Latest / Mortgage Marketing Radio / Only 19% of Gen Z Trust Loan Officers - Here's How to Fix That
Transcript
- 0:00Here's a statistic that should get every loan officer's attention.
- 0:03Only 19% of Gen Z trust loan officers, yet 75% trust friends and family for home buying information.
- 0:12Think about that for a minute.
- 0:13The next generation of home buyers wants to own a home, but many don't know where to start.
- 0:18They believe they need 20% down, they're confused about financing options, and they're terrified of making an expensive mistake.
- 0:25So here's the problem.
- 0:27If these buyers don't trust you, they're never going to call you.
- 0:30And as you build your business for 2027, that trust gap could be costing you opportunities you don't even know exist.
- 0:36My name is Jeff Zimfer, and you're listening to the Mortgage Marketing Radio Podcast.
- 0:40Today, we're answering a critical question.
- 0:42How do you earn the trust of the next generation of homebuyers?
- 0:46Get them into conversations and help turn their desire for homeownership into actual mortgage applications.
- 0:52Joining me is Nora Guerrera, Senior Vice President of Community Lending Solutions at Guild Mortgage, and she's a former affordable lending leader at Freddie Mac.
- 1:01Nora is sharing findings from a four-wave research study conducted in partnership with YouGov that reveals what younger buyers actually think.
- 1:09and what they're afraid of and what they need from you, the mortgage professional.
- 1:13And we're getting very practical.
- 1:15You'll discover three things.
- 1:16Number one, the six emerging buyer personas you need to recognize and how to communicate with each one.
- 1:23Second, why your current marketing content may be missing the mark
- 1:27and the specific tools and educational resources these buyers are actively looking for.
- 1:32And third, how to use AI, personalized conversations and trusted partnerships to build confidence and move hesitant buyers closer to home ownership.
- 1:41And here's something that might surprise you.
- 1:43Despite all the hype about AI, just 6% of Gen Z respondents trust AI more than a person for mortgage advice.
- 1:51That's a tremendous opportunity for law officers who know how to position themselves as trusted advisors.
- 1:57So if you're serious about building your purchase pipeline in 2027, understanding these changing buyers isn't optional.
- 2:03It's time to close the conversational gap.
- 2:06Let's get into this week's show.
- 2:15Nora, welcome to the show.
- 2:16Thank you so much, Jeff.
- 2:18So excited to be here.
- 2:20I'm thrilled to have this conversation with you.
- 2:23because it's timely, it's important.
- 2:25And it's one of those topics that, you know, when people first hear about, I don't want to, for the listener, do not make the assumption that you've heard this before, or do not under emphasize the importance of the information you're about to hear today.
- 2:39Because the way I see it, it could determine your success or failure with how well you connect with the buyer of the future.
- 2:49How's that for a setup?
- 2:50I love that.
- 2:51And I totally agree with you.
- 2:52We don't want you to miss an additional opportunity.
- 2:55I know you guys are experts in your markets, but this may be just something that you might be able to identify.
- 3:02These personas are just changing.
- 3:05And Jeff, as you and I were preparing for this podcast, we kept saying things like, oh my gosh, this is so different from what we're used to or we know in the industry.
- 3:14Yeah.
- 3:14So we're going to frame this conversation today in the way of helping the listener close the conversation gap with the buyer of the future.
- 3:24So with that said, who is the buyer of the future?
- 3:27How do you want to characterize them?
- 3:29I think...
- 3:30Age demographic definitely plays a role in this, but think of anyone who just hasn't bought a home for different reasons.
- 3:39Let's break that out, though.
- 3:40Who can it be?
- 3:42We've got a lot of these older millennials, you know, that due to the 2008 mortgage crisis, they saw their parents lose their homes and
- 3:50they just felt deterred or they just thought homeownership is not for me.
- 3:54I saw what my parents went through and it was traumatic.
- 3:57Remember so much trauma happened for, uh, you know, those millions of home buyers that lost their homes during the crisis and their children were observers and those children are now older millennials.
- 4:10So they've created household formations that had children.
- 4:13They now have kids in college and,
- 4:15And they just may now be called historical renters, unfortunately, because many of them just said homeownership is not for me.
- 4:23These programs are so scary.
- 4:25I don't want to lose a home.
- 4:27And it's really sad, Jeff, because a lot of those programs are gone.
- 4:31We don't you know, we know qualify buyers to the full extent of the credit box.
- 4:37I worked at Freddie Mac.
- 4:38I really, really was, you know, well-educated on what it takes to be able to create a loan program.
- 4:46And as we know, after Dodd-Frank, I mean, the entire industry had an overhaul from servicing to origination to our capital markets team to be able to sustain homeownership.
- 4:57And I feel that that older millennial may, you know, have just missed that opportunity of possible inventory.
- 5:05Yeah.
- 5:06possible affordability, and in some instances, low interest rates, you know, that market while they were after they graduated college, they had opportunities, but a lot of them thought for such a long time prior to COVID, you know, I'm just going to experience, I'm going to travel, I'm going to have a different type of experience than my parents.
- 5:28And so they became renters and then COVID happened.
- 5:32And they lived with mom and dad for a little bit.
- 5:33And I feel like they felt that trauma.
- 5:37And so they said, no, I may have to buy a house.
- 5:40And in some areas, maybe they got priced out.
- 5:44But then I think of that younger millennial and that younger millennial saw the older millennial wait.
- 5:49So they were also hesitant.
- 5:51But that younger millennial, I feel, has pulled the trigger.
- 5:55Like in the age group of 35 years old, and I think that is the buyer that we are now seeing, you know, is definitely active in pursuing homeownership.
- 6:06Now we have these younger future buyers, and it's these Gen Zers, you know, second cohort just graduated college, and they've entered the workforce, and they need housing, as we all do.
- 6:18So I think...
- 6:19There's a good mix somewhere in there of the buyer of the future.
- 6:23Yeah, let me clarify that a little bit because I want to make sure people are catching what you said.
- 6:27If I'm hearing you correctly, you said the older millennials.
- 6:31So let's just, is this 40-ish older millennials?
