TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1490083
M R EP O RT | 11 "Nearly half of Americans who have never owned a home say that saving money for a down payment is a barrier to homeown- ership, and many young people in particular feel like they'll never be able to own a home," said Christian Taubman, Redfin's Chief Growth Officer. "Down payment assistance programs can make homeownership more attainable, but information about them is often fragmented and hard to understand. We saw a big opportunity in partnering with Down Payment Resource to raise awareness about these programs to help more people become homeowners." This information is especially valuable as the national median home price has soared roughly 40% since the pandemic, mak- ing saving for a down payment more challenging. Recent Redfin research found that the typical U.S. homebuyer who took out a mortgage in July made a $62,500 down payment, nearly double the median down payment in July 2019, before the pandemic started. "Our research shows that one in three declined mortgage ap- plications are denied for reasons that could be addressed with homebuyer assistance, which underscores the critical need to increase awareness about these life-changing programs," said Rob Chrane, CEO and Founder of Down Payment Resource. "Partnering with Redfin is a great way to get information about financial support into more consumers' hands. With thousands of assistance programs available across the country, many Americans may be able to afford homeownership sooner than they realized." Closing in on Full eClosings EVOLVE MORTGAGE SERVICES AND FIRSTCLOSE PARTNER ON DIGITAL EHELOC SOLUTION E volve Mortgage Services has announced it is partnering with FirstClose, a fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity lend- ers nationwide, to automate the HELOC origination process. The new solution will enable lenders to approve HELOCs within seven minutes and eClose lines within seven days. The new collaboration com- bines FirstClose EquityONE's home equity application management system with Evolve's SigniaDocument engine and its full eSign and eNotary (RON) capabilities. The partnership will: » Deliver a fully digital, paperless eOrigination and eClosing pro- cess from application to close. » Give consumers instant online feedback, including their home valuation, available home equity, loan options as well as an instant credit decision. » Reduce time to close from weeks to days with automated workflows, including ordering of required settlement services. » Provide a more streamlined consumer experience » Use RON eClosing to decrease closing time from 50 minutes to 15 minutes. » Allow investors to eRegister and board loans the same day for quicker and more accurate funding. FirstClose EquityONE is a home equity application manage- ment system that qualifies a con- sumer and continues to nurture them throughout the entire pro- cess. Consumers can explore loan options and once ready, apply and receive an instant credit decision. FirstClose offers everything from application to close, including the ability to order required settlement services such as credit, flood, appraisal, title, tax, income, employment, and asset verification on one easy-to-navigate platform taking friction, cost and risk out of the process. "While home equity products are experiencing something of a renaissance thanks to record home values, the market is nothing new to FirstClose. We were the pioneer in this space nearly two decades ago," said Tedd Smith, CEO of FirstClose. "Lenders are continuously look- ing to optimize their closing processes and services, while borrowers want the white-glove service and seamless experience. Our partnership with Evolve's SigniaDocument engine, to deliver the eClosing experience consum- ers and lenders desire, completes the cycle." Evolve's SigniaDocuments, provides the electronic documents for initial and final closing as well as the full eSign and eNotary. SigniaDocuments' proprietary doc engine produces a complete document library built entirely on native XML SMARTDocs. SMARTDocs include embedded enabled eSignature and eNotary tags eliminating need to OCR or create templates and manual tags. Its integrated compliance engine also ensures legally compliant, rep and warranted mortgage docu- ments further reducing risk and expanding scalability. Paul Anselmo, Evolve's President and CEO said, "Mortgage market constituents need a forward-looking game plan to help position themselves to compete in this tightening and dwindling market for the remain- der of 2022 and into 2023. This partnership allows us to digitize the entire process from app to close, reduce cost and risk and boost production and profitabil- ity. As we like to say at Evolve, our experienced team of people, proven platform, and innovative technology and tools, we pro- vide our clients the opportunity to "Close With Confidence and Fund Next Day With Certainty!" MTECH