Influence Direct

March 2012 Insurance X-Date Count

2012-02-07T08:20:00.001-08:00

We have completed our insurance direct mail homeowner x-dates for March 2012. After our March nationwide update, we have 3,876,510 homeowners with a March insurance "X-Date".

State Count
Alaska 5,060
Alabama 53,588
Arkansas 18,732
Arizona 121,084
California 592,289
Colorado 88,652
Connecticut 66,919
Dist of Columbia 6,029
Delaware 14,179
Florida 362,014
Georgia 142,437
Hawaii 16,768
Iowa 17,128
Idaho 869
Illinois 128,760
Indiana 70,900
Kansas 952
Kentucky 14,071
Louisiana 22,238
Massachusetts 113,617
Maryland 101,258
Maine 14,255
Michigan 68,042
Minnesota 52,369
Missouri 52,524
Mississippi 8,324
Montana 621
North Carolina 146,496
North Dakota 1,120
Nebraska 11,406
New Hampshire 17,764
New Jersey 120,229
New Mexico 15,864
Nevada 48,765
New York 130,542
Ohio 143,771
Oklahoma 39,826
Oregon 54,998
Pennsylvania 163,519
Rhode Island 16,454
South Carolina 73,436
South Dakota 3,216
Tennessee 125,201
Texas 314,146
Utah 19,876
Virginia 106,997
Vermont 2,762
Washington 112,779
Wisconsin 36,936
West Virginia 14,554
Wyoming 2,174

Total 3,876,510

Influence Direct Now Offering Auto Warranty Direct Mail

2012-01-30T11:38:00.000-08:00

Influence Direct is proud to announce our nationwide launch of our Auto Warranty Direct Mail programs. For the past 24 months Influence Direct has provided auto warranty direct mail services to a select group of clients. However, based on the incredible demand from other auto warranty companies to provide them with the same services, we have decided to offer our services to all auto warranty providers.

Influence Direct utilizes a variety of specific direct mail pieces including postcards, snap packs, single window envelope letters, double window envelope letters, self-mailers and more.

Included free with every auto warranty mail program is our track n trace mail tracking program which allows our clients to track the progress of their entire mail campaign down to the individual piece. This gives our auto warranty clients the piece of mind that all their mail has been entered in the USPS mail stream and is awaiting mailbox delivery.

For more information on our auto warranty marketing programs, visit our website or call us at 866-634-7771.

Insurance Direct Mail Programs Now Offered by Influence Direct

2012-01-25T11:52:00.000-08:00

Influence Direct is proud to announce we are now offering our nationwide Insurance Direct Mail programs. Influence Direct has created a library of insurance direct mail pieces designed to generate maximum response and conversation ratios.

Influence Direct's insurance direct mail programs are targeted towards specific insurance lines including property and casualty, home, automotive, life, medicare and health insurance programs.

Influence Direct prints and mails a variety of mail piece types including snap packs, single window envelope letters, double window envelope letters, postcards, self-mailers and business reply cards. You can find more information on Influence Direct's insurance lead generation programs at our website.

Influence Direct March 2010 Insurance Direct Mail X Dates Released

2010-02-09T09:18:00.001-08:00

We have completed our insurance direct mail homeowner x dates for March 2010. After our March nationwide update, we have 3,453,224 homeowners with a March insurance "x-date".

We use a variety of insurance direct mail mailers including snap packs, single window envelopes, double window envelopes and postcards.

Influence Direct February 2010 Mortgage Direct Mail and Mortgage Mailing List Updates

2010-02-09T09:17:00.001-08:00

We have completed our February 2010 updates on all our mortgage direct mail databases. We update our mortgage mailing lists each month with updated information such as home values, loan date, lender name and more. All our mortgage mailing lists provide ideal mortgage holder information for mortgage direct mail offers.

