Property ManagementWant Loans on Your Site? LoansDirect Wants to Be Your Partner
LoansDirect is launching its Internet site today with some paradigm-shifting points of difference. The direct lender is the first to launch an online loan center where consumers can obtain a live, custom-rate quote, gain loan approval, and lock-in a guaranteed interest rate and closing costs within minutes - at no cost and with no obligation. An approved loan is immediately processed and can be closed in as little as four days. Not only is Loan Direct boasting the fastest loan application to date - 15 minutes - but the real news is that their business model represents the first loan application offered online with no money required up front by the consumer.
Getting buyers pre-approved for loans before taking them to view homes is one of the biggest and most time-consuming hurdles for Realtors. With LoansDirect as a site partner, any Realtor will be able to refer prospective buyers to their site to get pre-approved - with no money out of pocket.
And that"s just the first phase. As part of phase II, a nationwide launch scheduled for 2000, LoansDirect will offer loans in almost every state of union, and will partner with Realtors to link to their sites, giving real estate professionals an unprecedented, free marketing tool.
Anthony Hsieh, president and CEO of LoansDirect, says, "The value we can deliver to our real estate partners is we can provide fast, efficient, low cost loans from people who haven"t yet chosen a Realtor. That is a value we can bring to the real estate community."
Although Hsieh said he did not want to make that announcement until next quarter, he did reveal the planned strategy to Realty Times. "We see the Realtor as a powerful segment of our marketplace, says Hsieh. "During Phase II in the first quarter, we will have a business-to- business section that allows the Realtor to utilize the credit module. We are negotiating with three local firms to do just that. Individual Realtors can put our link to their sites."
Details of how the site partnerships will work will be revealed next quarter, says Hsieh. Meanwhile, LoansDirect plans a direct assault on the online mortgage brokers such as E-Loan and other direct lenders such as Countrywide.
"We are not burdened with an expensive branch-office system or the
distribution-channel conflicts facing traditional lenders," challenges Hsieh. "And since LoansDirect deals directly with the consumer, we"re able to eliminate the costs associated with intermediaries such as mortgage brokers or online referral sites."
"Just because an online lender offers various products from an array of
lenders doesn"t mean it can provide the best price and service," he
continued. "These so-called online "lenders" are actually intermediaries
that add a layer of cost and depend on other lenders to quote prices and
complete the loan process."
Hsieh says that LoansDirect benefits from its mature in-house technologies which enable the company to approve and close loans with unprecedented speed.
In addition to competitive loan rates, instant online approval and rate lock-in, LoansDirect also offers guaranteed closing costs and a guarantee of savings.
One of the strongest advantages for mortgage lenders are loan comparison features. Hsieh says, "We have a feature that allows us to compare an existing loan for refinance customers, and a separate feature for purchase where you get an instant pre-qualification, down payment amount, and loan amount that you can qualify for different products."
"To combat referral sites, we have in place a low price guarantee," explains Hsieh. "Since we don"t have the cost layer that an Internet referral has, we can beat any legitimate player by at least $400 on closing cost fees and the same interest rate."
The company also boasts unprecedented closing times. LoansDirect"s parallel processing system, in which loan processing, underwriting, appraisal, document signing and other activities occur almost simultaneously instead of sequentially, enables the company to close a loan in as little as four days.
This will be a tremendous advantage to agents who have sellers or buyers who are in a hurry.
To close the loan, the company will assign a loan officer to the customer and dispatch a notary to close the loan at the consumer"s convenience.
So is there anything that can slow this juggernaut?
The company is expecting lack of name recognition to be a factor, but only temporarily. LoansDirect, Inc. is the new name of Tricor Mortgage Lending, one of the largest independent retail mortgage lenders in the nation with over 15 years experience. The company"s first advertising efforts will be in the local markets where Tricor has a market presence. Then the company plans to expand advertising to key mediums including outdoor ads, print (USA Today) and will start strong media buys in major markets such as Chicago and Florida starting next quarter.