- 6:35Yeah, like about 46 years old to 36.
- 6:38So, okay.
- 6:40So we can reach as far as to 46 and somebody still considered a millennial.
- 6:45Okay, yeah, that's interesting.
- 6:46So it's been a while since people have thought of that.
- 6:48Just think of that.
- 6:50Now I remember the last stat I saw, and you and I talked about this the other day, was that the average age of a first time home buyer has now increased to around 40 years old.
- 6:59Is that correct?
- 6:59Yes, I saw that statistic as well, yes.
- 7:03But what you're referring to here with what you just shared,
- 7:07is correct me, I just want to kind of, you know, restate this.
- 7:10The older air quotes millennial is the age group that has maybe decided owning a home isn't for them and they are continuing to rent.
- 7:21But the younger folks, the Gen Z, the 26 ish, where you give me the age brackets on them.
- 7:27They're the ones that have a renewed interest in home buying.
- 7:31Well, we actually did a study.
- 7:34We're on our fourth wave.
- 7:35And we started reaching out to some respondents that were all Gen Zers.
- 7:41And we were pretty shocked at some of the feedback we started receiving.
- 7:45And it was comments like, I absolutely want to purchase a home, but I don't know where to start.
- 7:51Or, yes, I feel homeownership is for me.
- 7:55Or my parents have encouraged homeownership.
- 7:56We're having those conversations.
- 7:58And we're seeing a larger problem.
- 8:01engagement, at least on the conversation.
- 8:04When I worked at Freddie Mac, I was part of presenting the Buyer of the Future, which was about a four year study.
- 8:11And we were seeing so much more hesitation from that age demographic in that era.
- 8:16And a lot of these millennials tend to say things like, I'm not quite sure, you know, I'm not sure if I will own a home.
- 8:23And it was a little more hesitant where this younger wave of buyers in our in our
- 8:30survey were absolutely saying, and it was the majority saying, I'd love to have a conversation on homeownership or I'd love to own a home, but I don't know where to start.
- 8:40Do you think the difference in there with the age difference on, you know, the older checked out versus the younger open, want to have a conversation, they're open.
- 8:51What's the defining difference?
- 8:52Is it the older group are shell shocked, right?
- 8:55Had the trauma like you talked about?
- 8:57think so.
- 8:58I almost feel like, you know, our economic crisis and the housing crisis, you know, and all of these parents sharing these stories with them, kind of created a hesitancy in that older millennial.
- 9:13And they just, you know, parents weren't
- 9:15as encouraging saying, hey, start saving money, you know, open up that 401k or open up that 401k for sure.
- 9:23But it wasn't towards the goal of homeownership.
- 9:26The goal wasn't aggressive like it had been in previous generations.
- 9:30Like think of those boomers, their parents, you know,
- 9:33after the war were saying, we're buying a home, you've got to go to college, you've got to save from a house.
- 9:40And it was leading that conversation of homeownership.
- 9:43And I feel after the crisis, a lot of those parents were also shocked.
- 9:49Like, how did this happen to us?
- 9:50And maybe that conversation was, didn't you see what we just went through?
- 9:54Do you want to lose a home?
- 9:56And I think that era really was discouraging on homeownership for those older millennials.
- 10:02But I feel that younger millennial, those younger siblings might not remember that.
- 10:06And now these Gen Z buyers definitely don't even know what that was about.
- 10:10So the conversation is now turned.
- 10:12And I feel that the parents have seen a wealth building through equity, you know, since that crisis, we've, you know, housing appreciation has just taken off because of affordability and lack of inventory.
- 10:25So now they're saying, you know, to the younger generations, okay.
- 10:28I actually own two Gen Zers and one Alpha, and I've been having homeownership conversations with them since they were in junior high.
- 10:35And I constantly tell them, you have to prepare with financial literacy.
- 10:38You've got to go to college.
- 10:40You've got to save.
- 10:41You've got to get a job.
- 10:42And this is what homeownership strategies look like.
- 10:45And I have a ton of equity.
- 10:47Mom and dad, my husband and I are saying, we'd love to help you guys get into a home.
- 10:52But I feel that conversation is happening in other households.
- 10:56I think we've seen, you know, the positive of our industry and really great programs, you know, that are out there that are really trying to help consumers engage.
- 11:06And, you know, I know affordability right now is such a huge issue, but there's pockets of affordability.
- 11:12I used to be a national affordable lending manager at Freddie Mac, and it was my job to find those pockets of affordability and, you know, initiate homeownership initiatives there to help encourage these future buyers.
- 11:29Okay, so I've got some of the research data printed out here.
- 11:32We're going to go through some of this because I really want to put this in a context for the listeners or if you're watching this, how you can actually utilize this with your strategy when it comes to marketing, communication systems that you might need to put in place.
- 11:47So we kind of open it up with saying, you know, a conversation gap.
- 11:51And you've used the word confidence a number of times.
- 11:53So I think it's obvious, like one of the key takeaways is that most of these young people don't have a lot of confidence in their ability to buy.
- 12:01Is that correct?
- 12:02Right.
- 12:03Yeah.
- 12:03And it all goes back to their...
- 12:06kind of lack of financial literacy.
- 12:09You know, I speak at universities across the country on financial literacy.
- 12:15I'm an ambassador to Freddie Mac's award-winning financial curriculum.
- 12:18It's called Credit Smart.
- 12:20And teaching these classes, you know, I have to tell you, there's so much, you know, so much feedback or so many takeaways that I bring back to my team.
- 12:29And I'm like, oh,
- 12:29My gosh, they think they need 20% down.
- 12:32No, they don't.
- 12:33They think they need perfect credit.
- 12:34No, they don't.
- 12:35They think, you know, there's programs out there working against them.
- 12:39And that's the opposite.
- 12:40But also, they're really wanting the information.
- 12:46That's a positive because I feel for such a long time, maybe, you know, in these initiatives that I put together, a lot of these millennials were like, I'm not really interested where this survey was asking, do you have a resource?
- 13:00Do you have a, you know, mortgage payment calculator?
