Use Real Estate Agent Database Software to Gain More Business

Real estate agent database software can serve as a significant source of referrals and contribute substantially to the growth of loan officers’ business. You can leverage realtor database software to help you hone in on the best agents to work with.

Expanding your mortgage lending business through real estate agent partners offers two primary avenues for exploration.

Get More from Existing Agent Partners

In many cases, it’s more efficient to extract additional value from your current agent partnerships than to embark on the quest for new ones. Focusing on existing relationships allows you to leverage the trust and credibility you’ve already built. You should particularly aim to identify and cultivate “Full Slice” Agent Partners who consistently send you a significant percentage of their business.

Find New Agent Partners

While nurturing existing relationships is essential, expanding your network of agent partners can open new doors and diversify your sources of business. However, this can be a more challenging and time-consuming endeavor. Real estate agent database software can make these efforts more efficient and effective.

Agent Statistics

Gain insight into real estate agent transaction data using a mortgage data platform.

Before we dive into strategies for maximizing your business from agent partners, it’s crucial to understand the significant impact these partnerships can have on your success as a loan officer. 

The Value of Agents to Loan Officers as Partners

Statistics highlight the pivotal role that real estate agents play in connecting borrowers with lenders as 39% of first-time buyers and 27% of repeat buyers use their realtor as a referral source when choosing a lender (Source: MMI). 

This data underscores the importance of establishing strong partnerships with real estate agents, as they can significantly increase your pool of potential new clients.

Powerful Data Reinforces Having Close Agent Partners 

Additional research further solidifies the importance of having close partnerships with your local real estate agents:

• 87% of borrowers make a lender decision based on a referral or existing relationship 
• 56% of purchase mortgage customers consider a real estate agent referral in their lender shopping process 
• When real estate agents refer clients, the client applies to the recommended lender 76% of the time
• Up to 21% of all mortgage referrals come from Realtors and other point-of-sale advisors 

These statistics reinforce the importance of establishing and nurturing strong partnerships with real estate agents. Now, let’s address the common obstacles loan officers face when building these crucial relationships.

Obstacles Facing Loan Officers When Building Referral Partnerships

There are many obstacles when looking to build relationships with real estate agent partners.

Building reliable referral partnerships with real estate agents can be challenging due to several common obstacles.

No Way for Loan Officers to Differentiate Themselves 

Agents often receive numerous inquiries from loan officers each week. To stand out, loan officers need strategies and tools to effectively differentiate themselves. There are realtor database software platforms available that help you better understand your existing relationships with different real estate agents and the type of business you are doing with them. You can also use this realtor performance data (volume, value, geographic areas of focus, focus of loans, etc.) to help develop a strategy and messaging for your outreach to those agents that you identify as potential good partners. The more you know about an agent, the more you can customize your message to them, underscoring the value of a partnership.

The Agent Sends Most Referrals to Another Loan Officer

If an agent already has a preferred lender, convincing them to redirect referrals to you requires a compelling value proposition. Again, having access to good data can help you devise a unique value proposition that will resonate best with specific real estate agents. Some platforms allow you insight into things like all the loan officers they are working with, and the percentage of business they are sending to each loan officer.

A Lack of Trust Between the Agent and the Loan Officer

Trust and open communication are the cornerstones of successful partnerships. Overcoming a lack of trust or poor communication is crucial. In these instances, a loan officer must look for ways to re-establish basic communication and then help the agent overcome trust issues. The loan officer can use data found in a realtor database software platform to demonstrate quantifiable results, and then look to share client and peer review and recommendations to help reinforce the numbers.

Also having insight through your CRM into your past interactions and communications with agents can help you understand where there may have been a breakdown in the past. Armed with this information, you can work on reestablishing contact, communication – and hopefully a relationship – with any agents that may have soured on you due to a poor past experience. Some realtor database software systems integrate directly with CRMs for easy data pushing. Be sure to look for this feature as you consider a platform. A CRM like Bonzo coupled with a data platform like MMI can give you a powerful advantage.

Get More Wallet Share from Existing Agent Partners

A mortgage data solution like MMI provides a look at your Wallet Share of a specific agent.

Utilizing a realtor database software platform like MMI to leverage accurate realtor performance data helps identify top-performing agents to nurture and reconnect with. To maximize your business from existing agent partners, consider these strategies.

Reconnect with Buyside-Listside Agents

Realtors like to know they can trust their loan officers, they like open communication and timely updates and they want to know you are a team. It’s important to take your first step by reconnecting and establishing that trust. With the right data platform, you can access an overview of the realtors that you’ve done business with over the last several years, with some deal data going as far back as five to six years. From there you can develop an outreach and messaging strategy.

Reach Out the Day a Partner Has a New Listing

Timing is crucial. Be the first to reach out when an agent lists a new property to secure their business. Using the right data platform will allow you to set up daily email alerts to see when one of your agent partners has a new listing. You can then develop a communication plan to reach out to them. Executing this strategy will demonstrate to your agent partners that you’re a proactive teammate that creates real value in your partner relationship with them.