Below are our mortgage direct mail database quantities after this month's updates:

FHA Mailing Lists - 2,385,197
VA Mailing Lists - 463,520
Reverse Mortgage Mailing Lists - 14,682,055
Conventional Mortgage Mailing Lists - 32,678,004

We use a variety of mortgage direct mail mailers including snap packs, letters, postcards, single window envelopes and double window envelopes.

Influence Direct 02/01/10 New Mover and New Homeowner Database Updates

2010-02-01T09:00:00.001-08:00

We have completed our weekly updates for our new mover direct mail lists and our new homeowner direct mail lists. After this week's nationwide updates we have 133,867 new movers and 36,829 new homeowners available.

New Homeowner and New Mover Weekly Updates 01/18/10

2010-01-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

We just completed our weekly new homeowner and weekly new mover databse updates. After this week's updates, we have 137,427 new movers and 42,878 new homeowners ready to receive your direct mail offers.

January 2010 Mortgage Direct Mail and Mortgage Mailing Lists Count Scenarios

2010-01-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

We had two different count scenarios requested this week from one of our mortgage direct mail clients. This client uses direct mail to target FHA mortgage holders and VA mortgage holders. He uses two completely different mortgage direct mail pieces for each mailing: Snap Packs for FHA and Single Window Envelopes for VA.

His FHA scenario was:

CA, FL, OH
01/01/07 to 12/31/08 Loan Date
1% to 80% LTV
$100K and Higher Loan Amount

This count yielded 8,043 records

His VA scenario was:

Nationwide
01/01/04 to 12/31/08 Loan Date
1% to 80% LTV
$100K and Higher Loan Amount

This count yielded 61,997 records

He will be using both mortgage mailing lists for his drop in the next two weeks.

Mailing List Updates for 01/11/10

2010-01-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

We have completd two database updates today: New Mover and New Homeowner. After these updates Influence Direct now has 124,693 new movers and 40,139 new homeowners ready to receive your direct mail offers.

Medicare Count Request Scenario

2010-01-08T07:53:00.001-08:00

A client asked us to run a count for their insurance direct mail campaign. This mailer was for a Medicare supplement insurance mail campaign. The count criteria was age 65 and older individuals in the state of Florida. After running the requested count our results yielded 2,288,153 total individuals for their direct mail offer.

A key element on this count was our client wanted to target multiple individuals in the same household since each person was a unique prospect for their offer.

Understanding The Flow of Direct Mail

2010-01-08T07:38:00.001-08:00

You’ve started the day with a sales rally and the pep talk of your life. All of your agents have come in for the start of an important new campaign. They have reviewed the direct mail piece your provider sent earlier in the week. They’re educated on the products. They’ve never been more ready to sell. Every thing and every person is in place.

And the phones are silent.

It’s a mortgage broker’s nightmare. You invest in direct mail marketing, and the responses don’t come in when you expect they will. Experience tells you that once the letters are mailed, you have no way of predicting when they’ll arrive in mailboxes, much less where they’re stuck at this moment. The success of your campaign is at the mercy of a system that appears to send mail through a time warp with variable results.

Lucky for you, there’s actually nothing so mysterious about the U.S. Postal Service. It works as a well-oiled machine that efficiently delivers billions of pieces of mail each year. The system tracks the location of each piece of mail from the time it is dropped by the sender until it lands in the local mail carrier’s hands on the way to its final destination. Working with a direct mail provider who understands these systems and puts them to work for you can help prepare you for the times the phones actually start ringing. And when you are prepared, you will have the ability to maximize your profits.

Method in the madness

The USPS works much like the hub and spoke system of major airlines. Business mail enters the stream at Bulk Mail Entry Units (BMEUs). It is then sent to one of 26 Bulk Mail Centers (BMCs), the equivalent of a hub for an airline, or directly to one of 450 Sectional Center Facilities (SCFs). Generally speaking, each SCF handles mail for which the first three digits of a zip code match. From the SCF, mail is sent to one of 115,000 local post offices, or DDUs (Destination Delivery Units).

