HERNDON, Va. – CU Realty of VA, MD, DC LLC (CUR LLC), a chapter of parent company CU Realty of Tempe, Ariz., a licensed real estate company, has opened a new full-service real estate CUSO. The new CU Realty program was launched locally in January, and initial results of the program have exceeded both the CUSO's and CUR LLC's expectations – within the first 13 days of the launch, the CUSO received 518 registrations resulting in 388 mortgage leads. The CU Realty program is designed to assist members through every step of the home buying and selling process, with the opportunity to receive up to a 1% rebate on the sales price of the home. Once the member registers for the comprehensive line of online tools, they have access to the MLS listings, with additional information including photos of the listed properties, neighborhood maps, and school, crime and demographic reports. There is also a network of "approved agents" who represent the member throughout the transaction and work directly with CUSO participants to assist the member and direct mortgage loans back to the CU. CUR LLC President Colleen Daly, mortgage lending manager for Northwest FCU said the idea to form the new CUSO was germinated from a Webinar hosted by Callahan and Associates in January that featured a speaker from CU Realty. She sent out an e-mail to area credit unions who participated in the Webinar to gauge their interest in looking at the product. Twelve responded and formed the CUSO. The 12 CU investors in the CUR LLC real estate CUSO include: Agriculture FCU, Apple FCU, Bank-Fund Staff FCU, Fairfax County FCU, HEW FCU, Justice FCU, NASA FCU, Newport News Shipbuilding Employees' CU, Northwest FCU, State Department FCU, and Tower FCU along with the CU-owned mortgage CUSO Credit Union Mortgage Association. The CUR LLC offices are housed at NWFCU. "CUR LLC brings credit unions relationships with realtors who have typically had a negative perception of credit unions' involvement in mortgage lending," Daly explained. "They mistakenly think we're too new to mortgage lending to trust we're good at it, and credit unions aren't getting the opportunity to prove otherwise to them. The new CUSO allows that relationship building." Daly said credit unions other than the 12 investors will be able to use CUR LLC's services, but she said they'll be clients of the CUSO and not owners. -

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