Ensure You Get as Big a Piece of an Agent’s Pie as You Can

Do you know how strong your agent partner relationships are? With the right realtor database software, you can review your business volume from each agent partner and identify opportunities to increase your share. By understanding wallet share, you can identify with whom you’re procuring a majority of their business, and also capitalize on different loan types that you could be assisting with. Also, if you aren’t receiving the largest percentage of their business, you can start to create a prioritized list of candidates with whom you have an opportunity to take over a majority of their business. From here you can craft a communications strategy that positions you as the best partner for them to be the more successful.

Realtor Performance Data: Identify the Best Agent Partners 

Look up Agent Rankings in your mortgage data software to identify the best potential new partners.

Utilize realtor database software or public data sources and access realtor performance data to identify agents in your area who align with your business goals.

Mine for New Real Estate Agent Partners

Consider approaching agents who have recently joined the industry or are not currently aligned with a specific lender. With the right realtor database software platform, you can find these types of agents and understand commonalities, including those doing similar transactions as you in the same area, often on the same streets. You then develop an outreach strategy in which you introduce yourself and elucidate overlaps in where and how you work, and broach working together on a future listings.

Monitor for When a Past Borrower Lists Their New Home

Past borrowers can become valuable referral sources when they sell their homes. Stay in touch with them to leverage these opportunities. The right type of data platform can allow you to monitor certain properties so that you know the day a property you worked on before hits the market. With this information, you have an immediate opportunity to reach out to them and check in and see if they need help and get a warm introduction to their agent.

Find Agents in Your Area Doing Similar Deals

Identify agents who specialize in the types of transactions you excel in to create mutually beneficial partnerships. With a realtor database software platform that gives you insight into the types of deals different real estate agents are doing most frequently, you can create a top targets list and then plan a solid communications strategy that positions you as someone with similar strengths and areas of focus and expertise.

Tools a Loan Officer Can Use to Get Started

There are a variety of free resources available that allow you to find more information about realtors in your area. (Source: Realtor.com)

Implementing the strategies mentioned above is more accessible when you have the right tools at your disposal. As you consider leveraging a comprehensive mortgage data platform that provides extensive data and a full suite of tools to help you better understand and connect with existing and new agents, there are free tools available that allow you to access some basic information about real estate agents.

Realtor.com

Access comprehensive information about real estate agents, including an overview of their philosophy, areas of specialization, geographic regions served, contact information, client ratings and reviews, and recommendations.

Homes.com

Utilize Homes.com to find information about specific real estate agents. They provide information like volume and value of closed business, the average price range they work in, home types, years of experience, and current buyer and seller deals they are working on.

Zillow.com

Explore Zillow to identify potential agent partners based on specific criteria. Zillow provides you with years of experience, specialities, current listings and past sales, contact information with a contact form, and client ratings and reviews.

Jumpstart Getting More Agent Business Now

Get a jump on your plan to partner with more agents by using the right tools and data.

Now that you’re equipped with some strategies and tools on how to get more business from real estate agent partners, here’s how to jumpstart your efforts to get more business from them:

Develop Your Agent Partner Outreach Strategies

Create a comprehensive plan for reaching out to agents, building relationships, and securing referrals. Read our post on how to market to realtors as a loan officer to help inform new approaches moving forward. As we’ve recommended in this article, you’ll want to have a plan for those agents with whom you are looking to expand business, and another plan to reach out to new agents with whom you do not currently have a relationship. You can use a realtor database software platform like MMI to access relevant quantitative and qualitative data, prioritize those with whom you want to work, and then craft your outreach strategies leveraging the realtor performance data you have in order to demonstrate that you are the right strategic partner with whom they should work.

Identify Tools and Tactics to Market to Agent Partners 

In order to bolster and build out existing relationships with real estate agents and also those new to you, you can use a realtor database software system like MMI combined with a marketing platform. Check out our article on tools to help market to agent partners for some new ideas on solutions that help put your data and insights into play. The data will inform your strategy and then you utilize the marketing system to craft your marketing tactics and materials to leverage in your outreach to each group. Your marketing should speak to your deep knowledge of their work in the area and demonstrate the additional and unique value that an expanded relationship with you would provide them. 

Measure the Value of Your Agent Network

Use tools like MMI to track the performance of your agent partnerships and assess which relationships are driving the most business. With the right realtor database software platform, you’ll have access to realtor performance data that shows you the type of Wallet Share you are getting with individual agents, and also the types of business they are doing and where you might overlap and add value. Read our post about measuring the value of your agent network for ideas on what metrics to focus on as you evaluate potential new partners.

In conclusion, real estate agent partnerships are a cornerstone of success for loan officers. Whether you’re nurturing existing relationships or seeking out new ones, utilizing data-driven tools and implementing strategic outreach strategies can help you maximize your business from these invaluable partners. By focusing on differentiation, trust-building, and communication, you can build lasting and profitable relationships with real estate agents in your area.

For more ideas on tools you can use to get more business from agent partners, check out our MMI Webinar that explains more about loan officers and agent wallet share and get some ideas of the types of data to look for in a realtor database software platform. You can also request a demo of MMI to gain a deeper understanding of how our data guidance system provides realtor performance data that can benefit your efforts in gaining more agent partners.