As with airlines, you can pay more to have your mail travel “first class.” Though it will travel on the same planes, trains and automobiles as standard class mail, the first class designation means the mail will receive priority handling. If postal workers run out of time to sort all the mail that comes to them in one day, then it’s the standard mail that must go on standby for a delayed trip. Still, the USPS requires standard mail to be processed within a certain timeframe, so it won’t be stranded with an indefinite layover.

Built-in accountability

Two key reporting documents can help you track your direct mail marketing pieces. The USPS provides the 3602 postal receipt when mail is dropped by the sender at the BMEU. This stamped receipt, provided either in electronic or paper form, will show the total number of pieces that were accepted into the facility as part of your mailing, the date they were accepted, and the exact amount of the postage. The 3602 receipt is given to your direct mail provider at no cost, and it should be passed along to you without extra charge.

Many direct mail providers also create tracking reports that contain important information to help you maximize the return on investment in your direct mail campaign. Each piece of mail handled by the USPS is stamped with an intelligent bar code, which is scanned at each step in the delivery process, from initial drop off to the DDU. (Individual carriers scan mail only when delivery confirmation is requested.) Direct mail providers can access the information to locate direct mail pieces in the system and to predict when they will arrive at their destination.

Knowledge is power

The receipt and the tracking reports will help you in two primary ways: you can confirm that your direct mail provider printed and mailed the correct number of pieces and you can plan your mail drop so that delivery occurs at a convenient time for you.

By using First Class mail, you maintain greater control over when your direct mail marketing piece will be delivered. Standard mail is 10 cents cheaper, but it may sometimes be delayed by several days. You should choose the latter option only if you have the ability to take customer calls every day that mail is delivered.

A knowledgeable and experienced direct mail provider will have discovered clear trends in mail delivery speed based on the day mail is entered at the BMEU. He or she will help time your mail drop so that it arrives on days when your office is open and you can plan for sufficient staffing to handle the extra calls.

Experienced direct mail providers will also have gathered enough data from their mail tracking reports based on USPS daily postal scans to estimate varying delivery times in different states. If you know ahead of time that delivery is likely to come a day earlier in the Eastern time zone than in the Pacific, you can schedule extra morning phone center staff early in the week and more evening workers later in the week. With valuable tracking information and experienced professionals at your side, you will avoid dropped calls and increase your sales.

First Class All the Way

If you’re choosing first class for your mail, why not give yourself an upgrade with a knowledgeable and reputable direct mail provider? Many mortgage brokers choose a provider based solely on the final cost per piece, but it’s worth the extra time be certain you’re working with someone who services your account beyond the basics.

Before you undertake your next mailing, consider the added value of a direct mail provider who will:

• Time the mailing of your piece for maximum results;
• Consult with you on the staffing of your call center based on the expected delivery rate of your piece;
• Provide a stamped postal receipt to verify completion of the order; and
• Track the delivery rate of your mailing to help you meet the needs of your prospects, measure your success and plan for future direct mail marketing campaigns.

In many cases, the cost to receive these “extras” may be the same or only slightly higher than the competition. However, in the end you will gain a strategic partner with the potential to improve your results exponentially. And you can’t get more “first class” than that.

January 2010 Insurance Direct Mail Homeowner X Dates

2010-01-08T07:00:00.001-08:00

For this month's homeowner insurance x dates we have 3,139,839 records. If you use insurance direct mail to generate a steady stream of new monthly business then homeowner x dates are one of the best methods available. We have several insurance direct mail programs set up and ready to target these January homeowners who are at their homeowner's insurance renewal date.

01/04/09 New Mover and New Homeowner Updates

2010-01-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

Influence Direct just completed our new homeowner mailing lists and new mover mailing lists nationwide updates for the week of 01/04/09. After this week's updates, we have 34,302 nationwide new homeowners and 134,856 nationwide new movers ready to receive your direct mail offers.