- 13:03They wanted, they were asking of the tools.
- 13:06And I love that because that, that means they're interested.
- 13:10Yeah, I love that.
- 13:11We're going to dig into sources of information for them.
- 13:16Let's hang out here for a minute on the down payment thing because you know this.
- 13:21I mean, the whole myth about what's needed for a down payment, hasn't that actually existed for decades?
- 13:27Yes.
- 13:28And how can we not, how have we, Jeff, how have we not changed the narrative all these years?
- 13:34You don't need 20% down.
- 13:37Right.
- 13:37You just, not as a first time home buyer.
- 13:40Well, I'm looking at the stats here.
- 13:41Let's just see here.
- 13:42Almost 40% don't know the minimum down payment required and almost 60% are unaware or misinformed about closing cost assistance.
- 13:53So for a loan officer who's listening to this right now, what do you say the opportunity is for them with that little piece of information?
- 14:00Dispel the myth.
- 14:02You guys are the experts.
- 14:03You know your programs.
- 14:04You know your guidelines.
- 14:06You know the right information on how to qualify a buyer.
- 14:11You know, sometimes when I'm on social media, Jeff, I'm seeing, you know, the content out there and I'm like, I wonder why.
- 14:17what they're saying to consumers.
- 14:19And it's almost like the opposite of what is needed.
- 14:22You know, go online, you know, turn on a camera like right now.
- 14:25And, you know, you don't need 20% down.
- 14:27I've got an amazing FHA, you know, zero down program, and it may even qualify you to cover closing costs.
- 14:35But the
- 14:36Take away, you know, the the how do I help you?
- 14:39Because I don't like to just throw things out there like that.
- 14:42I tell buyers, do you really want to know what's out there for you?
- 14:45And they're like, yes.
- 14:46Okay, great.
- 14:47Let's get you pre-qualified.
- 14:48Let me grab a loan officer, bring your documents to my financial literacy event, or let's set up an appointment and let's go over all the programs that you qualify for.
- 14:57But, you know, it truly is interesting how we have to really dispel the myth.
- 15:02Loan officers do that.
- 15:04Tell them, you know, what does assets look like?
- 15:07What does credit look like?
- 15:08You know, talk about the needs list.
- 15:10They don't even know what documents to bring to an appointment.
- 15:13Yeah, and I will say this for somebody listening right now who, if you've ever felt tired of talking about some of the elements that go into qualifying for home, like you don't need 20% down, PMI, things like that.
- 15:26I love this saying from a marketing leader that I follow, and he said, you're going to get tired of talking about your thing long before the audience will ever get tired of it.
- 15:38And so the point of that is when, if you're creating content and you're listening, you're going, oh my gosh, I have to create another video on, you know, you don't need to.
- 15:45Yes, you do.
- 15:46Resources, guides, a website, online, you know, all the things because your audience is consistently moving and evolving and a third are coming, a third are going, you know?
- 15:57So you, you know, remember, yeah, they are the resource.
- 16:01How about as a loan officer, you're the resource, you're also a tool, you're what's needed.
- 16:07Let's talk about resources.
- 16:08Let's talk about sources because you guys have been doing this now.
- 16:11It's the fourth wave, you say, of this study?
- 16:13Fourth wave.
- 16:14Yeah, and so the information and the data has evolved a little bit.
- 16:18But let's talk about short-form video.
- 16:19I'm looking at the stat here from the report.
- 16:21Short-form video use dropped from 50% in January to 28% in July.
- 16:26That's a pretty big drop.
- 16:27Okay.
- 16:31Well, before I'll just finish it out.
- 16:34While use of calculators nearly doubled from 12% in January to 24% in July.
- 16:41What is that really saying?
- 16:43You know, what's interesting is just immediate short form video, like immediate gratification wasn't enough.
- 16:50They were asking for calculation tools to maybe...
- 16:54pen out a payment, you know, and as we were asking certain questions, like what if we were able to match your rent payment to a mortgage payment?
- 17:05Would you like to see a video on that?
- 17:07Yes.
- 17:08And can it not be short?
- 17:09Can it be a longer video?
- 17:11What's interesting, Jeff, out of all the social media platforms, long form YouTube videos were the top selected feature to learn about
- 17:21about our industry.
- 17:22But if you go on YouTube, minimal long form videos are out there to talk about credit, assets, qualification, the mortgage process, or just any financial literacy.
- 17:35It's more people on probably, you know, just a short form video saying a two, like two to three minute video talking about credit.
- 17:43And that's not enough.
- 17:44They're asking for more.
- 17:47Yeah, another one here.
- 17:48Almost 60% of Gen Z respondents have never heard of PMI.
- 17:52Yeah.
- 17:53I mean, I'll be honest with you.
- 17:55If you think about all of our roles in the industry and you ask someone from Tidal, hey, give me a really great explanation on PMI.
- 18:03Sometimes they're like, let me grab the loan officer.
- 18:05And that's okay.
- 18:06You know,
- 18:07Think of this.
- 18:08I mean, this is sometimes a little more complicated than just the regular conversation you're going to have, you know, with, I mean, and think, let's take a step back.
- 18:19Acronyms.
- 18:20We are infamous in our industry for these acronyms.
- 18:23And this young buyer, or maybe the millennial buyer, don't even understand what does it stand for.
- 18:29A lot of times, Jeff, in my financial literacy classes, people say, Nora, what's the difference between homeowners insurance and private mortgage insurance and mortgage insurance?
- 18:38And I say, great question.
- 18:41And they say, nobody really tells me.
- 18:43And I'm thinking, no, this is such a basic answer.
- 18:47And I get into it and I tell them, look, you're putting less money down.
- 18:51We've got to insure the loan.
- 18:53So you're paying for insurance on the loan.
- 18:56But also homeowners insurance is very important.
- 18:58And then we get into flood insurance and they're like,
- 19:01Do I need that?
- 19:02And I'm thinking, you know, it depends on the geography.
- 19:05And, you know, we have a lot of really great conversations and it's very open.
- 19:11And I think that's what's needed, Jeff, is an open conversation without judgment for these buyers that are just going to ask basic information.
