Survey Details Real Estate Broker Impact on Lending

Eighty-four percent of real estate professionals have a select group of lenders to which they generally refer their clients, according to a new survey released by Freddie Mac. Out of that 84 percent, Freddie Mac reported that 73 percent have one to three lenders in their network, while 24 percent work with four to six lenders.

Furthermore, 76 percent of real estate professionals stated that their clients always or often use their recommended lender referrals—and that statistic is increased to 87 percent among those who sell more than 20 properties annually.

The real estate professionals polled for the survey also stated that their clients have few qualms about their abilities: more than 80 percent said their clients “trust their knowledge of the area, their ability to help them find a home and their ability to show them the right homes for their needs.” And the level of confidence boosted the real estate professionals’ sense of self-worth, with 78 percent believing they were “an advisor capable of assisting clients with their navigation of the homebuying process.”

Still, there were some hiccups: Half of the real estate professionals did not feel entirely confident when educating buyers on the mortgage process, while 30 percent expressed discomfort trying to explain down payment assistance program options.

"The survey reaffirms just how important real estate professionals are to families throughout the homebuying process," said Jeffrey S. Markowitz, Freddie Mac's vice president of government and industry relations. "We want to help them clear the path to the closing table by providing information that may allow them to provide even more options to their clients and grow their business."