By Susanne Dwyer
Editor’s Note: What follows is the cover story in the January issue of RISMedia’s Real Estate magazine.
Real estate moves fast, and how quickly you respond to prospective clients can make or break your chances of getting their business. Mortgage lenders, on the other hand, have a captive audience and don’t always feel the same urgency.
At Quicken Loans, though, that’s not the case.
Emails and phone calls are answered quickly, typically within minutes. And it’s not just borrowers who are viewed as clients; real estate agents also play an integral part in the online lender’s mortgage process.
On one hand, it’s no secret that the mortgage industry has been slow to adopt technology into its rigid systems and underwriting processes. On the other hand, Quicken Loans has continually broken new ground and riffed on its own successes by building consumer- and agent-friendly portals and services that remove guesswork from the equation.
Today, Quicken Loans is the largest online mortgage lender and the second-largest retail mortgage lender in the United States, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. And while the company has racked up an enviable collection of accolades for consumer satisfaction over the years, real estate agents also have rave reviews about the company—and for good reason.
Putting Agents at the Center of the Transaction
To make the mortgage process better for consumers, Quicken Loans executives turned their attention to working hand-in-hand with real estate agents, their most powerful ally, says Tom Dempsey, divisional vice president of Business Development with Quicken Loans.
“Real estate agents aren’t usually included in the [mortgage] experience, but they’re our clients, too,” says Dempsey, adding that homebuyers (especially first-time buyers) turn to agents to be their trusted guide in a sometimes complex process. “We knew we needed to communicate with the agent at the same high level that we communicate with the client throughout the process.”
The centerpiece of this effort: MyQL Agent Insight, a custom back-end platform that increases loan visibility by letting agents see exactly where their client stands in the loan approval process.
From a smartphone or desktop, agents can see what documents might be missing, when an appraisal comes in, and when a loan is cleared to close or even denied.
It’s worth noting that Quicken Loans’ mortgage clients must give consent for their agents to see updates on their loan file and, if they do, personal or financial information is never revealed to agents, Dempsey adds.
The accessibility and transparency MyQL Agent Insight brings to the process reduces a lot of the uncertainty agents experience in most transactions, Dempsey points out.
“It always comes back to connectedness in our industry,” Dempsey says. “The ability for a lender and a real estate agent to deepen relationships and create a higher level of trust, in turn, helps all of us to better educate and serve consumers.
“This is sometimes a hand-to-hand combat sport that requires commitment to shared business goals, relationships and top-level client service. When those three things line up, we have a recipe for success.”
Service, Technology Part of a Broader Culture
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