About
Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group
Established in 1996 and having earned the title of #1 large lender to work for by National Mortgage News two years in a row, Atlantic Bay continually distinguishes themselves in the mortgage industry. They prioritize a commitment to their community, fostering a culture of growth, and developing meaningful relationships with borrowers. Even in challenging market conditions, Atlantic Bay’s client satisfaction remains unwavering, driving their success forward.
Behind the scenes, Hannah McManus, Director of Branded Family of Companies at Atlantic Bay, and her team are building on these values by providing the most effective tools to their Mortgage Bankers, and as a result, a world class experience for their borrowers.
Lenders often speak to the importance of gaining clients for life, recognizing the co-beneficial relationship between them and their borrowers as it evolves beyond a single transaction. The dilemma, however, is not nearly as many lenders are taking the action needed to maintain them. With mortgage servicing companies only retaining 20% of their business post-close, the team at Atlantic Bay sought out a way to more effectively nurture clients, helping them develop relationships at scale.
In late 2021, they found a solution. An easy-to-use client engagement tool that sends their database a Home Digest report every month, featuring insights into how their home value is appreciating, opportunities for leveraging their equity, how the market is fairing, and so much more. They found Homebot.
“It’s critical for lenders to have that client for life, we're no different, so when we saw that we could provide an equity report to all of our past clients and our Mortgage Bankers didn't necessarily have to do anything but follow up on the activities from it… It was kind of a no-brainer.”
Today’s market is flooded with “experts”, fear tactics, and overwhelming information. However, Mortgage Bankers at Atlantic Bay support borrowers by acting as financial advisors; a dedicated source of truth that clients can depend on no matter the situation. The key to empowering them starts with education, and with Homebot, Atlantic Bay actively helps their community lead their best lives, making informed financial decisions throughout.
“Homebuyers are hearing that it's not a good time to buy, and we all know that that's not true, but it's hard to overcome that noise.”
Interest rates are a perfect example where borrowers are inundated with news stating why it’s the “wrong time to buy”. And yet, one size doesn’t fit all. Atlantic Bay makes it a point to communicate this with aspiring homeowners, that their options are significantly more promising than what they may be hearing.
“Everybody's so focused on rate, but in reality, rate doesn't matter. Your monthly payment matters, how much can you afford. It's what you're paying on a monthly basis and Homebot gets them there. Not only do they get 'em there, but they get 'em there with a Mortgage Banker who's very knowledgeable that they can send DMs to all day long.”
In a lot of cases, borrowers are unaware of just how much equity they have. On top of that, they may have no idea how they can leverage that equity into building wealth, improving their home, or achieving a dream they always thought was unreachable. Hannah shared many success stories with us, but here are a couple that show just how Homebot can empower Atlantic Bay clients in making informed decisions with their home.
“I have two different ladies I'm helping this week that are past clients of mine who were looking at Homebot a lot. I reached out and because of my call, I'm helping one determine if she can refinance or if she should sell and buy due to a current divorce. And the other I’m helping her determine if she should sell one home she's been renting out and buy in the new city she’s living in, or if she should keep the rental and buy a new home and use a HELOC, or just a lower down payment option to help her buy in the new city.” - Mortgage Banker, FL
“A client refinanced their investment property, used the cash to buy a new house and all of that came from a conversation based off of a Homebot value.” - Mortgage Banker, VA
Borrowers aren’t the only ones seeing the effect of Atlantic Bay Mortgage Bankers and Homebot working together, realtor partners are reaping the benefits as well. But don’t take it from us, hear it from the bankers themselves.
“I had a client who bought an investment property in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for around $550,000. They received their home digest email monthly and when their expected value hit $670,000 he sent me an email and said if we can get this amount for selling this home, he would list it right away. I reached out to our agent, she confirmed that we could at least get close to this figure. I let my client know and they had the property listed within one week. Within a week from then they had a full price offer.” - Mortgage Banker, NC
On top of improving the lives of borrowers and agent partners, Atlantic Bay’s very own Mortgage Bankers are seeing the greatest return. Effectively, the more their loan officers utilize Homebot, the more loans are being closed overall.
Through Atlantic Bay’s Pure Sales Model, Hannah and her team regularly support their Mortgage Bankers through both training and educational resources, helping them make the most out of the platform, resulting in a more engaged database and more business year-round. Because of the additional support, Mortgage Bankers at Atlantic Bay are able to focus purely on sales which, in most cases, attracts them to the team and keeps them on the team for a long time.
“Homebot’s almost like a buzzword. Everybody knows Homebot now. [Loan officers] will ask in recruiting calls about our tech stack and when we say Homebot, they're like, “Oh, well I have Homebot”. And we're like, “You haven't had our Homebot”. We do a lot of the heavy lifting and data importing for our team, we have workshops and office hours and Bethany (our Homebot CSM) on call. The tech tool support our team brings is something many new team members aren’t used to. Having the tech is one thing, but having the tech plus the support is a game changer.”
Since implementing Homebot, Mortgage Bankers at Atlantic Bay have been reaching new levels of success. Thousands of Home Digests are being delivered each month, and borrowers love connecting with their lender throughout their journey as homeowners thanks to Homebot.
"The open rate of Homebot is astronomical compared to some of our other emails. We send out roughly 50,000 Digests a month and we have a 77% open rate. I think that speaks for itself. People like the Digest, they open the Digest and they engage with the Digest.”
In a single month Atlantic Bay sees north of 200 DMs being sent between Mortgage Banker and borrower, and roughly 75% of which are connected to an agent sponsored in Homebot. The ecosystem they’ve built with Homebot at the center is defining how they retain clients for life, educating and delighting homeowners along the way, all while elevating their business in an otherwise difficult market.
“When they have a co-worker or they have a friend, or they are thinking about buying a home, guess who the first person they're going to call is? It's going to be me because I send them a relevant email every single month and check in on them and know what's going on in their life. And I wouldn't be able to do that if I didn't have the Homebot Digest to send. - Senior Mortgage Banker, GA