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First American and NAHREP Launch National Referral Network on MSN Latino
By James Comtois
A Santa Ana, Calif.-based data provider and a San Diego-based trade organization for Hispanics in the real estate industry have joined forces to offer an online resource to connect prospective Hispanic homebuyers with Spanish-speaking real estate agents, mortgage brokers, home buying counselors and settlement service providers.
A Santa Ana, Calif.-based data provider and a San Diego-based trade organization for Hispanics in the real estate industry have joined forces to offer an online resource to connect prospective Hispanic homebuyers with Spanish-speaking real estate agents, mortgage brokers, home buying counselors and settlement service providers.
The First American Corporation and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals announced the launch of the NAHREP National Referral Network on MSN Latino Finanzas, a Spanish-language Internet destination offering a collection of financial education and planning resources for the U.S. Hispanic market.
NRN, which was unveiled at NAHREP's 5th Annual Hispanic Marketing Convention and Expo in New York, offers a spectrum of integrated real estate service providers ready to assist Spanish-speaking home seekers with the home buying process. It offers a fully-automated, single-point of access to NAHREP-certified Spanish-speaking real estate brokers and agents, specialized credit evaluation and closing and settlement services from First American, mortgage pre-approval services by National City Mortgage and home buying counseling services by Operation HOPE.
NRN differs from many web-based referral services in that, rather than pair consumers to service professionals solely through automated zip code matching, it employs counselor/advocates who work directly with each prospective homebuyer to determine the best agent-client fit.
Dilbeck Realtors, NAHREP's national servicing agent for NRN, will facilitate this process of connecting consumers to affiliated real estate agents across the nation.
More than 1.2 million registered users regularly visit the MSN Latino web portal, recording an average of nearly 150,000 page views per month in the Finanzas area. First American estimates NRN will generate several hundred leads each month, which, in its early stages, will likely result in helping dozens of families achieve the dream of homeownership each month.
Frances Martinez Myers, chairman of NAHREP, said that the purpose of this partnership is to help increase the number of Hispanic homeowners.
"NAHREP is committed to working with the industry's best companies to meet the unique cultural and language needs of the rapidly growing Hispanic home buying segment. Home seekers who choose to take advantage of this referral network can rest assured that they will be guided, end-to-end, through the home buying process by qualified advocates committed to their satisfaction," said Ms. Myers.
"When First American negotiated the exclusive rights to provide financial content to MSN Latino, we did so anticipating the development of solutions that would help move the prospective homebuyer from merely learning about the process to taking tangible steps toward that goal," said Landon V. Taylor, vice president of market development at First American.
By the end of 2005, NAHREP and First American expect to have more than 1,000 real estate agents registered as part of NRN. This network will help ensure that buyers are paired with real estate professionals in their immediate geographic area and speed the response time from information submission to first contact by a real estate agent.
"As this referral network matures, we look forward to offering an expanded array of service providers to ensure the utmost level of consumer choice in securing the right services at the right prices," added Ms. Myers.
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