Web lender hits the pavement

Online lending company E-Loan is sending loan consultants beyond the virtual world and into the physical field as part of its strategy to capture more of the purchase-money mortgage market.

The company is conducting a small local loan consultant pilot program in the vicinity of its Pleasanton, Calif., headquarters, according to E-Loan spokesperson Tiffany Kelley Fox.

"The pilot program is one of many ongoing efforts to better serve home buyers and build the company's purchase business," Fox said.

E-Loan provides mortgage, auto, credit card, home equity and business loans exclusively over the Internet.

Lenders are turning an eye back to purchase-money home loans in anticipation of a significant loss of refinance business this year due to higher and possibly still rising interest rates. The fading refinance market is expected to reduce 2004 mortgage originations by more than $1.5 trillion compared with 2003 volume, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Under E-Loan's pilot program, loan officers will venture into local neighborhoods and establish relationships with real estate agents, according to Kathleen Ruiz, a loan consultant with E-Loan in Dublin, Calif. She said agents won't pay to be part of the program, but loan officers will refer clients to them when they come to E-Loan for mortgage preapproval.

Realty salespeople are hot contacts for mortgage brokers in a purchase loan environment because the salesperson is at the center of most home purchase transactions.

E-Loan also has an affiliate program that pays $10 to $15 for each qualified purchase mortgage application or pre-approval/referral mortgage application, according to the company's Web site. The affinity program enables real estate agents to put a link on their own Web sites to the E-Loan Web site.

All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.