Even with the impact of inflation and rising interest rates, the housing market in 2023 remained resilient, and in recent years, homeowners have found themselves with a surge in home equity. With millions locked into previously low mortgage rates, many homeowners are looking to renovate their current homes rather than sell. Near-record levels of home equity available combined with high interest rates are causing the demand for HELOCs and home equity loans to surge.

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The timing is right to market home equity products, but which potential borrowers should be targeted and how can you efficiently plan and execute your campaign?

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Your Secret Weapon: Bulk Automated Valuation Models (AVMs)

Nowadays, blasting out marketing materials to your entire contact list is an outdated approach. Yes, with luck and sheer numbers, you will connect with some for whom your lending policies and program goals are  well targeted. But, you’ll also reach many that aren’t your ideal audience, spending more time later on qualifying them as borrowers.  Without a targeted approach, your marketing investments and resources will be spread across wider audiences that decreases effectiveness and efficiency.

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There is a better way to run your campaign and zero in on the right home equity audience. The first step is a bulk AVM. By using the Home Equity Express™ Platform, you gain data-driven intelligence to understand the potential equity available within your target audience.. Our valuation products offer real-time and bulk AVMs), which can be leveraged in a multitude of ways, including – you guessed it – assessing, at scale, which homeowners have a significant amount of equity. Since most home equity lending does not require a full appraisal, and our AVMs are sophisticated and very accurate, this offers a very efficient way to get started.

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From Bulk to Personalized

AVMs use algorithms to synthesize information such as property characteristics, local market information, and price trends to estimate home value. And since AVMs are instant, these tools are more efficient and consistent than human appraisers, especially when appraisals are more expensive, can leave room for human bias, and take weeks to complete.

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You can run a bulk AVM on all mortgages three years and older to identify how much equity each homeowner has. From here, segmenting and targeting possibilities abound. Here are just a few examples:

• You might target homeowners with at least $20,000 in equity.
• You might only target homeowners with equity within a certain range that would yield higher, or lower, loan amounts.
• You might target homeowners with certain equity parameters and who have a credit score above X.
• You might target homeowners with both significant home equity and a dwelling older than 20 years for home improvement messages.

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Bottom line, “bulk AVM” does not mean “bulk approach.” You can set your parameters to reflect your institution's loan policies and preferences. Your sales and marketing team will be equipped with very specific, individualized information that can be used to more effectively engage with potential borrowers.

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It Pays to Be Proactive

It’s not uncommon to wait for potential home equity borrowers to do the research themselves and reach out to you. But in today’s competitive landscape, anticipating needs is an important way for financial institutions to distinguish themselves and build touchpoints around meaningful interactions. And, it certainly doesn’t hurt to blow your borrowers away with a home equity lending experience that is fast, convenient, and designed with them in mind. Finding innovative ways to seize new opportunities and deliver  an exceptional customer experience should be top of mind for every financial institution today. Do both with a home equity campaign powered by Coviance.

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Talk with a member of our team about how you can accelerate and scale home equity lending with the Home Equity Express platform.

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