- 19:20Yeah, a safe place for them to communicate.
- 19:24Which is part of the study.
- 19:25They ask for a trusted advisor.
- 19:28Yeah.
- 19:28Yeah.
- 19:29Well, on that note, let's talk about AI because everybody's talking about AI.
- 19:32I love this.
- 19:34I love this stat right here, which is only 6% trust AI more than a person for mortgage advice.
- 19:40While the comfort with AI tools has risen from 18 to 25% to 34% with age.
- 19:47This is what's interesting.
- 19:49Gen Z uses AI to get ready for a conversation with a loan officer, not to replace it.
- 19:55And it's the oldest Gen Z respondents, not the youngest, who are most open to using AI.
- 20:02No, isn't that so interesting?
- 20:04Because we're assuming, oh, this new, amazing artificial intelligence that's just so much better than the human interaction, it's going to replace me.
- 20:14No, it's not.
- 20:15And in every wave.
- 20:17The response was, I cannot talk to AI on a 125-page doc set on a Sunday morning when I'm signing loan docs.
- 20:26And the notary says, so sorry, I can't explain this to you.
- 20:29They need that human loan officer that is that expert to answer the phone or to be at that appointment with them, holding their hand through the transaction.
- 20:39But Jeff, you and I know AI.
- 20:41Your information, your output on this AI is only as strong as the prompt.
- 20:46So if they don't know what to ask, what are they really, you know, asking within the AI tool?
- 20:54So are they saying like, hey, break down a 30 year amortization period when, you know, at what year am I, you know, really getting into principle versus interest?
- 21:04They're not asking those questions.
- 21:06They're just saying, hi, I have an appointment with a loan officer.
- 21:09Okay.
- 21:10What do I ask them?
- 21:11And it's so, so basic.
- 21:12So the AI output is basic.
- 21:15But if you're talking to the loan officer, who is that expert on that transaction, the questions are going to be very granular.
- 21:22And I love that.
- 21:23I love that about our industry is that we are...
- 21:26you know, that expert and we can say, listen, I know you want, you know, a jumbo transaction, you don't qualify for that now.
- 21:35However, you know, do this and that or, you know, let's fix your debt to income ratio.
- 21:40And maybe that's the price point you're going to get to.
- 21:43And, you know, if you're asking the AI tool, it's going to say you don't qualify, like, that's it.
- 21:48Don't, no more to not ask.
- 21:50Yeah.
- 21:51Right.
- 21:51It's limited information.
- 21:53The thing I've seen people, consumers potentially use AI for is, yeah, they're going to take the interest rate, the clothing costs, maybe they're going to upload their settlement statement or whatever.
- 22:07And is this fair?
- 22:09Is this a good price?
- 22:10Am I overpaying?
- 22:12They're going to ask all those questions.
- 22:13So here's the real key point for the
- 22:18In your talk track, build in now a question for these, you know, Gen Z millennial consumers.
- 22:29How have you, have you at all utilized AI in your search, right, for buying and financing a home?
- 22:38You should be asking that up front, do you think?
- 22:41Absolutely.
- 22:42Like, and, and maybe create a prompt for them to help them prepare for the meeting.
- 22:47And it just shows that you are confident in your role and you have integrated AI into your business profile.
- 22:56You know, and I, can I tell you, let me tell you, Jeff, and I think we said this as I was preparing, we were preparing for this podcast.
- 23:03But I said, Jeff, I'm a smart leader.
- 23:05I've hired all these young Gen Z.
- 23:08and millennial women, they tell me, Nora, this is the tech we need to use.
- 23:13We've got to pivot.
- 23:14We have to be all over AI to be able to close that conversational gap with our consumers, but also understand that buyer persona.
- 23:22And the more I lead this team that is so much younger than me, the more I understand what the buyer is looking for, because these young women, they're ready to buy a home.
- 23:32And they look at my marketing language and they're like, no, change that.
- 23:36That doesn't even help us.
- 23:37And I'm like, what?
- 23:39You know, and it's language you and I have used in the industry forever.
- 23:43And they're like, Nora, we don't even understand what that means.
- 23:45And I tell them, put your buyer hat on.
- 23:48So AI integration is so needed because it's just going to create efficiencies for us.
- 23:54But it's not going to replace that human interaction.
- 23:58Yeah, I love your idea, actually, of giving them a prompt.
- 24:00Like, I'm thinking about there's so many ideas here for loan officers listening to create a dedicated page, a destination page that is designed specifically for this audience in mind with the resources, the links, the prompts.
- 24:14And by the way, side benefit of that, if you do it right, that's actually going to help you get found in AI search as well.
- 24:20Hey, real quick before we jump back in, if you're still chasing real estate agents for referrals, if you're buying coffees, you're sending follow-up texts and hoping somebody sends you a deal, I want to show you a better way.
- 24:32What if instead of chasing agents one at a time, you could get 10 or 20 or even 30 agents into a room where you are the expert they're coming to learn from?
- 24:41That's exactly what I did to build a mortgage business producing over $50 million a year in personal volume.
- 24:47And I put together a five-day free email course that walks you through the entire system.
- 24:53It's called the Agent Class Method.
- 24:55I'll show you what to teach agents so they actually want to attend, how to fill the room, and the follow-up strategy that turns these conversations into referral relationships.
- 25:04And this isn't about like hosting some boring mortgage presentation or buying everybody lunch.
- 25:09It's about becoming the resource agents seek out.
- 25:12You can go to myagentclasses.com forward slash email course or check the description below.
- 25:17It's completely free.
- 25:19Five days, five actionable lessons you can start using right away.
- 25:22That's myagentclasses.com forward slash email course.
- 25:26Stop chasing agents, start attracting them.
- 25:29Let's get back into the show.
- 25:30Yes, I agree with that.
- 25:32You know, Jeff, sometimes people used to say in that millennial era, this buyer, they're the Google era.
- 25:39You know, they don't need us.
- 25:40And we found later, you know, 10 years later, after those older millennials started purchasing homes, they do need us.
- 25:47We were very much a part of that transaction.
