The Agency, the luxury real estate brokerage featured in reality TV show "Buying Beverly Hills," just crowned New American Funding its preferred lending partner.
The move comes only eight months after they gave that same title to
Burke Smith, the real estate brokerage's executive vice president of affiliated businesses, confirmed the news. He said it's in The Agency's clients' best interest.
"Not to sound too cliche, but we believe that when mortgage companies compete, our clients win," he said in a statement to National Mortgage News.
This "dual endorsement strategy" will ensure that The Agency can cover a broader spectrum of financing options, he explained, as two mortgage partners means more variety.
"We also partner with US Bank Private Wealth for select clients that are well beyond your typical mortgage financing products," Smith said.
Many of the Beverly Hills-based brokerage firm's clients fall into this category. Mauricio Umansky, who founded The Agency in 2011, made his millions by buying and selling for California's elite at seven and eight-figure prices — his most recent sales closed at $100 million, $75 million and $46 million. Over his career, he's sold houses owned by big names like Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan and Prince.
Because of reality TV, The Agency itself is famous, too.
Umansky's wife, Kyle Richards, has starred on "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" since 2010. For years, Umansky served as a side character in the drama, but now, he's also a celebrity.
"Buying Beverly Hills," which focuses on the drama of real estate transactions, came out on Netflix last fall with eight episodes. Umansky stars alongside his daughters, Farrah Brittany and Alexia Umansky, and a couple additional Agency agents.
Two other agents from the firm, David Parnes and James Harris, are featured on another reality TV show, Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles."
Shortly after "Buying Beverly Hills" debuted, The Agency announced their partnership with CCM as part of a larger expansion of its core real estate program that included new partnerships with mortgage, insurance, escrow, home inspection and home warranty companies.
A month after this announcement, The Agency called CrossCountry its "preferred mortgage partner" in a
The firm announced their new partnership with the lender last Thursday with a
"We want to continue the service you're bringing to the consumer as a byproduct of you," Arvielo told Umansky in the video. "We can remove contingencies faster, we can get pre-approvals faster, we can close faster."
Tustin, California-based NAF is now one of the largest private lenders in the U.S., reaching almost $32 billion in originations last year
HousingWire first
NAF is rolling out services to The Agency's two corporate locations in California and Arizona first, then expanding to "most of their other markets," Al Miller, their director of joint venture strategic relationships, said in a statement to NMN. He didn't comment on how the lender's partnership overlaps with CrossCountry Mortgage's.
CrossCountry Mortgage declined requests for comment.
