The pledging process involves many moving pieces and relationships with various stakeholders. The relationship between a loan officer and a real estate agent is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle, as the two must combine forces to help borrowers achieve their goal of purchasing a home.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Ideally, a strong relationship between the LO and the real estate professional leads to symbiosis and benefits for both parties as well as the homebuyer.
Are You Nurturing Your Relationship With Your Real Estate Partners Properly?
Here are the top five reasons to strengthen your relationships with real estate professionals in your sphere of influence:
1. Build and Maintain a Referral Network
First, a good partnership with a real estate professional as a loan officer can help you build and maintain a referral network.
Both the mortgage and real estate industries depend on relationships, whether it’s between you and a borrower, a real estate agent and a borrower, or you and an agent.
Often, a buyer will contact a real estate agent as the first step in their home buying process, and it is up to that agent to refer them to a lender who will work with them on financing. By strengthening your relationships with agents you’ve worked with before, you can become their first choice for referrals.
The more agents you have a positive relationship with, the more potential borrowers will come your way, which will lead to more closed sales for you and the agent.
2. Benefit from local market knowledge
A strong relationship with real estate professionals in your area also gives you insight into local markets and improves your knowledge.
If you are not local to the area you serve, having a boots-on-the-ground agent can be a huge asset. Agents and other real estate professionals are naturally involved in their community at the neighborhood level as well, making them more aware of pricing trends, housing supply and availability. Their knowledge means better guidance for you and your borrowers throughout the homebuying process.
3. Streamline Communication
Additionally, a close working relationship with an agent will make it easier for both you and the agent to do their jobs well by streamlining communication. While both of you are experts in your side of the homebuying process, each can provide more information from their side, not only to each other but also to the buyer.
Streamlined communication between the LO and the agent means it’s easier for both of you to stay on the same page throughout the home buying process. If you’re able to communicate more clearly and more often, you’re less likely to encounter delays or confusion about turn times or closing dates. And, customers will be happy with the experience.
4. Improve buyer experience
Streamlined communication between the LO and the agent also benefits the borrower by making the process run as smoothly as possible. Better communication means that deadlines are clear, essential documents are less likely to be lost and transactions can close more quickly as a result.
Overall, a better buyer experience leads to better customer satisfaction – and in a business that is so dependent on referrals, that can only be a net positive for you and the agent.
5. Strengthen brand awareness
Finally, strengthening your partnership with real estate agents means you can benefit from each other’s marketing. Real estate professionals are excellent at marketing themselves, and as an LO you can learn from their experiences and in some cases even co-brand or co-market together.
By working together on marketing, such as emails, videos, open house fliers and social media posts, both you and the agent can introduce each other to each other’s contacts and expand your circle of influence. You can also collaborate on buyer education around the home buying process, taking advantage of each other’s expertise.
event that strengthens bonds
Ultimately, loan officers should aim to be a valuable partner to the real estate agents you work with. By building and strengthening those relationships, both sides of the partnership can benefit from trusted referral sources and improved borrower experiences.
Interested in learning more? This year’s Gathering of Eagles, taking place June 18-21, focuses on “Foraging Opportunities.” The event will feature networking opportunities with real estate professionals as well as speakers and panels providing valuable insight on the real estate industry. Loan officers are welcome to participate, and it’s a great way to learn more about your partners’ businesses and find opportunities to strengthen those valuable partnerships.
To view this year’s Gathering of Eagles agenda and to register for the event, click here.