- 25:50We were closing loans for them.
- 25:53And we were very much the communicator in that.
- 25:56And we were the educators.
- 25:57This era, this Gen Z era, they're not the AI era that you think.
- 26:02They're going to utilize AI, but they still need you.
- 26:05They're still going to need a realtor to show them that amazing property and tell them all about the geography and then negotiate the contract for them, which we know they just went through a huge change in the way that they do business.
- 26:18But listen, as the loan officer, we are the experts on the financing.
- 26:22You know, no matter what comes into place with technology, it's not going to replace that conversation.
- 26:29It's not going to replace the fact that we are going to help them hold their hand.
- 26:33They can call us.
- 26:34They can text us.
- 26:35So build yourself as that valuable partner.
- 26:38Hey, I know you're going to use AI.
- 26:40Here's a resource.
- 26:41This is what I would use if I was shopping for a home.
- 26:44These are really great prompts that are going to help you explain my documents.
- 26:47And Jeff, I've already done that on my team.
- 26:50We already have a document that we hand out, a QR code, and our buyers scan it at every single one of our financial literacy events.
- 26:57And we say, you're going to have so many questions.
- 27:00These are some of the prompts that can help you and they're tailored properly.
- 27:04to a first-time home buyer.
- 27:06What do you think, I've seen a number of very successful loan officers start to incorporate Zoom on their intake conversations with the younger community.
- 27:17What do you think about that?
- 27:18I love that because it builds that bond.
- 27:21You know, you get to see me.
- 27:22I get to see you.
- 27:24You may not want to come into my office.
- 27:25Like that's going to take up a lot of time.
- 27:27And there's traffic, there's kids, there's whatever.
- 27:30They're busy.
- 27:31I love, love.
- 27:32And I think that's something that this generation is going to really appreciate.
- 27:37You're going to take the time to see me.
- 27:39You see me, I'm being seen, I'm being heard.
- 27:41I'm a first time home buyer.
- 27:42I'm very nervous.
- 27:44Just talking to you over the phone or over a message chat is not enough.
- 27:48They're going to want to see and build that connection.
- 27:51I think our industry has done such a great job of at least building that big connection.
- 27:57Let's close the conversation, though.
- 27:59We've got this seasoned conversation.
- 28:02originators, seasoned realtors, we've got this younger era of buyers.
- 28:07Their buyer persona is totally different.
- 28:09The income, the assets.
- 28:11Jeff, remember they're gig workers now, you know, they're earning income totally different from what we're used to.
- 28:18It would be like, you're either self-employed or you're nine to five.
- 28:22Now it's like a really good, healthy mix.
- 28:26And we have to remember, too, another point in the study here is talking about friends and family are trusted by 75% of Gen Z.
- 28:33Heads up, people, loan officers are only trusted by 19% of Gen Z. Oh, my God, that broke my heart.
- 28:39No, Jeff.
- 28:41Can I tell you?
- 28:42Okay, so let's talk real numbers.
- 28:46Mom and dad haven't bought a home, according to all the data sources out there.
- 28:51Mom and dad have not bought a home due to lack of inventory in the last 10 to 15 years.
- 28:56They do not know the latest and greatest programs.
- 28:59They don't understand down payment assistance programs, how they're structured.
- 29:03They don't understand every non-QM product out there, bank statement, DCR, you know, all these programs that are out recently.
- 29:14that grandma and grandpa haven't bought a home in the last 15 to 20 years.
- 29:18They can't even downsize because there's no inventory.
- 29:21And they are the ones that our future buyers go to when they're ready to say, I think I'm ready to buy a home.
- 29:26And mom and dad are like paranoid.
- 29:28Don't get scammed.
- 29:29That was one of the actual sentences.
- 29:33We wrote a free form and we said, hey, is there anything that describes your anxiety, your excitement?
- 29:40Give us a sentence.
- 29:41And someone said, interest rates are criminal right now.
- 29:45And at the time, interest rates were 6%.
- 29:48And another, I know, I loved it.
- 29:50And another person said, please don't scam me.
- 29:54And we were like, wow.
- 29:56You know, and we studied, you know, these things.
- 30:00these responses.
- 30:01And we're like, wow, they're really scared.
- 30:04They're hesitant because they're just so scared.
- 30:08And think of this, Jeff.
- 30:09I'm in Los Angeles.
- 30:11Average sales price is $1,290,000 for a first-time home buyer.
- 30:15I think of the Midwest.
- 30:16It's increased so much recently.
- 30:19And it feels like, are they going to make the wrong decision?
- 30:23But I think of additional resources for
- 30:28HUD counselors.
- 30:29I'm the biggest champion of becoming mortgage ready through a HUD counselor.
- 30:34That's what they're there for.
- 30:35If that loan officer has a strong partnership with HUD counselors, the buyer just feels so informed and they're just so excited for the homeownership journey.
- 30:45And the conversation becomes very positive versus
- 30:48Don't scam me.
- 30:49I'm so scared.
- 30:50I'm so hesitant.
- 30:52You know, or what is that interest rate?
- 30:54You know, and they're just clinging on to that conversation of the interest rate.
- 30:58Listen, the interest rate today is what it is.
- 31:01We have to get over that.
- 31:02Can we compare your payment?
- 31:04to your rent?
- 31:05What if it increases by $300, but you're not doing DoorDash and you're not, you know, don't have 16 subscriptions to TV networks, you know?
- 31:16And I think when I put it that way in financial literacy events, it's funny, Jeff, because the faces start to change and they're like, yeah, I could do that.
- 31:25You know?
- 31:26And it's like, it starts making sense.
- 31:28but it's closing that conversational gap to this is what you can do to become mortgage ready.
- 31:35Yeah, I love that.
- 31:36It's closing the conversational gap.
- 31:38We keep stressing that because that's what I want you guys to think of.
- 31:41All right.
- 31:42Well, as we begin to come to a close here, and once again, the link to this report is in the show notes.
- 31:48You're going to want to dig deeper on this.
- 31:49We're just obviously sharing some of the key highlights, but there's so much good data here.