12/07/09 Weekly New Mover Direct Mail Update

2009-12-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

We just completed our weekly new mover direct mail database update for 12/07/09. We now have 157,643 total new movers available to receive your new mover direct mail offers.

For more information on our new mover direct mail programs visit

2009-11-17T06:48:00.001-08:00

Insurance Direct Mail

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11/16/09 New Homeowner Mailing Lists Update

2009-11-16T08:10:00.001-08:00

We just completed our weekly new homeowner mailing lists update for the week of 11/16/09. After this week's nationwide update we have 46,516 total new homeowners available for new homeowner direct mail offers.

11/16/09 New Mover Database Weekly Update

2009-11-16T08:02:00.001-08:00

We just completed our new mover database weekly update. After this week's nationwide update, we have 183,429 total new movers available to receive new mover direct mail offers.

Is Your Debt Settlement Direct Mail Working?

2009-11-09T18:48:00.001-08:00

Debt settlement direct mail gives you exclusive leads. Everyone has tried internet leads, tv leads, “live transfers” and so on. I am sure you have found out that when you purchase these leads, you are the 10th person that the consumer has talked to. Why waste your time and money one these? When doing debt settlement direct mail, you have to get your piece noticed. Direct mail goes in an “important” pile and a “junk” pile. We have pieces that get put into the “important” pile. We have tested multiple mail pieces, and found many that are proven to work. You have to have something that grabs the person’s attention. Put a real life example that includes before debt, after debt, before payments and after payments when enrolled into your program. If your data file has an estimated debt field, we have the formulas to do a before and after comparison on your letter. If you are looking for more information on debt settlement direct mail, give us a call and we will help you get noticed.

11/09/09 New Homeowner Mailing Lists Update

2009-11-09T06:26:00.001-08:00

We just completed our new homeowner mailing lists update for the week of 11/09/09. After this weekly update we have 41,572 total new homeowners nationwide available for your new homeowner direct mail offers.

11/09/09 New Mover Mailing Lists Update

2009-11-09T06:24:00.001-08:00

We just completed our new mover mailing lists update for the week of 11/09/09. After this weekly update we have 164,591 total new movers nationwide available for your new mover direct mail offers.

November Business Mailing Lists Database Nationwide Update

2009-11-05T06:59:00.001-08:00

We just completed our monthly update of our nationwide business database. After our November update, we have 18,120,249 nationwide businesses available for business to business direct mail offers.

11/02/09 Weekly New Mover Mailing Lists Weekly Database Update

2009-11-02T06:16:00.000-08:00

We have completed our weekly new mover mailing lists weekly database update for the week of 11/02/09. There are 173,180 nationwide new movers who are ready to receive your new mover offers.

New movers are an incredible candidate to receive offers for grocery, retail, restaurants, home services, alarm services, dentists, doctors, day care and more.

Age and Income Direct Mail Programs for Seminar Mailings

2009-10-28T09:54:00.001-07:00

Many financial planners send out post cards for financial seminars. They usually target a certain age range and income and offer a free dinner for the people that show up. Most financial planners talk about reducing or eliminating taxes on their social security, strategies for the volatile market, maximizing income and minimizing taxes, and so on. Having seminars and meeting with your potential clients builds a great trust factor.

If you are looking for a financial seminar program, take a look at our age and income mailing lists here. Below is a sample count we recently ran for one of our clients that does bi weekly seminars.

ZIP Codes: 20774, 20706, 20715, 20716, 20720, 20721, 20769
Homeowners
Age: 60-75
Income: $50,000+

20706: 2,275
20715: 2,143
20716: 1,063
20720: 1,206
20721: 2,043
20769: 481
20774: 3,284

Homeowner X-Date Direct Mail Formulas

2009-10-26T08:09:00.001-07:00

The key to marketing for homeowners insurance is the letter. You can have all the images and boxes in the world but the consumer’s eyes are going to gravitate towards the numbers and savings. When a consumer gets a mail piece for homeowners insurance, the only question they have is “Will I be saving on my annual premium?” Fact is – that’s all they care about!

