One question I get over and over again from loan officers is "Are internet leads a good source for new business?" My answer always is "Well, yes and no. Proceed with caution and please be careful."

What I about to share with you today, is the REAL truth about internet leads, and something no one else in the industry is talking about. You won't hear this information anywhere else! It's one of the most hidden aspects of mortgage marketing.

Yes, internet leads are a great source for new business. They put you in touch with people whom you may have never been in contact with otherwise, and they enable you to sell loans beyond your local marketplace.

There are only so many networking groups, realtor offices, and industry events you can handle. So, in terms of an efficient use of time, internet leads are a great way to have a pile of ready-interested consumers looking to buy now.

Internet leads, are people who have eagerly searched for information, filled-out a lead form, and raised their hand, saying "I want the lowest rate I can find, show me what you've got, please call or email me!". In theory, these leads should be pretty easy to close. Yes, in theory-but not in reality. Let me explain...

Here's where internet leads go wrong and why you should be extra careful about buying them:

* Not all internet leads are created equal. Some lead companies don't generate the leads they sell. They may purchase leads from outside third parties and sell them as their own under their own name. So you are really buying leads from another source, not the one you are buying from.

* Many lead companies don't work exclusively in the mortgage industry; they may sell leads from many industries such as financial planning, credit cards, real estate, etc. How do you know that the leads you are buying are specific to a person wanting to get a mortgage?

* Many of the internet leads are not properly qualified. Before you spend money on leads, make sure that the prospects have been vetted and are legitimate actual buyers. Also, you don't want to deal with all poor credit or bankruptcy leads.

* Be careful of which lead companies you deal with. The mortgage refinance boom generated a lot of ancillary businesses, including a boom in mortgage marketing companies. I've been tracking them for years, and my initial list of 18 lead companies has mushroomed into a list of hundreds with new ones popping up left and right.

* Don't invest too much money upfront in buying leads. Lead companies usually charge $25 to $40 a piece for the day-old "fresh" leads, and many have a minimum purchase amount usually in the $2,000 to $3,000 range to start. That is a lot of upfront capital and risk you are taking for leads that may or may not produce any business for you.

* Look at the prospect website the company uses to generate the actual lead itself. You will want to know how the customer finds the site, and what methods the lead company uses to entice them to fill-out the form. If they are giving away free merchandise or some other bribe, then you don't want those leads. Obviously, the person just wants the prize and not necessarily the mortgage. Anyone can fill-out a form.

* Consider the fields and information the lead form is collecting. Will this information help you in identifying and selling the loan to the prospect? If the lead form is short and doesn't have all the loan information you need, it means more work for you. You will have to chase people down that aren't properly qualified and will waste time on leads that go nowhere.

* Many internet leads you buy from lead companies are "recycled". Here's what happens...a loan officer buys a batch of leads from a lead company and spends $2,500 on them. He works those leads hard, calls them all, and finds out that the customers aren't interested, have already gotten a mortgage, or are just playing games. Bottom line--he is out the $2,500 and has no loans to show for his "investment". So what does he do? He simply bundles up those bogus leads, finds a lead provider that buys outside third-party leads. He then re-sells them to the new lead company as leftover prospects he "didn't have time to call", or they are from "out of state" and "couldn't be used". The new lead buys up the batch, calls them "fresh leads just in today", and sells them to YOU, the unsuspecting loan officer. And the cycle repeats. You can see why internet lead providers have a bad reputation. Now you know why. And, I can't believe that no one else is the industry, except Sink or Swim, is talking about this!

I got a call from a loan officer in Lansing, Michigan recently and he called to tell me that he was an avid reader of my newsletter but was giving-up and throwing in the towel. He said he was burnt-out, tired of chasing realtors, and dealing with customers that play games. He had had enough!

When I asked him what lead to his decision, he said that he had only been in the industry for about a year, and had to learn everything himself along the way, but didn't feel confident in himself because he wasn't closing many loans. He said that business became a lot tougher and more cut-throat and he just couldn't compete with everyone else out there. (His wife was all on him too!)

When I asked him why he had gotten into mortgages, he said he did it because he heard that there was "big money to be made" and he figured a couple loans under his belt would be more than he made in a year. He said he always had a passing interest in "real estate" but had never bought or sold a home before and didn't know much about the finance side of things. He quickly found-out how complex and difficult this business is.