- 31:53You have six buyer personas that we can kind of go through at whatever pace you want.
- 32:01But I think this will help also put people, it'll help them visualize, right?
- 32:06If you're trying to visualize your avatar, right, your client profile, they're going to fall into these six buckets briefly.
- 32:14So I'll tee it up.
- 32:16And you give me whatever defining stat or thing you want to say about them.
- 32:20How's that?
- 32:21All right.
- 32:22All right.
- 32:23So, so number one, the reluctant renter, who are they?
- 32:27So those are, uh, future buyers that are like, gosh, I love renting.
- 32:32Renting has been so great for me.
- 32:34And then we asked them, Hey, what,
- 32:37what does tax write-off look like for you every end of the year?
- 32:40And they're like, what tax write-off?
- 32:42Yeah, we know.
- 32:42But if you purchase a home, you get a tax write-off and you start building generational wealth.
- 32:48And then they're like, uh-oh, tell me more about homeownership.
- 32:52But they've loved renting for such a long time because it's a safe space.
- 32:56And Jeff, it's easy to be a renter because you don't have to worry about the stress of having someone maybe decline you for a loan.
- 33:05And that becomes stressful to them.
- 33:07Yeah.
- 33:08Yeah.
- 33:09All right.
- 33:09So that's awesome.
- 33:09That goes back to education and building confidence and things like that because they've kind of settled into renting.
- 33:15All right.
- 33:17Next one.
- 33:17The anxious high earner.
- 33:19Yeah, they're scared to make a decision.
- 33:21Oh, my gosh, I went and got this amazing degree.
- 33:25I finally got the job of my dreams or I'm earning so much money, a lot of money.
- 33:29And they're young and they're like, hey, what do I do?
- 33:33I can't make the wrong decision.
- 33:35Do I rent or do I own?
- 33:38And that is that anxious, high wage earner.
- 33:42Financial literacy helps them.
- 33:44And the key with that is slow down, right?
- 33:47Reassure them.
- 33:49And once again, the word guide, right?
- 33:52We've got to become the guide now, right?
- 33:54Think of like that visual in your head, the Sherpa, right?
- 33:57We're on this journey and the Sherpa has been there before and in our job, right?
- 34:02The clients, the hero, we're just the guide.
- 34:04Yep.
- 34:05I love that.
- 34:06Yeah.
- 34:06Okay.
- 34:07So how about the practice run buyer?
- 34:09What is that?
- 34:10So they've meddled a little bit into wanting to know about homeownership and then they hear something that may scare them and they go right back to, no, no, I can't buy a home.
- 34:20I'm so scared.
- 34:21But hold on.
- 34:22Let me maybe make an appointment with this loan officer.
- 34:25Let me ask a couple of questions and then I'm going to go hide.
- 34:28I'm going to ghost him for a little bit.
- 34:31I love the suggestion in here.
- 34:33Their biggest need, private self-serve tools to get early answers before talking to a loan officer.
- 34:38That goes back to what we talked about, the AI prompt, the calculator, the digital prequal, the self-help thing.
- 34:44Get them into your world, right?
- 34:46And engaging with you, you're going to build trust that way, no pressure.
- 34:50But I love this, a no-pressure prequal tool or a checklist up front.
- 34:55Very smart.
- 34:56Yeah.
- 34:57We also have budget worksheets, Jeff.
- 35:00Those are all super helpful and it gets them very excited.
- 35:03They can fill them out themselves.
- 35:05They can self-track where am I spending the most money.
- 35:10Yeah, interesting.
- 35:11And they're also comfortable using some of these tools online, such as AI tools and other things, just to do the preliminary work.
- 35:18All right, the Steady Saver.
- 35:21Ooh, we know who that is.
- 35:22Who is the Steady Saver?
- 35:24Yeah.
- 35:25soon as they graduated, they opened up a 401k.
- 35:28They've been monitoring that savings account that they think is going to give them a high yield interest, which it's not, but they don't know that.
- 35:38But all they keep talking about is, you know what?
- 35:41I'm going to keep saving.
- 35:42It's not time for me to buy.
- 35:44Let me keep saving.
- 35:46And what I say is the more you save, the more you're going to wait and be priced out of the market.
- 35:53And this is not an opinion.
- 35:55It really is a statistic.
- 35:56Look at these interest rates, Jeff.
- 35:58Buyers who qualified last year that didn't buy last year, this interest rate may have priced them out.
- 36:04You know, this AVER is just focused on the money.
- 36:07You know, I'm going to have $60,000 or $70,000.
- 36:11But remember, there's all these programs that are low and affordable, and maybe we can layer them with down payment and closing cost assistance.
- 36:20They may be able to save that money and keep that money in an account.
- 36:23making high yield interest.
- 36:26And that's right.
- 36:28Odds are they're probably in the group who think you need 20% down.
- 36:31Yes, they probably are because they're saving and saving and saving and they don't come out of saving mode.
- 36:37Yeah.
- 36:37And of course there's the other programs that you talked about DPA.
- 36:40We've got seller concessions.
- 36:41Now that we can leverage all comes back to education content and educates them.
- 36:46Um,
- 36:47Oh, and this one, we can, we know, I'm trying to get visuals in my head of what we should come up with a visual of what did this person look like, right?
- 36:53Like a cartoon visual.
- 36:54Yeah.
- 36:55So we have the uninformed first timer sounds a little bit sassy and like they know what they're talking about, but who are they?
- 37:01So let me give you an example of that person.
- 37:04I was in Columbia, South Carolina, and a gentleman, I could see I had promoted to bring their documents for this first time homebuyer, big, large event.
- 37:14I think we had over two, almost 200 attendees.
- 37:17We had the entire housing ecosystem in the room.
- 37:20And the gentleman walked up to me with his wife and his wife's like pushing him, like talk to her.
- 37:24And so he tells me,
- 37:27I don't know if I want to get pre-qualified.
- 37:29And we were like, okay, no problem.
- 37:31And then he's like, I don't know.
- 37:34Like why?
- 37:35And then we were like, oh, okay, well tell me your story.
