TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1490083
10 | M R EP O RT MTECH such as Desktop Appraisals and Property Data Reports. AppraisalWorks and Clear Capital have received Freddie Mac verifi- cation for Property Data Reports (PDRs) in support of ACE+ PDR (automated collateral evaluation plus property data report). "Clear Capital is a welcomed addition to our platform. Their nationwide network of experi- enced real estate professionals and appraisers, paired with the company's proven experience and modern appraisal solutions, will add tremendous value for our lender clients," said Ben Wiant, VP of AppraisalWorks. "This partnership will further our objec- tive to become the most dynamic, modern appraisal management platform in the industry, with the broadest availability of modern valuation services and top-tier providers." Assisting Sales for Home Sellers LOWER.COM UNLOCKS CASH OFFERS FOR CONSUMERS A midst a growing number of cash offer products, Lower.com, a multi- channel fintech aimed at creating wealth through homeownership, is launching MortgagePass to help customers get their dream home with that it refers to as the ulti- mate cash offer, while continuing to work with their preferred real estate professional. "We recognize the immense value real estate agents bring to this transaction. All too often, customers are forced to unhook from their agents or pay an ad- ditional fee to retain their agents in order to offer cash on a home," said Lower.com Co-Founder and CEO Dan Snyder. "We want our customers to benefit from the expertise of their local agents, while also gaining the competi- tive advantage of offering cash, as nearly a third of purchases are cash offers." Through the program, custom- ers will be pre-approved for a mortgage through Lower.com. Then, they can shop for a home and place an offer that is backed by cash. They will continue to finance as normal, and if it gets delayed, Lower.com will purchase the house in cash. Once financ- ing is complete, Lower.com will sell the home to the buyer for the original purchase price. Customers who use MortgagePass also have access to a simple application and tech platform, low fees, and the ability to choose their own loan term, in addition to their own agent. They'll also get access to extended rate locks and if rates drop, they'll be lowered for free. "Giving customers a smooth experience with more certainty is our top priority. We want them to feel at ease during the process and focus on finding the right house, not on financing," said Snyder. "We also want them to know that if the market changes, they'll still get the best deal and won't miss out on lower rates." Increasing Buyer Options NEW REALTOR.COM HELPS WEIGH AFFORDABILITY W ith interest rates con- stantly changing and home prices at all-time highs, understanding what you can afford has never been more important. To give buyers a more objective view of their budget, Realtor.com has introduced a new buying power tool to help home shoppers see whether a specific home is "affordable," "a stretch," "difficult" or "out of reach." It uses a home a shopper's specific financial details, current mortgage rates, taxes, insurance and HOA fees to determine if the monthly payments will be comfortable. Buying power labels now ap- pear directly on home listings on Realtor.com®, making Realtor. com® the first national home search site where shoppers can filter their search by selecting their desired affordability range. Recent Realtor.com® surveys found that more than two- thirds (68%) of shoppers were surprised by what they could actually afford for their first home. Additionally, 32% of recent buyers found it difficult to understand how changing mortgage rates affected their monthly payments and 62% were surprised by closing costs. Rea's affordability calculator and buying power tool can help prevent these unhappy surprises during the home buying process. "There is nothing more disap- pointing than falling in love with a home only to realize that you can't afford it, and nothing more exciting than realizing you can afford that dream home. However, there are many factors that go into affordability," said Colleen Coyle, VP of Product Management for Realtor.com. "We introduced this tool to help shop- pers better understand how much home they can afford and if spe- cific homes fit their budget given their personal financial situation. This tool is especially important right now with rising interest rates – which can add hundreds of dollars to monthly payments and impact buying power." To calculate buying power, visit the Realtor.com affordability calculator and enter your income, monthly debt payments and available funds. By saving this information to your profile, list- ings on Realtor.com® will include an affordability label–"affordable," "a stretch," "difficult" or "out of reach." Users can also filter their search by homes that are within their desired affordability range. Increasing the Customer Toolbox APPLIED BUSINESS SOFTWARE UPGRADES CALCULATOR OFFERING A pplied Business Software (ABS) has announced the release of The Mort- gage Office PRO, a significantly upgraded version of the firm's desktop software. Mortgage Office PRO is more flexible, more powerful, and easier to use. It is fully web-based, enabling lightning-fast login, edits, and downloads. It also features a fresh, intuitive interface, built-in integrations, the ability to run processes in the background, and mobile capability for users on the go. Last fall, ABS released its web- based Loan Origination platform to extremely positive customer response. Today's announcement includes the full Loan Servicing functionality resulting in a seamless online user experience between both origination and servicing. Due to strong demand, ABS will be conducting a phased roll- out of the PRO version, making it available to a priority group of us- ers to migrate over before raising the limit for others to be able to join in the coming months. "At ABS, we always seek to pri- oritize our customers' needs when developing our product road map and pay very close attention to their feedback," said Jasen Portero, COO at ABS. "The development of The Mortgage Office PRO was a direct result of this process, and the enthusiastic user response so far is a testament to the dedication of our entire team." Boosting Downpayment Assistance REDFIN LAUNCHES NEW DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE FEATURE R edfin has added down payment assistance informa- tion to home listings on its website. Potential homebuyers can now use Redfin to discover down payment assistance programs they may qualify for in order to help make homeownership more affordable. The feature is powered by a partnership with Down Pay- ment Resource, a company help- ing the housing industry connect homebuyers with more than 2,200 homebuyer assistance programs nationwide. Each eligible for-sale listing page on Redfin in the U.S. now displays the number of down payment assistance programs available in that area. Interested homebuyers can input basic information and immediately receive a tailored list of programs they may qualify for, the amount of assistance potentially available to them, and links to the program pages for more information.