House for sale. (Source: Shutterstock)
Like peanut butter and chocolate, two CUSOs have announced a new partnership to potentially create a new series of offerings that could turn out to be a great combination for credit union members.
The real estate CUSO HomeAdvantage, formerly CU Realty Services, and the mortgage loan CUSO Member Home Loan revealed a partnership agreement on Thursday. According to the announcement, the partnership will allow dozens of credit unions served by Member Home Loan to utilize HomeAdvantage's online real estate resources to its members.
"We are very excited to partner with HomeAdvantage," EVP of Member Home Loan, Janie Smith-Loville, said. "We are positive that through this new partnership, we will be able to deliver an easy, efficient and complete home buying experience. We pride ourselves in customer service, and we will work diligently in providing members complete satisfaction through the entire home buying process."
According to a joint statement, HomeAdvantage, which is the largest real estate CUSO in the U.S., uses front-end tools to attract members at the beginning of the home-buying process, while back-end systems and personal touchpoints support them until they are ready to transact. One of those touchpoints is the connection to a HomeAdvantage-certified real estate agent who is trained to keep credit union financing top-of-mind.
"On average, when credit unions use HomeAdvantage, they increase their loan volume by more than 40% and an impressive 85% of their purchase loan applicants stay with the credit union for financing. Members earn cash-back savings in the form of HomeAdvantage Cash Rewards when they use the program, which average $1,600 per real estate transaction. More than $6 million in Cash Rewards was distributed last year," the statement said.
"HomeAdvantage and Member Home Loan share the common goal of making home buying more accessible for credit union members," HomeAdvantage CEO Herb Behrens said. "We are excited about the impact this partnership will have on that goal since we will have the opportunity to reach and service their more than 350,000 members."
Member Home Loan is a credit union-owned mortgage lending firm licensed in Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