- 37:39So just sassy.
- 37:41Oh, so sassy.
- 37:42And he's like, oh,
- 37:43I don't know where interest rates.
- 37:45And I said, no, what's your credit look like?
- 37:47And then he was like, Oh, you know, we're going to go there.
- 37:50Um, long story short, Jeff, he had all the documents to qualify.
- 37:55He was terrified.
- 37:57He wouldn't even answer questions.
- 37:59We just said,
- 38:00Are you ready to go?
- 38:02Can I introduce you to a loan officer?
- 38:04Oh, and the wife was like pushing him from behind physically like this really did happen.
- 38:10And so she was like, go get prequalified.
- 38:12We need a home.
- 38:13So he said, where are prices?
- 38:15And I gave him like an estimate like, hey, we're Columbia, South Carolina, you know, two ninety.
- 38:20$290,000.
- 38:21And he's like, oh, like terrified.
- 38:24And then the wife pushed him and she pushed him.
- 38:27And I kept following them until he sat in the chair of a loan officer because the wife pushed him there.
- 38:33She sat down.
- 38:34She grabbed the bag.
- 38:35She started handing out documents.
- 38:37And I told my team, that is such a great analogy for that.
- 38:41terrified buyer.
- 38:42They're just so, so scared.
- 38:44Oh my gosh, everything, every question is almost like a negative to them.
- 38:48It's like a, you know, like a gunshot went off and they're taking the bullet on answering that question.
- 38:53But the more informed they become, Jeff, the more they relax.
- 38:58You've seen that.
- 39:00Guess what?
- 39:00That buyer got qualified that day.
- 39:02He qualified for a mortgage.
- 39:04He sure did.
- 39:05Wow.
- 39:06That goes back to, again, confidence, the overarching theme.
- 39:09We've got to create more confidence in their belief about their ability.
- 39:14That's what we're working against is belief in perceptions.
- 39:16And let's just face it, they're getting a lot of their cues from the news.
- 39:20Or as you said earlier, friends and family who are outdated information.
- 39:24So we need to be, think of the lighthouse.
- 39:27I like that metaphor.
- 39:28We need to be the lighthouse, right, of knowledge, information, and confidence.
- 39:33Yeah.
- 39:34And imagine if you have a pre-qualified buyer that trusts you and you can hand that referral to an agent now.
- 39:39It's the opposite.
- 39:40You know, agents have been handing us referrals for such a long time.
- 39:44Jeff, understanding these buyer personas means that loan officer is self-aware.
- 39:48They've got emotional intelligence on this buyer persona.
- 39:51They're looking and they know, oh, you must be a Gen Z or you must be a millennial.
- 39:57And they're telling them, hey, don't be nervous.
- 39:59Here's my resources.
- 40:01Here's my information.
- 40:02You know, I can check in with you if you're okay with that.
- 40:06Yeah, the other thing I think would be a cool idea is, you know, I think about past client database, and for your listeners, you've got various levels of information on your past clients in terms of children or whatnot.
- 40:18But it would be interesting to send out an email, right, to your past client database if you don't know, if you don't have the information, although you should on a 1003, right, just look back and see...
- 40:28what are the ages of the kids now?
- 40:31And with AI now, you should be able to scrub your database and find who here that I've closed a deal with has kids that are in this age bracket and offer the free consultation for this age group.
- 40:44I love that, Jeff.
- 40:46Absolutely, I'm gonna use that.
- 40:47I like that.
- 40:49Yeah, why not?
- 40:50Makes more.
- 40:50Makes a lot of sense.
- 40:51And by the way, you'll get a lot of practice doing it with an audience that you're comfortable with.
- 40:56And assuming they remember you, you've stayed in touch, I hope.
- 41:00Right.
- 41:01You'll have an easy yes on a number of these appointments.
- 41:04It almost feels like a warm.
- 41:05I know you and I are just we're giving them more nuggets per minute here, Nora, than I don't know what to do.
- 41:11You know, yeah.
- 41:13Thank goodness we're recording.
- 41:15Right.
- 41:16Exactly.
- 41:16All right.
- 41:17Let's close out.
- 41:18Last but not least, the overlooked group.
- 41:21Aw, sad face.
- 41:22I know.
- 41:23Yeah.
- 41:24I know.
- 41:25You know, and Jeff, think of this, that overlooked group, when you talk to them, they're saying things like grandma and grandpa were renters, mom and dad are renters.
- 41:36I've never even had a conversation on homeownership.
- 41:38Like they almost seem shocked
- 41:41that you're asking them, do you own a home?
- 41:43Are you interested?
- 41:44You know, has that ever entered your mind?
- 41:46And they're like, wow, never thought about it.
- 41:49You know, never, never thought about it.
- 41:52Like, I don't even know what homeownership entails or I've never had that conversation.
- 41:57And what's interesting is that group,
- 42:01Most of them are just what's called historical renters.
- 42:05And once you get them prepared for homeownership, those are the ones that may pull the trigger quicker than the hesitant buyer, the scared buyer, the ones that are suffering from just like the scared buyer.
- 42:19you know, anxiety is just like holding them back constantly.
- 42:23And, you know, this overlooked buyer looks so different.
- 42:25It can be buyers with no FICO scores, buyers with just like mom and dad never used credit cards.
- 42:32I don't know how to use credit.
- 42:34It can be buyers, you know, with employment information, you know, that is just gaps in employment, you know, and that's their issue.
- 42:43And they're just like, I don't think I'd ever qualify.
- 42:46You know, I'm in construction and jobs are, you know, every six months or whatever that looks like.
- 42:52But also, Jeff, some of those overlooked buyers, gig, gig income generators, they say, oh, stable income.
- 43:01Are you kidding?
- 43:01That's right.
- 43:02That is stable income.
- 43:03You're a gig worker.
- 43:05You know, you work five, six jobs and you have for the last two years, Nora, for the last five years.
- 43:10And I'm like, why did you think you don't qualify?
- 43:13And they're like, well, historically, banks tell me no.
- 43:15Well, maybe the banks don't carry those programs.
