Lead generation for mortgage brokers and officers is all about consistently filling your pipeline with individuals who are interested in buying a home now or in the future. Considering the fluctuating state of the housing market and inflated mortgage rates, it’s even more crucial to showcase your expertise and amazing service to bring qualified clients into your orbit.
So, are you leveraging all the lead generation outlets available to you? If the answer to that question isn’t a resounding “Yes!” then it’s time to dig into more strategies to ensure your mortgage lead generation is on point. Take a look at our top mortgage lead generation ideas to grow your client base and keep the deals flowing.
1. Build a professional referral network
Partnering up with agents and brokerages is a no-brainer for mortgage professionals, as you both need to work in tandem to get a deal closed. However, there are lots of different people you should partner with to share your services, including financial advisors, accountants, attorneys and builders. All of these professions come into contact with individuals who are buying homes and could need a loan.
Reach out to schedule individual or group presentations with these professionals to discuss the mortgage market and the services you provide to clients. Having a mortgage person they know and trust will bring you more clients who are qualified and ready to buy.
At your presentation, gather email and phone contacts from all attendees, and start them on an email campaign to ask for referrals. Provide them with informative materials to share with their clients and ask them to include you on their recommendation list, which will bring leads directly to your inbox.
2. Buy mortgage leads
While there are many free options for generating mortgage leads, most take some time to start working. A sure-fire way to fill your pipeline quickly and with less effort is to buy mortgage leads. Purchasing leads can cost anywhere from $20 to $150 per lead, depending on the lead generation company you choose.
You should always look for companies that sell high-quality, vetted leads, and any additional tools the companies provide, such as a CRM, direct mail marketing, automations and/or email marketing are definitely a plus to round out your lead gen systems.
Want leads fast? Check out LendingTree. With a network of over 30 million borrowers, LendingTree is one of the most trusted names in mortgage and gets tons of leads daily. Leads click on advertisements that direct them to LendingTree landing pages. From there, they complete qualification forms and are given loan options and lenders, like you, who can help them.
Visit LendingTree
3. Post and advertise on social media
Example educational Instagram post (Source: @thatmortgageguy_)
Posting on your Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn pages is a no-brainer mortgage lead generation idea to build your online brand presence. This includes posts about successful client transactions and testimonials, useful mortgage data and trends, educational content about mortgage programs, community events and some personal posts so clients can get to know and relate to you.
To further your social media reach and mortgage lead generation, boost your posts as an ad or create ads on your channels. Not sure where to start with the ad? Take a look at Hova Digital. Hova Digital individualizes your advertising and marketing experience. They will help you create scripts as well as record and edit final videos into amazing ads that will bring leads knocking on your door. Hova Digital also builds custom websites, drip campaigns and assists you in organizing your CRM. It’s a one-stop shop for mortgage marketing and lead gen.
Visit Hova Digital
Pro Tip
Consider starting a local Facebook group where you can answer mortgage questions for your friends, family and neighbors. Or join an existing local Facebook Group centered around real estate to provide advice along with a fellow real estate agent.
Related article
15 Facebook groups every real estate agent & broker should join today
4. Create educational mortgage content and lead magnets
Educating your audience is the perfect way to showcase your expertise in mortgage, while simultaneously empowering your clients with knowledge about the process. This could be through blog posts on your website or lead magnets. Lead magnets are downloadable items like checklists and guidebooks that provide value to the people who receive them.
Here are a few ideas for educational content:
- Mortgage and housing market data in your area
- A step-by-step breakdown of the mortgage process
- Mortgage rates over time, plus how they impact the current market
- Closing checklist
- How to improve your credit score
In addition to your written content, consider creating videos based on your content and posting them on YouTube and your other social media channels. You can even send videos or downloadable content in email campaigns to educate your client base and spread the word about your mortgage services.
5. Ask for referrals through your sphere of influence
Any professional, no matter what business you’re in, will tell you the importance of word-of-mouth. The more people who sing your praises, the better, because that will mean more people coming to you to secure a mortgage. What’s more, trust is already built in since it’s a recommendation between two people who know each other.
So, what can you do to keep people talking? Ask for referrals! Make a list of all the people you know, also known as your sphere of influence, and let them know you’re in the mortgage industry and ready to help anyone looking to secure financing. These friends, family, past co-workers or any else you have a personal relationship with, will be the ones to talk about you and promote your services–free of charge.
Related articles
7 ways to expand your sphere of influence in real estate in 2025
12 real estate referral strategies that actually generate leads
6. Send direct mail to your farm area
Marketing is all about getting your face, expertise and services out in public. You want to be recognized in your community, so when someone says, “I’m looking into buying a house,” the other person says, “I know a great loan officer, I’ll give you their number!” A tried-and-true way to do that is to send direct mail to your immediate farm area.
