According to a Press Release by Keller Williams, KW and CitiMortgage have entered into an agreement to provide mortgages with reduced fees and a $1,500 on time closing guarantee. While this is not the first agreement of its kind in the industry, it is part of a growing trend among franchises.
“Our goal is to ensure that our associates have access to the best resources possible so they can focus on their main priority-their client. We are confident that with five million mortgage customers, CitiMortgage has the experience and expertise to support our Market Centers and associates at the highest level possible,” said Anthony Azar, director of strategic business alliances at Keller Williams Realty.
Another part of this deal will give Keller Williams market centers the opportunity to have a lender presence in their offices.
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Eric, Keller Williams has been popping up lately on real estate industry watch. Do you really think the agents will conform to this endorsed lender?
Robert –
I just report. I am not sure how that will be received by the Keller Williams agents.
ONE of the GREAT things about the KW business model is that agents are their own businesses and can make their own decisions without pressure from the Broker. If the CitiMortgae package makes sense they can/will use it. If not they will continue to find the best option for their clients.
I say ditto to your comments, Steve. But even more is that KW always offers great options to support their agents unlike other brokerages that push options that only benefit their office ownership. At KW agents share in the profits – really a different concept.
That is great news for Mortgage Brokers that are trying to get business from Real Estate agents that work with Keller Williams. This deal with Citi just made it that much easier to get business from these offices. There is NO WAY possible that RETAIL CITI (even with reduced fees) can compete with a good wholesale mortgage broker. Thank You upper management from both companies (KW and CITI). It just shows how OUT-OF-TOUCH the individuals not working with their clientelle are.
Realistically, the best deal Citi can offer is still .25% or more higher in rates with the likelyhood of still higher closing costs than about 15 Wholesale Mortgage Lenders that I work with.
Glen W Spencer/NMLS#312711
Trillion Mortgage, Inc./NMLS ID 313391
Well said Steve.
ONE of the GREAT things about the KW business model is that agents are their own businesses and can make their own decisions without pressure from the Broker.
Thats every Big Broker every agent is in business for themseleves. I don’t think this a good thing, agents should not endourse a bank or have to use that bank to do a deal.
I think Steve is right regarding the independence an agent has in the KW model. However, given that a lot of agents in the last housing boom moved to KW for the split and not because they were competent enough to be their own operator, the KW model has struggled to help these agents with the support and training they’ve needed to survive the current market.
KW franchisee’s have lost a lot of revenue using KW’s model because agents are looking for something other than just a great split now.
I suspect this move is a step they’ve taken (like C21, Coldwell, etc…) to help KW franchise owners try and make up some of this income loss with other sources of residual income from their operations.
-Joe
I’m not sure these sorts of agreements always work in the best interests of the consumer. As long as responsible agents are free to make their own decisions without pressure from the broker, I suppose there is no harm though.
Great post. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.
This is a good idea in theory and more of this should start happening. Whether or not it is a good deal is debatable, but the bottom line is this type of thing can instil greater buyer confidence. There should be more buyer incentives to help turn this ship around.
It seems every brokerage is selling themselves to outside vendors these days (lenders, title company, inspectors etc). Just another way to increase income for the brokerage owners. I personally never use the recommended providers of my brokerage. Too much conflict of interest. I recommend vendors based on customer service, not kick backs.