RELNKS has enhanced its platform with the introduction of a function that enables users to find realtors who can help them with their home purchase.
According to Ryan Poyntz, RELNKS’s vice president of strategic partnerships, the value proposition is a two-way street.
“For realtors, it’s a great way to connect with consumers who are starting in the homebuying process and looking to connect with a local real estate expert who can help them navigate the local market,” said Poyntz. “It’s a great way for realtors to find leads.”
RELNKS, a platform that falls under The Nationwide Group of Companies, might be better thought of as a central database for a real estate transaction’s multifarious facets—a place where home buyers can apply for a mortgage, hire a lawyer, find home inspectors, insurance products and a rich resource of many other vendors required to close the deal, all the while letting real estate agents and mortgage brokers track the status of the process, from beginning to end.
Not just any agent is eligible for the program, though. RELNKS puts agents through a screening process to ensure the ones it onboards are both reputable and exceptional in execution.
Consumers are given the option of inviting their own real estate agent and mortgage broker onto the platform to help them complete their transaction, if they so choose, says Poyntz.
The platform functions as an one-stop shop, and although it’s just begun bringing realtors into the fold, mortgage broker Mark Squire, VERICO Financial Group’s COO and president, says RELNKS’ white labelling function is an excellent complement for the mortgage network, especially because it lets individual brokerages maintain their own brands.
“We have about 35 broker-owners who have gone on to the white label arrangement, which is really nice because they could have it on their website and share it with their clients, and it carries their brand power,” said Squire.
Above all, added Squire, RELNKS’s unification of typically disparate functions in the home purchase process—from finding a realtor and mortgage broker to uploading crucial documentation that the latter passes onto underwriters—saves time on transactions. And as the old adage goes: time is money.
“It connects everyone in the transaction so they can all communicate,” said Squire. “This really brings everyone together—the realtor, broker, client, and all the additional pieces that are needed to complete a transaction, including helping consumers, who are moving, change their postal addresses—and it keeps everyone in the loop. It’s a great tool for that reason, because we can all directly communicate with each other.
“It’s streamlined, so we close deals faster, clients are involved in the process and they can directly upload documents. A client who’s moving can also find a moving company, a storage pod, and I love that it’s connected to the Multiple Listings Service.
Realtors and brokers interested in joining the RELNKS Referral Program can e-mail sales@RELNKS.com or visit RELNKS for more information.
Neil Sharma is the Editor-In-Chief of Canadian Real Estate Wealth and Real Estate Professional. As a journalist, he has covered Canada’s housing market for the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, National Post, and other publications, specializing in everything from market trends to mortgage and investment advice. He can be reached at neil@crewmedia.ca.
