, and then fill out a quick form indicating the type of lead they seek as well as their budget. Lead Central will send those forms to the lead-providers, then the originators will get emails or phone calls from lead companies regarding what leads are available, pricing, and area. In some cases, leads can be uploaded directly from the provider to an originator’s CRM.

“It’s a way to instantly shop for lead providers,” said ReverseFortunes.com President and CEO Eric Hiatt, who loosely compared the tool to Ebay’s format where users can type in what they want and their price range and are shown all the users who are selling that product. He is excited about the launch because it provides originators with an easy source for leads in one place, something he hasn’t experienced anywhere else.

“In developing Lead Central, our biggest goal is to have a place for originators to purchase leads to go to and say, ‘I know these companies are reputable, and someone is having success with these,’” said Hiatt.

Hiatt has personally worked with and purchased leads from all five of the lead-providing companies ReverseFortunes.com is partnering with, and they include Reverse Mortgage Adviser, Pioneer Information Services, Inc., Qualified Reverse Leads, Response Mail Express, and a fifth one whom Hiatt will reveal once he receives their contract. He said all five are accredited by the Better Business Bureau.

As for adding more companies to ReverseFortune.com’s list of lead-providers, Hiatt said they’ll going to wait for three months to gauge partner and originator response before taking further action. In the event that a lead-provider were to rip off a buyer by not delivering leads, Hiatt said ReverseFortunes.com would kick them out of the system, as they’re under no obligation to have different companies on or off the system.

The launch of Lead Central prompted those at ReverseFortunes.com to redesign the website, a task that fell into the sphere of Kurt Hoffman, the Senior Vice President of Web Development and Online Marketing.

“[ReverseFortunes.com] is never static,” said Hoffman. “Ever since we started it, we don’t just build something. We are constantly improving the site and what it does for users. We’re constantly adding new features to the CRM, trying to make it the best possible resource for originators. We’re looking to see our users get more utility out of the site.”

With both the site redesign and the launch of Lead Central, Hiatt said he is hoping to help both reverse mortgage originators, lead-providers, and the reverse mortgage industry in general. He cited statistics from HECM reports that show the volume of reverse mortgage endorsements in May 2007 at 10,409, while May 2011 posted a 50% decrease from that number with only 5,188.

“I really believe that if we as originators continue to work our tails off, lead providers continue to provide good leads, and banks provide good products, that we can see this industry grow in a healthy way,” he said. “We want to generate more commerce and stimulate the reverse business.”

And when it comes to timing for Lead Central’s launch, Hiatt thinks right now is perfect.

“There’s no better time than right now for us to be generating more and better technology and services to help and encourage the reverse mortgage originator,” he said. “Now is the time for companies like ReverseFortunes.com to step up and develop technologies. Even though it might be a gamble on our part, we believe it’s a gamble worth betting on. We believe in the [reverse] market so much that we know that by developing this stuff, and spending this money, that it will help to generate those loans that everyone’s looking for.”

Written by Alyssa Gerace

An independent study from Leads360 showed consumers using Google’s comparison ads converted better than any other lead provider.  As a result of its success, the search giant is expanding into other areas like credit cards, checking and savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.

As part of the expansion, the company released Google Advisor, a user-friendly interface for comparison offers that includes mortgages.

“Google Advisor is a consumer destination site that helps to guide users through various financial decisions by making it even easier to find and compare relevant offers from qualified financial institutions,” said the company on its blog announcing the launch.  ”Google Advisor contains offers that come from our Comparison Ads advertisers as well as other sources across the web. By aggregating the most relevant offers and making it easy for users to filter and compare them side-by-side, Google Advisor aims to make financial research faster and easier.”

WIth the launch of Google Advisor, the company is going up against giants like Bankrate.com and other established lead providers who target consumers interested in a range of financial products.  From a user interface perspective, Google Advisor is clearly the winner when compared to other sites in the market.

While the service doesn’t yet provide comparison offers for reverse mortgages, it wouldn’t be difficult to add in the future.  At the moment, Google said it’s limiting the number of lenders participating in the Advisor program.

“Over time, we hope to increase the availability of Comparison Ads to additional advertisers,” said the company.

Despite rates being at historical lows in 2010, government regulation and the changing composition of the mortgage sales structure had a big impact on the number of leads purchased according to a new report from Leads360.

“The changing requirements and profit opportunities in the mortgage space have led to a significant decline in mortgage brokerages versus mortgage lenders,” said the report.

Using data from 560 of its mortgage clients (direct lenders, banks, brokers), the company found the number of leads purchased in 2010 declined each quarter versus the same quarter from the previous year. However, data shows that the lead volume decline slowed between Q4 2009 and Q3 2010. “This may be a signal that lead buying will increase in 2011,” said the report.

Results from a survey conducted by lead buyers and providers found a more optomistic outlook for 2011. According to the report, 55% of Leads360 clients said they expect to increase the number of leads purchased and 57% of lead providers expect more demand from buyers. Rather than rely on lead providers, 55% of lenders expect to the number of leads they generate on their own in 2011.

“Over three quarters of all clients said that they would increase or significantly increase their ‘self-generated’ lead volume,” said the report. “These leads are typically generated from the client’s own advertising, direct response programs, website, and referral programs.”

