Mortgage Marketing Strategy: Cash Basis

Discuss about the Mortgage Marketing Strategy for Cash Basis.

 

Based on the current statistics and market projections, the real estate business is booming and will continue to grow. A great number of buyers, especially in urban areas are willing to own their own first homes and be able to do so with ease. Some have argued against purchasing a mortgage, majorly due to the long procedures involved that may delay the purchase process as well as make it frustrating for the buyer in the long run. Furthermore, the additional benefits that cash buyers of new properties have over mortgages in that they do not have to pay any interests to any company, which in the long run is cheaper than having to pay any interest at all[1]. Regardless of these facts, it is well known that very few people on the market for new homes rely on cash payments. This essay aims to provide a workable marketing plan that would be able to increase the number of sales on mortgages by our company.

Market Analysis

As stated above, the mortgage market has been on the rise, majorly due to the fact that majority of buyers are not able to buy the houses on a cash basis. Some may argue that the reduced interest rates in the repayment of mortgages over the past few years has made it worth it for a great number of consumers. The end result is that the number of persons who have been willing to get a mortgage has increased steadily but surely.

Statistics show that out of the total number of houses within Australia, more than a third of these houses are purchased via some form of financial assistance, and in particular mortgages[2]. The statistics further show that the vast majority of homes purchased in Australia with the help of mortgages are already established dwellings and houses, which account for approximately 70% of the new house sales in Australia on their own[3]. The values of the said houses also had a spike with the figure in 2016 February rising from $31,500,000,000 to $33,500,000,000 in February 2017. The rise in the number of mortgage commitments however reduced slightly by about $1,000,000,000.

In the month preceding February 2017, the total value of mortgages at the time was 0.4% lower, even though the number of commitments rose by about 0.7%. Furthermore, the occupied house commitments also rose by about 0.2%[4]. certain forecasters point out that it may be possible that the total number of commitments had fallen by about 2.7% in the past month. However, this figure has been argued not to reflect the exact and accurate trends within the mortgage and housing finance industry.

SWOT Analysis

Some may argue as to why a SWOT analysis may be necessary to the development of a marketing plan. Every marketing plan is based on the fact that the company is in need of a new way to be able to reach its clientele. In order to do so effectively, the company would therefore need to take the necessary steps to be able to identify the different strengths and weaknesses that the company has, as well as analyze the different opportunities and threats that may face the company[5].

Strengths.

The first and foremost strength that may be assumed to be the basis of the stability of the company is the fact that the company is privileged to be part of a stable and successful financial group. This strength is able to provide the clientele with the peace of mind, knowing that the company shall remain stable and thus not affect the interest rates or other variables on the mortgage[6]. Due to the reason above, the company therefore enjoys a good image in the public eye, and also furthermore enjoys a strong financial base. The ability to manage the equipment and human resource effectively shall always affect the strength and functioning of any company. Our company excels at this.

Weaknesses

Our company has faced its fair share of weaknesses, the most pronounced being the fact that there have been low sales in some of the products that are on offer. Additionally, the customer base has viewed mortgages as an old fashioned means to acquire property, thus making it less appealing to the younger and less understanding buyers. One other weakness is the fact that our company has not been actively involved in planning how to market our mortgage products.

Opportunities

To be able to capitalize on the current market needs for mortgages and financial assistance to purchase homes, it is important for our company to make the effort and create a support arm for the marketing department as a whole. The ability to also connect and relate our products to our parent company’s products would be a great opportunity that would help the company grow steadily and curve a niche in the competitive mortgage market.

Threats

As stated under the opportunities section, there is constant competition in the mortgage market. The increased competition is definitely a threat, as more firms are slowly attempting to enter the mortgage business and therefore would cost us the much needed finances that would be key in the running of the company[7]. The changes in mortgage related legislation is definitely a problem, meaning that our company is to modify and adapt our plans and strategies to be able to reflect the changes made in legislation.

Marketing Strategy

Majority of our competitors face similar, if not the same challenges[8] and therefore, we can say that the mortgages market is a level playing field for most of the companies involved[9]. However, in order to succeed, it is important for us to advance and be prepared to go the extra mile in order to be able to beat the competition[10]. Creative and targeted marketing is the main means to be able to capitalize on the current market base. Newspapers have for the longest time been the easiest and most successful means to advertise products to the masses. However, the younger crowd, who are the majority of the first home owners and need the mortgage to be able to buy the home do not read newspapers as much and therefore would not be able to get to know about the different products we have to offer[11].

To be able to handle this, we should invest more in social media marketing, as this is the future. Majority of our target market is the youth, who spend less time on traditional forms of media and majorly focus on social media and online media as a means to learn of new products and services. With a reach into social media marketing, we would have an edge over the competition and stand higher chance of increasing the number of mortgages sold to new customers and first home owners.

Aside from social media campaigns, we need to use our current online platforms to be able to make it easier for our customers to be able to handle and purchase mortgages. In particular, our website would need to be modified, redesigned if need be, to be able to support better user interactions and furthermore be able to keep the users on our site for longer. The website should have a system whereby we can monitor the number of visitors and frequency of the visits to be able to properly analyze how effective it is.

Implementation Plan 

In order for the marketing plan to be successfully implemented, it would require advanced and careful planning by the various departments. First, the workforce that shall be involved in the marketing campaigns shall have to be properly trained on the intricate details of online marketing and how to successfully market products to the youth via online channels. In order to do this, the finance department shall need to be involved so as to cater to the financial needs and necessary resources required to be able to train the workforce. The ICT department would also need to work hand in hand with the marketing department to ensure that the website and other channels are properly optimized in order to reach more persons in te target demographic.           

Growth Plan

In the end, the main aim of the elaborate marketing campaign is to make sure that the company sales are able to grow significantly within a given period of time. With a proper online marketing strategy, there is going to be a significant increase in the number of sales of mortgages to the new customers and also there shall be a clear growth in the number of mortgages sold. Based on previous statistics, I project that there shall be a 10 percent growth within the first quarter of implementation.

Bibliography

Arping Stefan, Deposit competition and loan markets, Journal of Banking & Finance, 2017

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Housing Finance Australia February 2017, 10th February 2017, <https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/5609.0Main+Features1February%202017?OpenDocument>

Cerutti Eugenio, Dagher Jihad and Giovanni Dell'Ariccia, Housing Finance and Real-Estate Booms: A Cross-Country Perspective, Journal of Housing Economics (2017)

 Deloitte, The Deloitte Australian Mortgage Report 2016 Delivering tomorrow, today? 2016, p.4

LeBlanc Jean, Applying SWOT to the Mortgage Industry (September 10, 2013), <https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/26275/applying-swot-mortgage-industry>

Myers Erin, 7 Marketing Ideas for Mortgage Loan Officers in 2017, <https://www.outboundengine.com/blog/marketing-ideas-for-mortgage-loan-officers/>

The Conversation, Australia’s housing finance in seven charts (April 15, 2016), <https://theconversation.com/australias-housing-finance-in-seven-charts-57870>

Tzanetos Georgina, getting a Mortgage vs. Paying Cash for Investment Properties (November 11, 2016), <https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/111116/getting-mortgage-vs-paying-cash-investment-properties.asp>

Zhu Bing, Betzinger Michael &Steffen Sebastian, Housing market stability, mortgage market structure, and monetary policy: Evidence from the euro area, Journal of Housing Economics, 2017