Making the Best Hunting Checklist:A Helpful Guide

One of the ways that you can add value to your services as a mortgage broker is to provide current and prospective clients with a house-hunting checklist. While buying a home is a thrilling experience, it can also be overwhelming for the newly initiated, i.e., first-time homebuyers. Offering a house hunting checklist is a great way to help your clients navigate the home purchase landscape.
Benefits of a House Hunting Checklist For Mortgage Brokers
When you freely provide a house hunting checklist, there are numerous benefits:
Position yourself as an authority in the home purchase space.
Generate goodwill with the community and clients.
Provide a value-added service.
Stand apart from competitors.
Less hand-holding required/more time to generate sales.
Educated buyers are better than naive buyers.
More rich content on your website.
It can be used as a lead magnet to capture contact emails for your marketing list.
The Guide to Making the Best House Hunting Checklist
Once you realize the value of making a house hunting checklist, the next step is to actually create it. As you do, keep in mind your goals for the checklist. These should include:
Making Things Easier on You, The Mortgage Broker
Include information on the house hunting checklist that will reduce the amount of handholding you have to give to nervous or naive clients. This will free up your time to work on fueling your pipeline instead of dealing with status updates and information-giving. This can be done by offering brief explanatory notes after items on the checklist. An example of this might be:
Item: Allow ten days after your mortgage application to hear back from lenders.
Note: Remember that lenders process thousands of applications. Not hearing back immediately is a good sign that your application is being moved along the steps toward possible approval.
Alleviating Stress Of The Home Buyer
The house hunting checklist itself will alleviate some of the stress. Help it along further with a final note at the bottom stating that they’ve done their part. For example:
“Great! You’ve checked off everything on the list! Now your mortgage application is in good hands! Sit back and relax. We'll let you know if we need anything else from you!”
Educating The Home Buyer
Use the house hunting checklist as a way to educate the buyer about the value of getting pre-approved. As you know, this will make them more attractive to sellers. It will also help you gain more clients seeking pre-approval from the lenders you represent.
Providing Real Value Not Found Elsewhere
The more upfront you are about how your business works, the more prospective clients will trust you and want to work with you. Take this chance to provide real value—and information—that your current and prospective clients won’t get from your competitors.
This is a tool you can use over and over again for a long time. With those goals in mind, you can make a house-hunting checklist that your clients will use and truly appreciate!