MANCHESTER, N.H. -
For St. Mary's Bank, it has been business as usual, despite current market conditions in the mortgage industry.
"We're still helping individuals and families get into their first homes, finance business deals, and obtain the credit they need," said Barbara Cunningham, vice president of lending at the St. Mary's Bank.
The New Hampshire Housing Authority ranked St. Mary's Bank second in the month of June for volume among the 49 lenders who serve first-time buyers in New Hampshire through New Hampshire Housing.
But perhaps for St. Mary's Bank, like other credit unions, the biggest challenge is letting consumers know that they are writing mortgage loans.
"When people think mortgages, they think mortgage broker," Cunningham said.
So St. Mary's Bank has taken an aggressive approach to marketing its mortgage products.
The CU is devoting a section of its website solely to mortgages. This section is expected to be live in the very near future, said Elizabeth Stodolski, director of marketing for St. Mary's Bank.
"It will give people mortgage information in a credible way," she said, where consumers will be able to read postings by trusted advisers.
"We've also been doing more advertising," she said. "We've created special ads to share are positive lending products."
The credit union also developed a partnership with a local Realtor, who refers potential homebuyers to the CU. In addition, the credit union is authoring editor content about mortgages, which is being published in the local newspaper. The credit union also is now offering 50 different loan products.
"That's really what it takes," Stodolski said. "As the credit union goes, we have to increase the variety of our products to be more comparable to a mortgage broker."
Cunningham agreed.
"We have a lot of product selection. You can't just offer conventional mortgages. You need to be able to offer what people need. If you can't offer that, then they will find someone else that can," she said.
The credit union offers conventional products, in addition to unconventional ones such as jumbo, and no-documentation loans.
While St. Mary's does try to help as many people as they can in bad current situations, it's often not possible. "Unfortunately, the vast majority we can't help," Stodolski said. Many people have attained subprime mortgages, with no money down. By the time they get to us, they're already payments behind. We also can't get insurance for them."
But still, they consider each one on a case-by-case basis, she said.
As for new mortgage loans, Cunningham said that credit unions are "the real trusted advisers."
"Credit unions in general are a good choice for borrowers right now," she said. "They are not-for-profit, member-owned financial institutions, which insures they have consumers' best interests in mind. More and more people are realizing this means better service, choices and affordability."
Cunningham noted that St. Mary's Bank takes "responsibility for matching the buyer, the property and the financing package, so it all works together."
"Our goal is to make sure borrowers understand the terms of the loans they are taking out and how a change in job status or interest rate might affect them," she explained.
* www.stmarysbank.com
* Go to www.cujournal.com, search "mortgages" and other related topics in the search box.
