CreditUpdates.com and ScoreApprove have partnered to provide real estate agents and home shoppers with a new way to prepare for the home-shopping process. Using the ScoreApprove web application, agents are able to invite their homebuyer prospects to a free Home Affordability Assessment. Once a home shopper completes their assessment, they and their real estate agent are presented with a Home Affordability Certificate complete with an estimate of the home shopper’s home-financing capabilities and TransUnion (TRU) credit score provided by CreditUpdates.com.
Offering a free credit score allows both real estate agents and home shoppers to benefit from using ScoreApprove as a preliminary step in the home-shopping process. Agents can use the information to ensure their prospects are qualified before even showing their first house, and buyers will have a realistic idea of their home-buying options. According to ScoreApprove CEO Mike Brown, “We’re thrilled to be working with CreditUpdates.com to provide our real estate agents and their homebuyers a free credit score. Most real estate agents have had their fair share of homebuyers who have either waited until the last minute to speak with a lender or have had unrealistic expectations of their borrowing power. This is where ScoreApprove comes in – to give both sides the information and insight needed to maximize the home-buying experience.”
ScoreApprove also allows real estate agents to add their preferred lender to help facilitate the pre-approval process. Brown still recommends that homebuyers speak with a lender as soon as possible as the ScoreApprove Home Buying Certificate should not be confused as a preapproval and the TransUnion credit score from CreditUpdates.com may differ from the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) score lenders may use. Says Brown, “We’re not trying to replace the preapproval process. We just noticed a disconnect in the marketplace between real estate agents, home shoppers, and financing and wanted to fill that gap. Based on the number of agents successfully using ScoreApprove as part of their vetting process and homebuyer analysis it looks like we’ve done a good job in filling that gap. Our heavier users are sending through over 20 home-buying prospects each month!”
For more information visit ScoreApprove.