I had little sympathy for him. With chasing "big money" and having absolutely no training whatsoever, it's no wonder he didn't succeed. He got into mortgages for the wrong reason-to chase a golden ticket. Not, because he was passionate and wanted to help people.

Yes, this business is difficult, but it's the easiest job in the world once you know what to do. (We were all new at one point!) No other industry is so step-by-step and logical. On every deal, you know the end result-close the loan. But, how you get there is where the challenge lies, and why people thrive in this business! They love the challenge and the rewards that come every day. It's exciting!

Over the past few years, mortgage ranks have swollen from 180,000 to over 300,000 people in the industry. That's a whole lot of people who have only known the golden days of the refi-boom. They know how to be an order-taker not a loan officer.

People who have been around for 10 years or more know what it means to ORIGINATE a loan. It means marketing yourself aggressively, building a reputation and generating a steady stream of referrals. They've seen high rates and low rates and they know that this too will pass. In another 8 to 10 years, rates will start to go down again, and they'll be well prepared to take advantage of the next interest cycle. Veteran producers aren't giving-up. Neither should you. Decide now if you have the guts and determination to stick-it out. Do you have a passion for what you do?

Be thankful for the shake-up because it means that a whole lot of unskilled loan officers will go the way of the dodo bird and stop ruining the reputation of the industry. And it means a whole lot more business for you!

For lots of people getting the ideal Kansas mortgage can be the source of a large problem but like many things organizing a good Kansas Mortgage is not remotely as large a difficulty as may be suggested at first glance.

It's a key element to remember that with a good application of some clear ideas, getting an outstanding Kansas mortgage is not a major difficulty.

When the time has come to procure a first class Kansas mortgage, do some preliminary investigation because the Internet can show itself to be a wonderful source of extremely good information when you have to organize the best possible Kansas mortgage.

When the requirement has arisen to apply for mortgage, online research can really be your best friend in terms of coming to grip with mortgages but it's very important to understand that most of the information on the net comes from commercial sources. Once you know this, you can understand how important it is to check in different places to make sure that the data you have to hand is accurate.

Your previous credit history is one of the major determining factors when it comes to securing a mortgage and getting a good deal. If it's ever happened that you've had any irregularities with your credit rating then now would be a good time to repair any potential difficulties in terms of your credit record.

One vital element that is worth keeping in mind is that all the solid wisdom of what a good deal is (given market conditions) will not be that irregular. As a result of this particular problem, it is really a requirement to be wary of applying too much importance to short-term variables.

Because of all the finance product advice that you will read on various web sites it's not difficult to arrive at a conclusion that nearly all the institutions and brokers are setting virtually the same products but thinking this, is a really bad idea as that is categorically not how things actually are and it's more accurate to say that each of the financial institutions have products that have some very dissimilar building blocks

During the past few years, several new transformations have taken place in the industry and potentially the biggest of the deviations from tradition is the wide adoption of the application via the Internet as this has caused the business to move towards being a lot more competitive and because of this it has become feasible for the general public to keep more of their own money compared with what was conceivable just a few years ago.

Once the time has arrived to research this particular area, like anything that comes from a financial services business, you are likely to discover that a lot of the financial speak that is commonly used by any of the financial companies can be quite difficult to comprehend but it's very necessary to work at it as it is quite crucial that you have at your disposal a good understanding because in the end this will give you the upper hand once you need to do business with any single financial institution.

A fairly straightforward thing that you really should keep an eye out for is beyond the heavily featured interest-rate. In the long run that interest-rate will be significantly less crucial that it would appear at this point in time and it is extremely critical over the longer term for your financial well-being that you're going to have become part of a deal that is made with good terms and conditions. To put it simply, the terms and conditions are really the thing you really need to be checking out in detail.

The finance industries have become increasingly inclined towards giving the impression that there isn't any scope for negotiation in the various products they have available. This is absolutely not accurate and a large number of potential customers could actually make some real savings if they were to utilize the room for negotiating that exists in deals of this nature. Lots of people find the descriptions of finance products to be quite confusing and considering the style of language that is often presented in this type of material, I completely comprehend how this can be possible but it's crucial to utilize that scope for negotiation to save some money.