Rethinking Market Outreach

Jeremy Davis is President of Mortgage with Southern Bancorp, Little Rock, Ark.

For too long, many mortgage professionals have been swinging blind when it comes to reaching diverse communities. We put together a nice flyer, sponsor a local event, maybe even drop a few Spanish-language ads during Hispanic Heritage Month, and then wonder why applications from underserved borrowers aren’t flooding in.

The inability to reach underserved communities has a real impact on homeownership. According to the National Association of Realtors data, the homeownership gap between Black families and their White counterparts has only widened in the past decade or so, from 27% in 2013 to a 28% gap currently. It’s time to rethink what outreach means.

Here’s the truth: trust isn’t built with a translation; trust is built with conversation. Conversation in community institutions of trust. If the industry desires to close the homeownership gap, it’s time to stop mistaking marketing for connection.

A Strategic Framework: Community Institutions of Trust

I call it the Barbershops, Pulpits, and Corner Stores framework. It’s not a cute catchphrase. It’s a strategic shift. These spaces are financial ecosystems in disguise. They’re where conversations happen without judgment and advice is given with context. If lenders want to reach someone who’s credit invisible, financially cautious, or historically excluded? Then start where they already feel seen.

• Barbershops are built on relationships. The barber knows your cousin’s job history, your mama’s mortgage drama, and that you just started a new side hustle. No CRM needed. That kind of trust can’t be bought. But it can be partnered with.

• Pulpits are about transformation. Faith leaders shape not just spiritual values, but life decisions—from how to save, to who to trust with your future. If your lending program is being endorsed from the pulpit, it’s transformational not transactional. That’s ministry, not marketing.

• Corner Stores are hubs of information. It may not look like much, but that bodega clerk? They know who’s struggling with rent, who just had a baby, and who’s quietly dreaming about a home with a backyard. That’s market intelligence you can’t find on Zillow.

These aren’t metaphors. Our industry must embed mortgage education, down payment assistance sessions, and homeownership coaching directly into these institutions of trust. Remember, trust doesn’t disappear after the ribbon cutting. Trust walks in. It brings sweet tea. It remembers your Auntie’s name.

Genuine community engagement will drive trust and applications.

Stop the Pop-In. Start the Partnership.

The traditional outreach model is transactional. Show up once, hand out swag, check a box, and disappear. That’s not outreach. That’s outreach theater. Communities know the difference between authentic partnership and performative outreach.

Authentic partnership means consistency. It means showing up without an agenda. It means investing time before ever delivering a pre-qualification letter. It means working alongside nonprofits, churches, and community businesses to co-host workshops, provide counseling, and demystify the mortgage process. Don’t just show up once. Stay.

Rethink Your Metrics

Let’s also be clear: this isn’t just about mission. It’s about margin, too. If organizations still measure success by volume alone, they’re missing the long game. Sustainable lending in historically excluded communities isn’t a quarterly play. It’s a market development strategy.

Here’s what successful community development organizations have learned:

• Trust-based outreach builds referral pipelines that are more consistent than lead gen lists.

• Community integration reduces friction, lowering fallout rates and increasing borrower readiness.

• Cultural fluency drives product fit, institutions learning first, not pushing cookie-cutter loans to gig workers or multigenerational households who need creative underwriting and a little patience.

A Kickstart Guide for Authentic, Community-Focused Outreach

It starts with the team.
If a lending team doesn’t reflect the communities it aims to serve, there’s already a trust gap in play. Representation isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s the foundation of meaningful connection. Lenders need to ask the hard questions: Do we speak the language? Do we understand the cultural norms? Do we truly grasp what it feels like to navigate a mortgage system that hasn’t always been fair or inclusive? If the answer is no, then the next step is clear—hire intentionally, train with cultural fluency in mind, and promote individuals who bring both expertise and lived experience.

It Grows Through Relationships.
Identify the three to five most trusted institutions in the neighborhoods you want to serve. Show up as a partner, not a pitch. Offer financial wellness resources with no strings attached. Partner with these trusted institutions to host regular workshops on things that matter—credit building, budgeting, down payment help, and how to prepare for homeownership without fear or shame.

Assign relationship managers who don’t just drop in, they plug in. They go to the neighborhood fish fry, stay for the town hall, and help clean up after the event. They’re not just “from the bank.” They’re part of the block. Visibility builds familiarity, and familiarity builds trust.

Lastly – Adapt your products to the people, not the other way around.
If available loan options and underwriting guidelines can’t flex to fit the real financial lives of gig workers, side hustlers, or credit-thin borrowers, your outreach is window dressing. That means looking at alternative credit data, flexible DTI considerations, and providing language support from inquiry to closing table.

The Future of Mortgage Outreach Is Personal

This isn’t a tech problem. It’s a people problem. And the solution isn’t another marketing campaign. It’s proximity, presence, and partnership.

You don’t need to guess how to do this right. Just look around. The playbook is already written—on a barbershop wall, in a church bulletin, or taped behind the corner store register. Our job is to show up, listen, and co-create solutions that work for them, not just for us.

Because at the end of the day, if the only place your lending strategy works is in a boardroom, don’t be surprised when it falls flat in the barbershop.

(Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect policies of the Mortgage Bankers Association, nor do they connote an MBA endorsement of a specific company, product or service. MBA NewsLink welcomes submissions from member firms. Inquiries can be sent to Editor Michael Tucker or Editorial Manager Anneliese Mahoney.)