One local mortgage lender says he has the key to cure the headaches that come with buying and selling a home. As Business Report details in its new Entrepreneur feature, the inspiration for the idea hit Frank Ardoin while contemplating business on a beach trip.
“I came up with this idea of bringing together Realtors with homebuyers with local businesses that sell products and services,” Ardoin says. “Then the challenge was, how can it be advantageous to all three groups?”
Working in the mortgage industry for 23 years, Ardoin is the founder of Resource Lending Group, a small mortgage company in Baton Rouge, but his latest venture is called Homebuyer Discounts. With a membership-based business model, Homebuyer Discounts’ online portal connects house buyers and sellers with exclusive discounts from local merchants that provide the various home improvements often needed when readying a house for sale or after purchasing one.
A Homebuyer Discounts membership is designed to benefit all the parties involved in a real estate transaction. For real estate brokers, Ardoin recommends giving a membership as a closing gift to both buyer and seller clients. The savings a broker will provide to clients by doing so will help with future referrals, Ardoin says.
On the seller side, the membership will help save money on upgrades needed before the house can be listed. On the buyer side, members will save on expenses outside of purchasing a house itself, such as for the services of a mover, a locksmith or an alarm company.
“Then to the merchant, by giving exclusive discounts only to members, we feel like this is going to drive new business to the store,” Ardoin says.
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