Your farm area is the specific location(s) you’re seeking to do mortgage business. Your best bet is to pick several zip codes and send targeted direct mail campaigns to addresses in those neighborhoods. How do you find the addresses? Simple: Use a direct mail service like Mailing.com or Wise Pelican. You’ll be able to obtain mailing lists so your customized postcards, letters or self-mailers will be sent and tracked easily, and the mortgage leads will come rolling in.
7. Organize your CRM to prioritize hot leads
Spreadsheets to organize your contacts – totally out, but a client relationship manager (CRM) is very in. If you don’t have a CRM, go buy one now, but if you do have one, it’s time to optimize it. Here are a couple of tips to boost your mortgage lead generation:
- Make sure all your contacts are included. Download all contacts from your phone, email and social media channels and upload them into your CRM.
- Go through each contact to make sure all information is attached to the contact. This includes email, phone number, address of current home, date their current home was purchased, home price, mortgage rate, etc.
- Eliminate duplicate contacts.
- Segment your audiences by tagging leads in different categories, such as hot leads, past clients, first-time homebuyers, new prospects, etc.
- Set up automations for each of your segmented audiences. Send them campaigns that resonate with their future plans. For example, a breakdown of loan options and how they work, or a closing costs worksheet for buyers.
This may seem like a lot of work, but it’s necessary to make the most of your mortgage lead generation. Fello is an add-on integration to your current CRM that will make optimization easy. Fello cutting-edge AI technology will help you sort your CRM and add crucial information to each contact to determine which leads to target. It even scores your leads so you know who to touch base with first.
Visit Fello
8. Build a useful and informative website
Your website should be a hub of information for your potential mortgage customers. Your goal is to add value and build trust with each website visitor so they are more likely to click on your call to action (CTA) button and become a lead in your pipeline.
The website should include items such as content about various mortgage options, like conventional, VA and FHA loans, an explanation of the mortgage process, property valuation tools and a mortgage calculator. Most importantly, you’ll want to include lead capture forms that visitors complete, so you have all the necessary details of their homebuying journey before you start the process with them.
Related articles
The 8 best real estate website builders of 2025
The 10 best real estate website design trends for 2025 (+ why they work)
9. Host in-person and virtual events
Many people, especially first-time homebuyers, don’t understand how the mortgage process works. As part of your role, it’s necessary that you educate clients so that once they sign the paperwork to purchase a new home, they know what they’re getting themselves into. So get ahead of it and start educating potential clients through in-person seminars or virtual webinars before they even use your services.
Send an invite to your sphere of influence, prospective clients and other real estate professionals who might be interested in attending themselves or have clients who would. Present the mortgage process from pre-qualification to closing and showcase how valuable a knowledgeable professional is throughout the process. Use real-life examples to give them an idea of pricing and how you will help them along the way. This will build trust and credibility, but also show people how you care about what you do and have the expertise to back it up.
Pro Tip
Co-brand the event with a real estate agent, home inspector or title company to split the cost and provide even more value to your audience.
10. Join community activities
Part of being the go-to MLO in your area is getting to know the locals. Community activities put you front and center with the people you’ll be serving in your area, so they can see your face and get to know you as a person. Yes, generating mortgage leads is the ultimate goal, but building relationships will be the thing that gets you there.
Participate in a charity walk, set up a booth at a market or sponsor a Little League team. No matter what you choose, make sure it’s something you believe in so you can fully participate and get to know your neighbors. Then, once they’ve gotten to know you, drop information about your business and how you can help them or anyone they know secure financing for a new property. Now that they trust you, they’ll be much more likely to refer your services.
11. Implement email drip campaigns
One of the best set-it-and-forget-it mortgage lead generation ideas is email drip campaigns. These campaigns consist of a series of emails sent at varying intervals to nurture and engage your audience over time. Use the segmented audiences (mentioned in idea seven) to guide the email content you send in your drip campaigns. For example, you could send an educational series for new leads who are first-time homebuyers.
Here are a few email ideas for the campaign:
- Day 1 – Introduction: Provide information about mortgage options and basics about how each type works.
- Day 3 – Facts vs. Myths: Give common myths about mortgages and debunk them using actual facts and statistics.
- Day 6 – Down Payments: Explain the purpose of down payments and the amount required at different price points.
- Day 10 – Interest Rates: Speak about trends in loan rates, news about the future forecast of rates and how that affects the buying process.
The full picture
Continually generating leads is the key to staying busy and profitable in the mortgage industry. Employ a few of these mortgage lead generation ideas to get started and see what works best for your business. Be consistent with these methods and you’ll have a full inbox in no time.
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