Credit unions juggle home loans with other services
Home lending may not be new among Columbus-area credit unions, but it is increasingly viewed as an important product to offer to customers and an attractive means to bolster the bottom line, according to local credit union executives.
Often viewed as place to get a vehicle or personal loan, credit unions are more aggressively marketing home lending products to their existing and potential new customers, says Rob Bachman, mortgage manager of Kemba Financial Credit Union. Bachman, who joined the Gahanna-based credit union to help grow its fledgling mortgage business seven years ago, says Kemba and other large area credit unions have become more progressive in serving the home loan consumer.
“They wanted to grow this more than they had,” Bachman says creditscore. “In the past, it was more of a niche product. They weren’t really sophisticated enough. Most credit unions were labeled, stereotypically, to do car loans and note loans.”
Even though Columbus’ BMI Federal Credit Union has been offering first mortgages among its home lending products for decades, its total has recently tripled, from $46 million to $136 million in first mortgages in four years, says Sharon Custer, president and CEO.
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