The credit-score story is the freshest marketing beat on the board. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now accept VantageScore 4.0 alongside Classic FICO on eligible loans, with the lender choosing the model, and FHFA Director Bill Pulte announced yesterday that the two GSEs will price both models off one grid instead of the separate VantageScore grids introduced earlier this month. Rocket Mortgage also said it will make VantageScore 4.0 its default model for eligible loans, and HousingWire ran a consumer-facing piece this morning under the headline "You may not just have one credit score." That piece is written for consumers, so the topic can reach your borrowers from outside the industry, and a clear explanation from you gives them a reason to call. Keep the claim tight: the grid change was announced by social media post and the GSE guidance that implements it has not been published, so talk about what a second score model is, not about what it will do to anyone's price.
On rates, Bankrate's 30-year is 7.34% this morning, the top of its 90-day range of 6.54% to 7.34%, even after August's core PCE came in at a softer 0.2%. On a $400,000 loan that is about $2,753 a month in principal and interest, against about $2,539 at the 90-day low. The MBA's weekly survey showed purchase applications down 4% and ARMs up to 10.3% of applications, priced about 80 basis points under fixed. That makes two segments worth your marketing time this week: buyers who have not started shopping yet, who benefit from a credit review before rates or scores surprise them, and in-flight purchase clients at the top of the rate range, who deserve a fixed-versus-ARM comparison on paper.
The tactical move is a two-piece credit-score series. A short social post or video explains that a mortgage lender can use more than one credit scoring model and invites buyers to message you for a credit review before they shop. A follow-up email to your pre-approval and early-stage buyer list offers the same review, with a reply-to-book link. If you add an ARM comparison to any of it, remember that an ad that uses the word "fixed" about an adjustable-rate loan carries its own disclosure rules, below.
record a 30-second face-to-camera video explaining that there is more than one credit score a mortgage lender can use, end it with "message me SCORE," and schedule it to post before Friday's jobs report.