Internet Ads
Advertising August 15th, 2009Caveat Emptor!
63% of seniors use the internet as a research tool. You can learn a lot on the internet… if you are very careful. We don’t mean careful about computer security (although you should always protect your equipment from potential virus infection). We mean that you should understand that there are hundreds of internet-based commercial operations promising to “put you in touch with our preferred lenders” or have “our reverse mortgage expert call you immediately” or “send you valuable reverse mortgage information“.
Beware!
These people are simply trolling for names and addresses that they turn around and sell to lenders anywhere in the country. Some lenders will pay as little as $5 per name or as much as $150 depending upon so-called quality. The more expensive “leads” are usually the result of responses to TV commercials – like the long running but recently yanked Robert Wagner offer to learn “much, much more…” – by requesting a free DVD or video. Chances are good that contact information was sold to a lender willing to call you repeatedly (usually at dinnertime) and annoyingly offer reverse mortgage services.
Google Ads
If you “google” the words reverse mortgages you come up with millions of listings. Listings that appear on the resulting first page are not there by accident. There is an entire industry dealing with SEO (search engine optimization) that assists those who want to appear among the first few pages of search results. For a fee, search engines allow individuals or companies to have their listing appear within the top couple of positions. These paid listings are recognized by the shaded yellow background. More advertisers appear on the extreme right column of the page. You have to wonder why would someone pay money to have you click on their listing? The answer is usually (but not always) that they will be making money from the information they collect from you.
Other Problems
In the experience of many, the promised information is almost worthless. The material you might receive will be generic at best, outdated and inaccurate at worst. The list of “preferred lenders” is laughable. Even HUD’s lender list is woefully inaccurate, incomplete and way out of date. These lists are far worse.
Boiler Room Operations
Not only is the information probably worthless, it is likely that you will be dealing with someone sitting in a room full of phone banks calling seniors all over the country from a location in, say – Colorado. You will never see this person face-to-face. This person will know nothing about lending regulations in your state, say – Massachusetts. You will have no idea if this person is an expert in the reverse mortgage industry or a youngster that started working the phones yesterday.
Author – Robert H. Irving, CSA
Senior Reverse Mortgage Consultant
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