TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1481918
6 | M R EP O RT and TPO companies with built-in marketing tools and integrations that create a unified platform for Account Executives, Production Leaders, and Marketers. "We built OptifiNow TPO because wholesale and TPO lenders do not have many choices for CRM," McGee said. "There are quite a few CRMs designed for retail loan officers, but there are too many limitations in those CRMs to make it work for whole- sale account executives. Other lenders tend to use big name, generic CRMs and modify it for wholesale lending, which is very expensive and doesn't guarantee success. OptifiNow TPO is the only CRM that knows exactly what wholesale lenders need." OptifiNow TPO starts with a proper business-to-business (B2B) database structure, allowing the assignment of entire companies and all the contacts associ- ated with them to an Account Executive. Email and SMS capa- bilities are built into OptifiNow TPO, and the platform integrates with many LOS systems, seam- lessly synchronizing data that drives a number of dynamic features in OptifiNow TPO. "Our extensive experience with LOS integrations is what makes OptifiNow TPO a truly powerful tool," McGee said. "We automati- cally synchronize LOS data at the company, loan officer, and loan file level and make it easily accessible to account executives. We also use LOS data to drive dynamic pro- cesses that make account executive smarter and more effective at sell- ing loan products to brokers." OptifiNow provides wholesale lenders with a full scope of imple- mentation and support services that allows OptifiNow TPO to be implemented in 30 days or less. All aspects of platform con- figuration, integration, and data migration are managed by the OptifiNow team, keeping lender resource requirements low. "We typically deliver the platform within 30 days," McGee said. "Our strategy is to provide an out-of-the-box solution quickly and then make iterative changes that address a client's specific needs over time." Optimizing Home Equity BOSTON NATIONAL TITLE OFFERS NEW HELOC PRODUCT B oston National Title Agency (BNT), an Incenter company, has announced a new second mortgage and HELOC solution that helps lenders optimize their home equity processing for speed and cost-efficiency. The firm's innova- tions are empowering lenders to "right-size" second mortgage/HE- LOC processes—title, valuation, closing, and post-closing—opti- mizing both service and profits. The announcement comes at a time when U.S. homeowners have close to $28 trillion in equity. But unlike conventional mortgages and refinances, the margins on HELOCs are much smaller. The BNT platform, which incorporates a series of different valuation prod- ucts from sister company Incenter Appraisal Management (IAM) as well as insurance products like flood insurance from Incenter Insurance Solutions, allows lenders to mix and match the right set of title, appraisal, and insurance products for each loan type. "Our platform addresses the real obstacle to speed and ef- ficiency with these loans: there's a lot of variety in them from one lender to the next and one loan to the next," said Nathan Bossers, President of BNT. "Second mortgages need to be processed more like a traditional mortgage. Lender A's second mortgages need a different level of title report than Lender B's. Private wealth Jumbos need a different level of services than regular HELOCs." BNT's teams are providing these services using a variety of solutions—such as BNT's Dekko instant title decisioning engine, a 50-state full digital signing pro- cess; RemoteVal remote/desktop appraisals, and business process outsourcing bundled with title and various closing solutions. Expanding the Digital Buying Journey OWN UP AND REALTOR.COM JOIN FORCES TO STREAMLINE THE BUYING PROCESS O wn Up, a digital mortgage shopping service, has partnered with Realtor.com, aiming to improve the home buying process for Americans looking to close on their dream homes. Alongside this new collaboration, Own Up closed a $25 million round of funding, led by Brand Foundry Ventures. Realtor.com is among the investors participating in the funding round, which also saw return participation from past investors, Link Ventures and Listen Ventures. The injection of capital will allow Own Up to continue to build out its innovative technology platform, expand its novel shopping experience and product offerings, and invest in the company's people and culture. "From day one, our singular goal was to be a champion for the consumer and bring greater transparency to the home buying process. As the mortgage industry continues to see changes at a rapid clip, it's crucial that consumers are armed with the right information to make the best financial decisions," said Patrick Boyaggi, CEO and Co-Founder of Own Up. "Realtor.com plays an essential role in the home search process for so many Americans, and now we'll be able to provide mortgage education and tools to comparison shop, boosting buyer confidence as they move through the process." Own Up and Realtor.com's relationship will give users direct access to Own Up's mortgage shopping service, including personalized loan offers from its exclusive lender marketplace and real-time advice from the in- dustry's only mortgage shopping concierge. The integration with Realtor.com will allow homebuy- ers to gather detailed information about their home financing op- tions as they search listings and find real estate agents. "Own Up's team brings deep mortgage expertise to the Realtor. com online experience," Realtor. com CFO Bryan Charap said. "This relationship is a natural fit; together we're able to expand upon our shared goal of helping Americans find and close on their dream homes." "Our platform addresses the real obstacle to speed and efficiency with these loans: there's a lot of variety in them from one lender to the next and one loan to the next." —Nathan Bossers, President, BNT MTECH