How smart agents are turning mortgage rate uncertainty into booked calls

by REM Bot

Most agents treat market uncertainty as a reason to go quiet. The ones who build lasting businesses treat it as a reason to call.

Right now, fixed mortgage rates are moving in a direction that affects a significant portion of most agents’ databases. The people who bought in 2022 took five-year terms and are looking at renewals in 2027. Others are watching global events, oil prices and bond yields and quietly wondering if they should be doing something about their mortgage. Almost none of them are going to pick up the phone.

In a recent episode of their weekly sales and marketing show, Taylor Hack and Andrew Fogliato broke down exactly how to get ahead of this moment and turn it into a genuine reason to contact your entire database.

Why this moment is different from a regular check-in

The most common reason agents do not call their database is that they cannot think of a reason that does not feel like a sales call. This moment removes that problem.

Hack’s framing: fixed rates are moving, and most clients do not understand the difference between fixed and variable, what drives each of them or what their actual options are when renewal time comes. That gap is exactly where an agent adds value.

“I am the shepherd of hundreds of families,” Hack said. “I talk to them all the time about stuff like this. It lets me connect with them more often without being like, want to buy my thing.”

The call is not about real estate. It is about their financial situation. Real estate comes later, if it comes at all. The goal of the first call is to be the person they heard from first.

What to actually say

Hack’s opening is built around the format he uses for all client communication: why, what, how, now. Lead with why it matters before getting into any detail.

An example opening: “Hey, I have been watching something with mortgage rates that not everyone seems to be aware of yet. Do you have two minutes?” Then let them respond. If they know nothing about it, you explain. If they say they have a renewal coming up, you have already found your opening.

“You have to lead with why,” Hack said. “Don’t beat around the bush. Hey, I was calling because I have information that it doesn’t seem like everybody else knows about mortgage rates. Did you see they’re moving? That’s my why.”

The call is also a qualifier. Clients who are not anywhere near a renewal and have a great rate are still worth calling because it signals that you are paying attention. Clients who have a renewal in the next 24 months may have an immediate need. Either way, you leave the call as someone who was thinking about them.

The renewal window most clients do not know about

One of the most useful pieces of information agents can share in these calls: banks send renewal notices that are designed to be signed as quickly as possible. The rate on that notice is rarely their best offer.

Most mortgage agreements allow clients to break their term early for approximately three months of interest. In an environment where rates are rising, paying three months to lock in at today’s rate can save significantly more over the remaining term. Most clients have never been told this.

“Do you think that renewal offer is going to be their best offer? No,” Hack said. “It’s like they send what they hope they will sign.”

The practical advice: connect clients with a mortgage broker early. Not at renewal time, but now. Let the broker be the one to run the numbers. The agent’s job is to be the one who made the introduction.

Why your call to action needs to be specific

Hack has been testing video content around this theme and found that his current call to action was too vague. Ending a video with if you are not having conversations like this, we should talk does not tell anyone what to do next.

Fogliato’s fix: give people a specific next step. DM me the word mortgage and I will send you a breakdown. Text me and I will connect you with my broker. Comment and I will send you the calculator. The more specific the action, the more likely someone takes it.

He also built a mortgage rate impact calculator live during the episode using Claude and Lovable, a no-code tool. The process took about 20 minutes: describe what you want, have Claude write the prompt for Lovable, paste it in, fix two minor errors and publish. The result is a simple tool clients can use to see the real dollar impact of a rate change on their mortgage.

“At the end of the day, to oversimplify all lead gen, you are trying to cross that barrier in their mind of is it worth it for me to engage with someone in sales,” Fogliato said. “A little tool like that can make that possible.”

Use their language, not yours

One of the clearest points in the episode was about the language gap between agents and clients. Agents say showing. Clients say viewing. Agents say bidding war, which Hack noted is a phrase that should probably stay out of professional communication entirely, but clients use it constantly and respond to it as a hook.

The same applies to how clients are talking about rates right now. If they are asking whether this means we have reached the bottom, that is the hook for your video. Not your version of the question, theirs.

“Know how they are hearing about it on the platforms they are on,” Fogliato said. “Then meet them there.”

Voice of customer is the starting point. Work out the language on live calls first. Listen to how clients describe what they are feeling. Then bring that language into your content and your database outreach.

The sequence that makes it work

Hack’s process: call ten people from your database who bought in 2022 or 2023 and have this conversation. Track how many of them have a renewal coming up, express interest in more information or get connected to a mortgage broker. If two or three out of ten engage meaningfully, that is enough signal to put marketing effort behind it.

From there, build the sequence: a video with a specific call to action, a tool people can interact with, a follow-up for anyone who engages. Not ten things at once. One clear path.

“If you send out ten things it will all fail,” Hack said. “Not because ten things fail. Because you gave them too many options.”

The full episode covers the mechanics of mortgage rates in more detail, how to work with the right mortgage brokers, and the neighborhood quiz concept Fogliato described as one of the highest-leverage lead tools an agent can build from their own market knowledge.

Watch the full episode now: