HAR is pleased to introduce RatePlug, a free service winning praise from REALTORS® around the country that lets agents add lender information to reports they send to their clients. RatePlug is an automated marketing program that feeds real-time housing payment information into MLS Buyer Reports emailed from Tempo and Fusion. This arms agents and their clients with information not previously available to help determine which properties are most affordable to consumers. The system relies on live lending data from lenders who are referred by participating brokers and agents.
RatePlug is the latest service to be included in the HAR membership fee. In other words, whenever you decide to start using it, there is absolutely no additional cost.
RatePlug allows agents to include mortgage options from up to three of their preferred lenders within each listing emailed to homebuyers from the MLS. Participating REALTORS® can send a report with the RatePlug display directly to their customers.
“RatePlug is just another valuable tool that gives the HAR member agent credibility in the eyes of the buying public,” says Gay Donehoo with Better Homes and Gardens Gary Greene. “In this age of Internet buyers, having the most tools and using them to make your client’s search easier and make them better informed is one of the keys to being a successful REALTOR®.”
Gay has used RatePlug for the past several months and explains what convinced her to turn to this tool. “Because I know my markets and always do my due diligence on properties and neighborhoods, I am confident about the knowledge I provide my buyers in those areas. However, I prefer to put my trust in the experts when the discussion turns to mortgages. RatePlug allows me to provide those buyers an easy and direct source of financial information about each property that they can factor into their search. It’s also a nice referral source, since I have a good working relationship with the lender whose contact info is included in the RatePlug sheet and am confident that – should the buyer decide to contact her – my buyer will be in good hands.”
The RatePlug system also allows the lending partners to create co-branded marketing flyers for agents’ listings in a matter of seconds. These are particularly useful at open houses. This is a huge time-saver for lenders, and it gives them an extra tool to help promote your listing.
The client benefits by receiving accurate, up-to-date information showing realistic monthly payments for a given property, including property taxes, insurance estimates and PMI, if applicable, from your trusted lending partners.
According to a RatePlug study of 49,000 purchase transactions in multiple MLS markets around the country, agents using RatePlug have a 23 percent shorter time frame in transactions going from “list” to “contract.”
“I don’t know too many agents who consider themselves mortgage experts, and I know that many agents are like me in that they prefer to let the mortgage people answer questions about financing while I stick to what I know – neighborhoods and homes,” says Gay.
For more information about RatePlug, visit www.har/rateplug today.
