Finance group teams with website.

Insignia Financial Group, Inc. announced that its residential mortgage banking subsidiary, First Ohio Mortgage Corporation, has been designated by Homestore.com, Inc., the Internet's leading home and residential real estate site, as one of the first lenders in the country to participate in the I-Lend Instant Pre-Approval Pilot program. First Ohio is northern Ohio's leading mortgage banker and an affiliate of Realty One, Inc., Insignia's single-family home brokerage subsidiary in Ohio.

The automated Pre-Approval program will allow First Ohio to generate online consumer loan pre-approvals via the Internet using Fannie Mae Desktop Underwriter. As part of its agreement with Homestore.com, First Ohio will now enable consumers to shop for a home, submit their loan information and receive a loan pre-approval decision within minutes, subject to verification of the information provided.

Through an alliance with Homestore.com and Realty Alliance Mortgage, a national coalition that has closed more than $10 billion in home purchase loans over the past year, First Ohio will use the Internet to bring home financing right to the borrower's fingertips.

Rick Goldbach, president of First Ohio Mortgage, said, "First Ohio was chosen because of its advanced utilization of Internet technology and strong partnerships with real estate professionals."

Consumers can access the site at http:lender.homestore.com/firstohio. Once they input basic information on the secured web site and submit their loan pre-approval request, a decision is received within minutes, allowing the consumer to print out a personalized pre-approval loan letter.