If your lending institution has gone through the rigamarole of getting approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, you want to make sure it pays off. Literally. You put resources into going through the approval process and training staff on the applicable underwriting requirements. You want to see some return on that investment. 

That’s why we want to introduce you to VARates.Now, the new loan comparison and education network. It puts today’s VA rates in front of potential borrowers. And that gives you a way to get your loans in front of them, too. 

Let’s drill a little deeper. 

What VARates.Now does for borrowers

VARates.Now offers borrowers a wide range of resources, from education (e.g., “Can I Use My VA Loan Benefit After I Separate From Service?” “Do I Really Need 0% Down?) to calculators. It explains some of the trickier parts of VA loans, giving people an alternative to the VA’s site. Along the way, it provides this information without pushing any specific lender or loan products. 

Just as importantly (for them and you), it gives borrowers a real-time look at the VA loan rate environment. By showcasing average rates from a number of lenders, the website helps people understand if they can afford to buy. And if they can, it helps them explore lenders who can help them do it. 

What VARates.Now can do for you

If your lending institution offers VA loans, you’ve probably felt some pain trying to find the right lead generation channels. Sure, there are ways to advertise on mortgage rate tables like the ones on Bankrate or Lending Tree. But those tend to be better tailored to conventional loan borrowers. They’re usually seeking out general information, and these broad-ranging websites help them find it. 

With veterans and service members, it’s different. They’re not trying to learn how mortgages work in general. They want to get info about VA loans. Fortunately, the federal government has resources to help them there. Unfortunately for you, so do major lenders like Navy Federal Credit Union and Veterans United Home Loans. 

VARates.Now gives you a way to thread that needle. It’s an information resource for borrowers tailored to VA loans, not mortgages in general. And it gives you a way to get eyes on your loan products without having to compete against major lenders for search engine placement or AI answer optimization. 

Say you secure a spot on a VARates.Now loan rate table. If someone sees your company and likes what you offer, they can click on you. This takes them to a lead workflow, during which they input details like the purpose of their loan and their zip code. That workflow also inquires about their timeline to buy and with which military branch they served. All told, it should take the lead about 30 seconds to complete. 

The process then offers them a personalized rate dashboard. They access it by providing their email. And just like that, they become a qualified, high-intent lead that your team can pursue. 

Two ways to get started with VARates.Now

On average, it only takes mortgage teams two days to onboard with VARates.Now. You get to choose how you want to structure your advertising program. You can pay per click, or pay only when users submit contact information. Regardless, you can rest easy that any lead you get is a qualified, high-intent one. 

If you’ve been looking for a way to generate VA loan leads, you have a couple of specific ways you can do that through advertising on VARates.Now. 

VA loan rate tables

If you already advertise on other rate tables, you know the drill here. The difference is that with VARates.Now, you know every potential borrower is looking for a VA loan. There’s no need to scratch your head and wonder which loan product will be the right fit. People visit VARates.Now to get information about VA rates, and you can show them yours. 

To help you further narrow your focus to the right type of borrower, VARates.Now has a variety of rate table categories. Your options for highlighting your current offering include:

• 30-year fixed VA loans
• 15-year fixed VA loans
• Jumbo VA loans
• First-time buyers
• VA cash-out refinances
• VA interest rate reduction refinance loans (IRRRLs)

By showcasing your marketing rate, you do a few things. First, you take the critical first step of making sure the potential borrower knows you exist. Then, you let them know that you’re there to help. You’re more than happy to provide current rate information to aid them in their hunt for the right loan. 

By showing up right where potential borrowers are already looking, you help the borrower establish familiarity with your company. You can translate that into trust. And that makes it easier for your team to close more loans more quickly. 

Lender reviews

When people need a home loan, they want to get it from a team they trust. The loan you’re about to underwrite probably represents one of the biggest — if not the biggest — financial decisions of their life. They want to know they’re in good hands.

To help lenders establish credibility, VARates.Now features a section for lender reviews. These highlight specific VA lenders. In addition to showing their NMLS number, it spotlights their score on Zillow, Yelp, and/or Google Reviews. (Those can be hidden if you don’t have any reviews on either site or they’re not positive.)

To help people feel like they understand the lender, each review also includes a personal testimonial. This gives you an opportunity to have your top client essentially advocate for your team. 

Building an optimized mortgage lead pipeline

Getting more leads into your VA loan pipeline gives you a leg up. More opportunities to close mean more chances for your loan officers to win. It also means more opportunities for your company to make money.

To realize the full upside there, you need to get these leads to convert to closed loans. We can help with that. To support lending teams, we offer everything from AI lead scoring to drip campaign support through rate alert emails. To learn more, schedule some time with our team at BankingBridge.