You want to mail the consumer a month PRIOR to their homeowner’s insurance policy coming due. You will have the best results when you have a formal quote on the letter. We have several letters that show the consumer coverage’s and most importantly we also generate the annual premium for each consumer. That is what you want them to notice right as they open the mail piece.

If you are looking to generate new policies each month, take a look at our insurance direct mail page for more information.

VA Mailing Lists Monthly Update 10/26/09

2009-10-26T07:33:00.001-07:00

We just completed our monthly update of our VA Mortgage Mailing Lists. After our 10/26/09 update, we have 537,949 nationwide VA mortgage holders. Our VA mortgage mailing lists can be sorted and selected by loan date, loan amount, rate type, lender name, home value, ltv and more.

Our VA mortgage mailing lists contain information used for fha direct mail programs to target VA and VA Streamline mortgage prospects.
For more information on our VA mortgage mailing lists visit http://www.influencedirect.com/va-mailing-lists.

For more information on our VA mortgage direct mail programs visit http://www.influencedirect.com/va-direct-mail.

FHA Direct Mail Lists Monthly Update 10/26/09

2009-10-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

We just completed our monthly update of our FHA Mortgage Mailing Lists. After our 10/26/09 update, we have 2,487,912 nationwide FHA mortgage holders. Our FHA mortgage mailing lists can be sorted and selected by loan date, loan amount, rate type, lender name, home value, ltv and more.

Our FHA mortgage mailing lists contain information used for fha direct mail programs to target FHA and FHA Streamline mortgage prospects.

For more information on our FHA mortgage mailing lists visit http://www.influencedirect.com/fha-mailing-lists.

For more information on our FHA mortgage direct mail programs visit http://www.influencedirect.com/fha-direct-mail.

Mortgage Mailing Lists Monthly Update 10/26/09

2009-10-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

We just completed our monthly update of our Mortgage Mailing Lists. After our 10/26/09 update, we have 60,509,954 nationwide mortgage holders. Our mortgage mailing lists can be sorted and selected by loan date, loan amount, rate type, loan type, lender name, home value, ltv and more.

Our mortgage mailing lists contain information used for fha direct mail, va direct mail, reverse mortgage direct mail, conventional mortgage refinance direct mail and loan modification direct mail.

For more information on our mortgage mailing lists visit http://www.influencedirect.com/mortgage-mailing-lists.

For more information on our mortgage direct mail programs visit http://www.influencedirect.com/mortgage-direct-mail.

For more information on Influence Direct's direct mail printing and mailing programs visit http://www.influencedirect.com/direct-mail

New Homeowner Mailing Lists Update 10/26/09

2009-10-26T07:01:00.003-07:00

We just updated our nationwide new homeowner database for the week of 10/26/09. We have 38,469 new homeowners this week ready to receive your new homeowner direct mail offers. New homeowners are ideal prospects for consumer products and services such as carpet stores, fencing, grocery, restaurants, security alarms, landscaping and more.

For more information on our new homeowner mailing lists visit http://www.influencedirect.com/new-homeowner-mailing-lists and for more information on our new homeowner direct mail programs visit http://www.influencedirect.com/new-homeowner-direct-mail.

New Mover Mailing Lists Update 10/26/09

2009-10-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

We just updated our nationwide new mover database. We have 181,752 new movers this week ready to receive your new mover direct mail offers. For more information on our new mover mailing lists visit http://www.influencedirect.com/new-mover-mailing-lists and for more information on our new mover direct mail programs visit http://www.influencedirect.com/new-mover-direct-mail.