- 43:18But a lot of these IMBs have these non-QM loans and they're perfect for you.
- 43:22Bank statement loans might be your gig.
- 43:24You know, that's how we get you qualified.
- 43:26So that buyer looks so, so different.
- 43:31Interesting.
- 43:31Yeah.
- 43:32And in the notes here, it talks about outreach through community organizations.
- 43:36You mentioned HUD counselors before.
- 43:38What, uh, it just makes me curious, how would a loan officer listening right now involve, right?
- 43:45Engage with a HUD counselor.
- 43:47Like how would that benefit them?
- 43:48What would that look like at, you know, in the real world?
- 43:50I love that.
- 43:51Did you know HUD counselors can be the best referral partners you have out there?
- 43:56You can actually go to Google, type in your city and type in local HUD counseling agencies.
- 44:02Reach out to them.
- 44:03Let them know.
- 44:04I'm a loan officer.
- 44:05I'm going to encounter buyers that are not mortgage ready.
- 44:08Can you help my buyers become mortgage ready?
- 44:10They're going to say yes, absolutely.
- 44:13And what that looks like, Jeff, is the HUD counselor is actually certified to help buyers become mortgage ready.
- 44:19They work with the buyer.
- 44:20They pull the credit.
- 44:21They look at their scenario.
- 44:23They talk them and coach them through maybe that scared, terrified buyer.
- 44:28I would definitely refer them over to HUD counselors.
- 44:31And it's that one-on-one, very long conversation on how to become mortgage ready.
- 44:39And they host classes on credit.
- 44:41They host classes on becoming mortgage ready.
- 44:43They go through the credit wheel.
- 44:45It may be that longer nurtured buyer that is on that cusp of becoming mortgage ready.
- 44:51But as loan officers, this can be a really fantastic partner for you.
- 44:56They don't compete with you.
- 44:57They're not NMLS licensed.
- 44:59They're not going to originate a transaction.
- 45:01They're just certified to help buyers become mortgage ready.
- 45:04And they report through HUD.
- 45:06Interesting.
- 45:08Wow.
- 45:08Lots of resources out there.
- 45:10All right, so to put a cap on this and land the plane, as they say, this has been highly informative.
- 45:15Once again, check the link in the show notes for access to this data.
- 45:19And take at least just one or two ideas you've heard from here today and how are you going to create content, tools, resources that's going to be helpful in overcoming the biggest gap, which is trust and belief that they have about their...
- 45:35But what do you want to end on in terms of what's your forecast for the future buyer of the next, I don't know what, three, five years, seven years, however far you want to run it out?
- 45:49is ever evolving.
- 45:50As industry professionals, we have to be forever students of our industry.
- 45:55We have to pivot as quickly as the buyer persona is pivoting so that we can close that conversation with our future consumers.
- 46:03And it doesn't matter what the age gap looks like.
- 46:06You can be that valuable partner.
- 46:08So let me tell you,
- 46:10Study that buyer persona.
- 46:12Look at our study.
- 46:13It's for everyone.
- 46:14It's in partnership with YouGov.
- 46:16We put it out there so that our entire industry can utilize it and better understand the buyer.
- 46:21And the sooner we prepare them, the more informed they're going to be to make a decision to be able to pull the trigger and become homeowners.
- 46:30Wow.
- 46:31This has been very informative.
- 46:33Thank you so much.
- 46:33You guys have obviously put a lot of time and effort on this.
- 46:35And what I love about this is it wasn't a one and done study.
- 46:39You actually can, it's a continuum, all right, over time.
- 46:43This is the fourth version.
- 46:44Are you guys going to keep doing iterations of it?
- 46:46We are.
- 46:47We've already talked.
- 46:48It's so much information and we've really extracted great strategies out of it.
- 46:53We're going to continue into 2027 and we want to see where
- 46:59Cool.
- 46:59Well, we'll have to have you come back when the new set of data rolls out.
- 47:02You got it.
- 47:02Absolutely, Jeff.
- 47:03Thank you.
- 47:04For those who want to connect with you personally, Nora, what would you suggest?
- 47:07I'll put a link in there.
- 47:08Is it LinkedIn or where would you like to send them?
- 47:10Yes, I would love to send them to.
- 47:12We have a really great LinkedIn channel for me, Instagram, and you'll have all the links.
- 47:17Awesome.
- 47:17Fantastic.
- 47:18Well, listeners, you know what to do.
- 47:19Get your hands on the study, download it, review it, and then pick one or two action items you're going to implement in your business ASAP.
- 47:26Nora, thank you so much for being here.
- 47:28Thank you, Jeff.
- 47:29We'll see you on the next one.
- 47:30Bye for now.
- 47:30Before you go, let me leave you with something to think about.
- 47:33You already know that chasing real estate agents for referrals doesn't scale.
- 47:38One coffee, one agent, one hour.
- 47:41Then you do it all over again tomorrow, hoping that the agent actually sends you some business.
- 47:46But what if you could flip that entire process?
- 47:49Instead of meeting agents one at a time for coffee, imagine getting 20 agents into a room where you are the expert teaching something that helps grow their business, like today's topic.
- 48:00And instead of you chasing them for referrals, they start calling you.
- 48:03That's exactly why I teach loan officers how to grow their referral relationships using agent classes.
- 48:09And here's what can happen.
- 48:11Glenda White shared with me that she recently closed $2 million in a single month just from agents who attended her classes.
- 48:19Think about that.
- 48:20Those weren't agents she had to chase down.
- 48:22There were agents who showed up to learn from her, came because they wanted to be there.
- 48:27That's the difference between chasing relationships and attracting them.
- 48:30And if you'd like to learn how to do this yourself, I've created a five-day email course called The Agent Class Method.
- 48:36Okay.
- 48:36I'll show you what to teach, how to get agents to attend.
- 48:39I'll show you how to turn those classes into referral relationships.
- 48:42Go to myagentclasses.com forward slash email course.
- 48:46Check the link below in the description.
- 48:48Stop chasing agents and start attracting them.
- 48:51Thanks for listening.
- 48:52I'll see you on the next episode.