For the first time, Leads360 ranked different lead providers and found that only a year after launching their product, Google Comparison ads provided the highest conversion rate among providers. LendingTree and ReallyGreatRate tied for second, with Adchemy and Bills.com tying for third.

Interestingly enough, getting in contact and qualifying shoppers from Google is more difficult. The search engine giant didn’t even rank in the top three of highest qualification rates, said the report. GetSmart and LendingTree took home the top spot, delivering the highest percentage of leads that were contactable and interested in the product/service the lead buyer was offering.

As far as highest growth in the mortgage vertical, Zillow lead the industry in 2010, followed by LoanBright and Bills.com.

“LoanBright expanded its business among the growing number of mortgage clients looking for less expensive leads with acceptable closing rates,” said the report.

“They’re so expensive with where the margins are right now,” says Josh Shein, President of Great Oak Lending Partners. “Companies really need to watch their marketing dollars and pull through rates to ensure they’re converting with margins so tight.”

Lead providers may not feel the same way.  When premiums from the secondary market were higher, lenders had no problem plowing additional money into generating or buying high quality leads (live transfers, national advertising campaigns, ect.). But as rates have risen and premiums have fallen, the cost of generating leads hasn’t changed.  RJ Johnson, president of Reverse Rate, told RMD that regardless of where premiums are, there will always be a demand for high quality leads.  ”Lenders may need to adjust their models to fit the ever changing reverse mortgage market,” he said.

New Trends in Acquiring Reverse Mortgage Leads

One trend that has re-emerged over the last six months is the increase in wholesale lenders who provide leads to their customers. It’s a practice that started with the Senior Lending Network and has been adopted by Genworth Financial Home Equity Access (GFHEA). The Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based company acquired Premium Reverse Leads and its websites for an undisclosed amount last year.

Since then, the company has rolled out the leads for purchase on a pilot basis with good success and anticipates expanding the program in March, said Pete Engelken, president of GFHEA. “Our leads program offers affordable, high-quality reverse mortgage leads that are delivered in real-time while meeting all regulatory requirements,” he said.

The program isn’t meant to be the only source of leads for its wholesale parters, but it’s designed to complement their overall marketing strategy.

“We have found that brokers are the most successful with our leads program if they have previous experience working with online leads and can purchase in order quantities of 30-50 leads at a time,” said Engelken. “As more and more seniors turn to the Internet to research and shop for reverse mortgage products, we feel that the Web will continue to be a great source of potential customers for our broker partners.”

Urban Financial is also expected to roll out a similar program through its wholesale channel once the acquisition of Guardian First Funding Group is completed in early 2011. During an interview with RMD last year, Bryan Hendershot, CEO of Urban Financial told RMD he planned on using leads generated from Guardian’s national television campaign featuring Robert Wagner to help their wholesale partners.

Going it Alone – Generating Leads

For companies that rely on their own efforts to generate market reverse mortgages online, RMD’s analysis using Google’s Keyword Tool shows the average cost of terms related to reverse mortgages remains around $15 per click. There hasn’t been any pullback in online bids for keywords according to Cliff Auerswald, loan originator for All Reverse Mortgage Company. “The cost has hasn’t come down yet,” he said. “I lowered my bids when the pricing fell but people are still willing to pay $20-plus per click.”

With so much competition online, companies like Great Oak Lending Partners decided to test the waters of local television to reach seniors in the community. While the company kept its costs low by not using celebrities like Robert Wagner or Fred Thompson, the commercials were great for exposure and name recognition in the local community, says Shein.

“With regards to the overall lead success, it was successful and profitable, but not significantly,” he said. “We are re-evaluating our costs for marketing and will most likely hold off on running more local network TV ads right now, although we are looking at doing local cable in the near future. Had margins not changed, we likely would have continued.”

The company is now offering leads where seniors have already been through HECM counseling, a requirement of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“We’re looking to do something in the industry that hasn’t done yet,” said RJ Johnson, president of Reverse Rate. “I’ve been an originator since 2001 and we’re trying to go beyond what traditional lead companies are doing.”

By utilizing a national television campaign without a celebrity spokesperson, the company started a test run of the program during the 4th quarter of 2010.  After having initial success, Reverse Rate is rolling it out to new reverse mortgage lenders.

While the company isn’t doing large amount of volume yet, if there is enough interest, there is plenty of room for growth said Johnson.

Developed in partnership with Houston based Cornerstone Mortgage, MortgageMatch.com leverages a pricing engine designed to help borrowers explore their mortgage options in real time.  Currently, borrowers have access to conventional, Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Association and jumbo loans backed by real rates using a multitude of scenarios that reflect their situation.  At this time, reverse mortgages are not included.

“Like many Realtors, we’re concerned about the recent difficulties buyers are having throughout the home loan process, especially in getting approved in time to keep a purchase from falling through,” said Move Chief Executive Officer, Steve Berkowitz.

“While there’s no single, easy solution to this problem, we believe making it easier for consumers to navigate the mortgage loan and approval process will help them as they work with an agent to purchase a home. Move is committed to helping both buyers and Realtors be more successful together, and we believe the choices, reliability and user experience MortgageMatch.com delivers will help everyone involved avoid the frustrations and confusion that can lead to lost deals or costly delays.”

Unlike typical lead providers, the quotes posted online are real offers according to the company.  Move also operates a number of real estate websites, including Realtor.com, the listing site of the National Association of Realtors.