Business Count Nationwide by Employee

2009-10-22T14:42:00.001-07:00

One of our business to business direct mail clients requested a count of nationwide businesses broken out by employee size. We ran the count and thought we would share:

1 to 4 Employees - 6,862,240
5 to 9 Employees - 2,529,452
10 to 19 Employees - 1,231,638
20 to 49 Employees - 728,488
50 to 99 Employees - 236,056
100 to 249 Employees - 120,053
250 to 499 Employees - 25,564
599 to 999 Employees - 9,896
1,000 to 4,999 Employees - 6,263
5,000 or More Employees - 2,237

If you are looking for a list of businesses, check out our business mailing lists at http://www.influencedirect.com/business-mailing-lists.

If you are looking for business to business direct mail options, check out our business to business direct mail programs at http://www.influencecdirect.com/direct-mail

Monthly Hotline of Seniors Turning 65 in 2010

2009-10-22T14:10:00.001-07:00

Turning 65 years old marks an important time for seniors. There are many decisions to be made when turning 65 including Medicare supplement insurance. We decide to look into the future for 2010 and see how many seniors will be turning 65 by month:

January - 194,099
February - 171,579
March - 184,957
April - 172,983
May 179,510
June - 188,509
July - 192,375
August - 194,028
September - 192,055
October - 188,128
November - 178,007
December - 183,422

There are a combined 2,219,652 seniors who will turn 65 in 2010. If my business model targets seniors turning age 65 then using direct mail to target these prospects represents an optimal marketing channel to generate a steady volume of monthly leads.

Reverse Mortgage Direct Mail Prospects for 2010

2009-10-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

We wanted to take a peek into 2010 and see how many households in the United States will be age-eligible for a reverse mortgage. We first started with our nationwide reverse mortgage database which contains age information using month, day and year of birth. We then looked at any household with no individuals over age 62 or older. These are households who are currently not age-eligible for a reverse mortgage. We then looked to see if either the head of household or the spouse turns age 62 at any point in 2010. Based on that research, here are the age-eligible household counts who should receive a reverse mortgage direct mail offer in 2010:

January - 6,106
February - 5,848
March - 6,074
April - 5,636
May - 5,513
une - 5,371
July - 5,915
August - 6,153
September- 5,657
October - 5,625
November - 5,147
December - 5,343

If you use direct mail to generate reverse mortgage prospects then this is a must list for you to target in 2010. To maximize your success, start mailing the list 2 months in advance of their birthday month so you can be the first to offer a reverse mortgage. For more information on Influence Direct's reverse mortgage direct mail programs, visit http://www.influencedirect.com/reverse-mortgage-direct-mail .

Medicare Supplement Direct Mail

2009-10-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

Each year plans change what they cost and what they cover. The next general open enrollment starts on November 15, 2009. During this time, people with Medicare can add, drop or change their prescription drug coverage. They can also select a health plan for their 2010 coverage.

We have plenty of Medicare suppliment direct mail campaigns that generate results. There are over 19 million people that are 65 or older this year for you to target. Give us a call to learn more!

AK - 23,063
AL - 360,404
AR - 223,825
AZ - 370,435
CA - 1,747,573
CO - 260,170
CT - 251,549
DC - 33,246
DE - 65,959
FL - 1,539,037
GA - 493,073
HI - 66,472
IA - 233,919
ID - 91,497
IL - 781,637
IN - 444,911
KS - 194,821
KY - 291,559
LA - 295,929
MA - 442,449
MD - 338,130
ME - 103,831
MI - 746,483
MN - 338,156
MO - 423,599
MS - 199,249
MT - 70,256
NC - 636,457
ND - 46,583
NE - 114,292
NH - 86,638
NJ - 523,029
NM - 114,693
NV - 148,492
NY - 1,148,931
OH - 868,513
OK - 249,952
OR - 252,420
PA - 951,989
RI - 74,361
SC - 330,323
SD - 54,745
TN - 449,661
TX - 1,204,790
UT - 118,481
VA - 473,952
VT - 40,268
WA - 386,601
WI - 410,709
WV - 119,452
WY - 31,558

FHA Direct Mail Campaign for October

2009-10-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

One of our current FHA clients will be expanding their states in a few weeks and wanted to get an early start on counts. Over the past 5 months, we have provided a complete turnkey solution that has yielded phenomenal results. Every few weeks we tweak the criteria, but for the most part, this is what has been used.

