Citadel Federal Credit Union and Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union launch HomeAdvantage to be more competitive and close more purchase mortgages.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., December 7, 2017—Credit unions in the Northeast often struggle to be competitive when it comes to marketing and closing mortgages. Low home inventories, high purchase prices and fierce competition for their members is reflected in low mortgage pull-through rates.

The solution many credit unions are turning to is HomeAdvantage®, the turnkey real estate program from CU Realty Services, the largest real estate CUSO in the U.S. Credit unions often report 70 percent or higher pull-through rates when their members use the HomeAdvantage program.

Two of the newest credit unions to implement the program are:

• Citadel Federal Credit Union—190,000 members, more than $3 billion in assets
• Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union (MSDFCU)—28,500 members, more than $560 million in assets

With the addition of Citadel and MSDFCU, HomeAdvantage is now being utilized by seven Pennsylvania-based credit union partners to serve more than 600,000 members. Throughout the Northeast, 26 credit unions are using HomeAdvantage to better serve more than 1.7 million members.

HomeAdvantage provides members with a comprehensive real estate center that offers online access to the tools and support they need to buy and sell their homes. This includes property listings, recent sales data, neighborhood demographics and a network of reputable real estate agents. This network of agents is key to improving pull-through because they keep the credit union front-of-mind for financing. Additionally, members that use an agent in the HomeAdvantage program to buy or sell their home qualify for HomeAdvantage Cash Rewards, a cash-back benefit equal to 20 percent of their agent’s commision. In 2016, HomeAdvantage gave back almost $5.5 million in Cash Rewards to members, averaging $1,500 in savings per transaction.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]