When it comes to one-stop shopping for a home, consumers favor tapping a host of sources -- including banks.

The real estate and banking industry have been at loggerheads over admitting banks to the real estate buying and selling arena. Banks want in and the real estate industry wants to keep them out.

Consumers' preferences are much broader and they indicate they'd have no problem with banks brokering homes.

"Among the types of companies that the buyer would consider using for this one stop shopping process, mortgage companies, banks/credit unions and real estate companies were all regarded very favorably, without a huge preference for one type company over the other, although a directional preference appeared to exist for a mortgage company," according to "Consumer Perspectives On Realty-Based One-Stop Shopping" a Harris Interactive study commissioned by the Real Estate Service Providers Council Inc., a non-profit trade association designed to unite real estate service providers.

When consumers planning to buy a home in the future were asked how strongly they would consider using a given service for one-stop shopping to purchase a home, 78 percent of consumers polled said they would consider somewhat or consider strongly the use of a mortgage lender, 77 percent likewise gave credit unions the nod, compared to 73 percent for real estate brokerage companies, 48 percent for insurance companies, 16 percent for tax preparers, and 10 percent for credit card companies.

What's more, the acceptance of mortgage companies and banks as a one-stop shopping source has increased almost 10 points, compared to only 8 points for real estate brokerage companies, since the National Association of Realtors conducted a similar survey in 1999, RESPRO reported.

From March 18 to 25, Harris Interactive, the parent company of the Harris Poll, conducted the one-stop shopping survey of 687 recent buyers, who bought a home within the past 12 months, and 1,365 future buyers, who planned to purchase a home in the next 12 months.

"There is certainly nothing is this data that would suggest consumers believe they would be disadvantaged were financial institutions such as banks, credit unions or mortgage lenders to enter into residential real estate brokerage," RESPRO reported.

"On the contrary, they perceive that they can obtain benefits in one-stop shopping and in the number of choices that they have in serving their needs. Additionally, they perceive there could be an opportunity for a positive impact on the total cost of the services required in the buying transaction," RESPRO also reported.

One-stop shopping preferred

The study also found:

Published: April 17, 2002

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.