First Loan Amount: 200,000+
First Loan Date: 1/90 - 10/08
First Loan Type: FHA
Reverse Mortgage Lenders: Exclude

AZ - 8,883
CA - 35,606
CO - 14,177
DC - 1,295
DE - 1,393
FL - 17,859
GA - 3,807
ID - 1,266
IL - 13,316
IN - 1,207
MD - 10,804
MN - 2,986
MO - 1,996
NC - 3,672
NJ - 19,579
NV - 6,562
NY - 8,373
OH - 4,444
OR - 4,982
PA - 6,158
SC - 1,591
TN - 2,770
TX - 3,627
UT - 4,163
VA - 11,909
WA - 10,942
WI - 1,005

If you are looking for FHA mailing lists or a FHA direct mail campaign, give us a call to see how we can provide you a better solution!

Life Insurance Direct Mail for New Parent Marketing

2009-10-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

We have found that new parents are the ideal target for life insurance policies. If you have a good sales team, your pitch can be a slam dunk. There are over 2 million people that have children under 1 year old that you could be targeting. We craft the mail campaign from start to finish which includes data, mail piece, postage receipts, daily mail delivery tracking and much more.

To most new parents, getting settled with a new baby means figuring out how to function on little to no sleep. The financial issues rarely get the time of day, even though numerous important issues appear once you have a child. As a result, many new parents put their financial security at risk by making rash decisions or avoiding issues all together.

Once you become a parent, having enough life insurance is essential. If one or both parents die, you have to make sure your dependents will be provided for. Most employers offer life insurance, but 9 times out of 10 that is not enough. In this economy, it's not uncommon to get laid off. When that happens, you lose your life insurance with the employer and then what do you do? Generally people need five times their earnings, plus the amount of the total household debt and enough to cover college tuition.

Click here for more information on our insurance direct mail programs or here for more information on our insurance mailing lists.

New Mover Mailing LIsts Update 10/19/09

2009-10-20T07:23:00.001-07:00

Our nationwide new mover mailing lists have updated this morning. For the week of 10/19/09, we have 196,820 new movers nationwide available for new mover direct mail offers.

New Homeowner Mailing Lists Update 10/19/09

2009-10-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

Our nationwide new homeowner mailing lists have updated this morning. For the week of 10/19/09, we have 53,481 new homeowners nationwide available for new homeowner direct mail offers.

FHA Energy Efficient Direct Mail

2009-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

FHA has come out with several energy efficient home loans so homeowners can update their home with solar and energy efficient products that conserve energy and water. Why wouldn’t you want to save money every month with lower gas and electric bills? Solar energy can cut your bill and save you hundreds of dollars each month.

FHA's Energy Efficient Mortgage program (EEM) helps homebuyers or homeowners save money on utility bills by enabling them to finance the cost of adding energy efficiency features to new or existing housing as part of their FHA insured home purchase or refinancing mortgage. For more information about this, click here.

If you are looking to generate leads by targeting people with older homes that need improvements to become more energy efficient, take a look at our FHA mailing lists and FHA direct mail programs.

HUD makes changes to FHA Streamline Refinance Loan Program

2009-10-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

FHA streamlined loans emerged onto the mortgage scene in the early 1980's. Since then, thousands of FHA home owners have utilized this program to lower their interest rate with fewer costs and relative ease.

A FHA streamlined refinance loan refers only to the amount of documentation and underwriting that is conducted on a loan file by the mortgage company. Mortgage companies may offer streamlines "no cost" (actually no out-of-pocket expenses to the borrower) by charging a higher interest rate on the new loan. Other companies may offer a streamline refinance that wrap the costs into the new mortgage amount. Unfortunately, there must be sufficient equity in the property. Before deciding which option best fits your needs, it is important to weigh not only the costs but also the long term impact that a higher rate or a higher mortgage payment will have.

