What are mortgage leads? And how do they affect you? It’s a good question and one that bears some scrutiny. At the most basic, mortgage leads are just that, leads for a lender to follow up and hopefully get some business. Whether you’re looking for a new loan or not, you’re probably on a leads list somewhere.
How do I end up on a mortgage leads list?
You fill out forms with your name and either your home address or your email address all the time. Many times, those forms are not only used the way you expect, they are also used by companies to create packages of mortgage leads which are then sold to lenders. You may end up on a list when you:
• Enter a contest, either online or through a drop box on the counter at a local store.
• Fill out a form online, for nearly anything
• Fill out a form you send in through regular mail, such as product registrations.
You know all those emails you get addressed to homeowners? Many of them aren’t just sent by people trolling the web in search of addresses. Many of them were bought and paid for as mortgage leads.
About the only way to avoid being part of the mortgage leads package is to avoid giving out any information on the internet, and to be very aware of where you’re going. Many sites may use cookies or spyware to capture information that they can use to track you. Whether this information is sold or not is known only to the site owners.
Are all of these mortgage leads emails junk?
There is a plus side to mortgage leads. While all that email you have to wade through is a pain, they do give you access to the most up to date mortgage offers. Since you filled out some of those forms anyway (or not), why not at least look at the offers that are flooding in?