Homebot: Using Home Equity to Help Mortgage Professionals Stay Connected with Homeowners
Eighty-three percent of the average homeowner’s wealth at retirement comes from home equity. For the other 17 percent — found in a 401(k), savings accounts or other investments — there’s often a financial advisor or some other knowledgeable person to help steer them down the right path. But who’s in charge when it comes to managing the wealth associated with owning a home? Ultimately, of course, it’s the homeowner.
The problem is that many homeowners aren’t equipped with the knowledge to make educated financial decisions on matters such as whether it’s the right time to refinance, or whether they have enough home equity to consider buying a new home. While these are pretty simple questions, people often shy away from trying to understand, because finances tend to be an intimidating topic. And as a result of this lack of knowledge, research shows that U.S. homeowners are losing up to $100 billion in wealth every year because they aren’t making good financial decisions. The U.S. homeownership market is the largest asset class in the world at $30 trillion, but it is essentially an “unmanaged” asset.
This is where Homebot can help. Created in early 2016 and based out of Denver, Colorado, Homebot is a dynamic, personalized financial dashboard that empowers homeowners to build wealth with the largest asset they will ever own — their home. Homebot has created a system of intelligence that connects loan officers and real estate agents to their clients on a regular basis, allowing homeowners to build on their wealth and keep their lender and Realtor top of mind along the way.
The core idea behind Homebot is that it’s not just about the transaction when it comes to a home; it’s the relationship before, during and after the purchase that makes a mortgage professional add value to homeowners. Homebot enables agents and loan officers to give their clients actionable, valuable home finance and home equity information that will make them wealthier and more financially savvy, and ultimately change their lives for the better.
Homebot isn’t an app that has to be downloaded, but it’s a mobile-friendly website featuring automatic content updates, co-branding opportunities for agents and loan officers, and client and lender notifications. In fact, a homeowner can only access the Homebot portal if invited by an agent or lender.
For more information about how Homebot can benefit homeowners, lenders and real estate agents, visit the company’s website.
*Intent does not endorse or recommend any particular products or services. The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only.
How to Really Find Homebuyers
Every person has a certain tipping point when they are ready to make a big decision, be it choosing a college, offering a marriage proposal, buying a home, starting a family or something else. The future of marketing is being able to truly use data and behavior analytics to determine the right time to be in front of your buyers.
It’s also important to show up prepared to understand everything a customer needs. As a professional mortgage planner or real estate agent, you likely have a vast amount of experience in educating people once they are ready to purchase a home. However, you also need to be prepared to go about finding people before they have reached that point. You must be ready to truly help them understand the steps they will need to take to be ready to make that purchase.
At Intent, we know that anyone considering a home purchase needs a few things to happen before they reach the tipping point of making the move to actually buy a home.
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- They need to have a “why” moment. Maybe they are simply ready to take the next step in life or they are financially secure. Or maybe they feel pressure to keep up with their friends or had an opportunity come their way that they can’t pass up. Or perhaps they unexpectedly found the house of their dreams. Whatever it might be, something causes their thoughts to shift about buying a home.
- They become intentional about not just looking at homes online or on an app but repeatedly viewing properties in the same area.
- Their mindset shifts into exploring neighborhoods, pinning interior design ideas on Pinterest, and perhaps even asking their social sphere questions about owning a home or referral advice.
- They trust this choice is the right choice and believe they have the means to make it happen.
Delivering the right messaging at the right time is a critical component of modern real estate and mortgage marketing. Knowing how to harness the power of data and re-targeting makes you a different kind of thought leader.