FHA streamline refinance loans with or without an appraisal, do not require full credit underwriting. As of September 18th, HUD and Lenders have adopted some provisions regarding prior mortgage late payments. New individuals may be added to title on a streamline refinance without credit review. Deleting individuals from title on a streamline refinance may require qualification (certain exceptions may apply).

The following are basic requirements of an FHA streamlined refinance:

Borrowers who refinance their delinquent non-FHA ARM loan into FHA Secure and subsequently wish to refinance to another FHA-insured mortgage must use a refinance product that requires full qualifying, e.g., a rate and term refinance. Once the FHA-to-FHA full qualifying refinance is insured, these borrowers will be able to take advantage of FHA’s Streamline Refinance program.

The mortgage to be refinanced must already be FHA insured and the borrower must have made at least 6 payments on the current FHA Loan.
The mortgage to be refinanced (if less than 12 months old) the borrower must have made all mortgage payments in the month due (no delinquent payment of 30 days)
The mortgage to be refinanced (if greater than 12 months old) not have more than 1x30 days late in the last 12 months AND made all payments within 3 months of the application within the month due (i.e. no 30 day late's in the last 3 months)
The refinance must lower the TOTAL mortgage payment of the previous mortgage by 5% if going from Fixed rate to a Fixed rate. Special conditions apply when going from ARM to Fixed, Fixed to ARM or reducing the Loan Term.
The borrower may not receive cash from loan proceeds in excess of $500.
Any Assets need to close must be Verified.
The Lender must certify to HUD that the borrower is employed and has income at the time of the application.
Any subordinate financing may remain in place as long as it is subordinated on title and does not exceed 125% Combined Loan to Value (CLTV). For Streamlines w/out an appraisal the value is based on the original appraised value from the prior Fully Underwritten FHA loan.
The term of the new mortgage must be the lesser of 30 years or the unexpired term of the mortgage plus 12 years. A borrower cannot refinance from a 15 year loan to a 30 year loan.
An appraisal is not required unless the closing costs are wrapped into the loan. Streamline refinances without an appraisal are limited to the unpaid principal balance, minus any refund credit of the mortgage insurance premium (MIP), plus the new upfront MIP if it is to be financed in the mortgage.
No termite report is required.
The borrower cannot be late, delinquent, or in default of any federal debt.

Source Article: http://www.fhainfo.com/streamlinerefinancing.htm

Are 100% of Your Direct Mail Pieces Getting Delivered?

2009-10-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, a few of our weekly mail clients had questions on about their mail being delayed. This was a shock to us considering nothing at all changed in the process of printing/generating postage/dropping off at the bulk mail center/etc. After providing the USPS 3600 and 3602 postage statements, the only conclusion that came to mind was that the mail was possibly delayed. This wasn’t a good enough “guess” for us here at Influence Direct. We never want to call a client and say “I guess your mail is delayed” and not know for sure if it actually is. Because of this, we decided to implement Intelligent Mail Barcode Tracking to resolve this issue. Every campaign that we produce now will have daily reports showing exactly where the mail is in the mail stream.

WHAT IS MAIL DELIVERY TRACKING?

I am glad you asked! For years, mail tracking has provided an important service to efficiency-minded mailers. Now barcode tracking is the door to even greater delivery-monitoring functionality.
Our software collects step-by-step delivery information from First-Class™, Standard Mail® or Periodical mailings and maintains that data on a secure Web interface. Closely monitoring the progress of your mailings will help you gauge delivery effectiveness and predict future performance.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

Uses USPS Intelligent Mail barcode: end-to-end tracking of a job's path through the mail stream
Allows unique identification of every piece in a mailing job, to provide delivery details with any desired level of specificity
Compatible with First-Class, Standard Mail and Periodical mailings
Delivery report data archived online for easy, password-protected access; reports may also be downloaded into an array of convenient file formats