As a lender, you have most likely been shifting your focus these past couple of months to borrowers looking to refinance their mortgage. The time is now though, especially moving into the month of June, to start thinking about your purchase leads again. Amid the current world state people are still looking to buy or sell homes and when the time comes for them to need financing, you want to make sure you are top of mind for these borrowers. 

Overall visits to for-sale listings rebounded in April, and was even slightly higher than April 2019. 

For-purchase mortgage applications are now up year-over-year, 54% higher than lows hit in April.

With the current state of the world we are in - being a part of the digital landscape for mortgage rates is essential to seeing business growth. By creating an easy to use online experience for your customers who are now researching mortgage rates online, you can make sure you stay ahead of your competitors. 

Mortech’s product and pricing engine APIs can help push your live rates to websites, point-of-sale solutions, smart applications and more. We have worked hard to create a streamlined onboarding process, and currently most lenders see this integration implemented in as little as two days! What could be more simple? 

This week on Meet Mortech we want to introduce you all to our Partner Relationship Manager, Kent Seevers! 

Favorite part of the job: My favorite part of the job is the connectedness. Not only am I working with awesome people at Mortech and Zillow doing exciting things, but I get to collaborate with awesome people at our partner's companies who are also doing exciting things.

Favorite things to do on his days off: My new hobby du jour is flying gliders at Blair Municipal Airport.

Favorite places to travel: Long Pine, NE

Here at Mortech we pride ourselves in the great partnerships we have with various companies in the mortgage space. Point of sale integrations, loan origination systems, rate marketplaces and more - with these partnerships we are looking to automate day-to-day workflow for lenders so they can spend more time on growing their business and creating relationships with their customers versus manually pushing leads through the mortgage process.

Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, the government entities decided to loosen some requirements on various policies. Below are links to website articles, bulletins and resources containing information regarding these policy changes:

Links to FHFA:

FHFA Mortgage Help for Homeowners Impacted by the Coronavirus

FHFA Announces New Mortgage Forbearance Guidelines

This week on Meet Mortech we want to introduce you all to our newest Data Engineer, Bhushan! 

Favorite part of the job: Getting to know how mortgage pricing works is really interesting to me. I really like the work culture at Mortech (Zillow Group). When I joined Mortech it really helped me to #DoTheRightThing, #TurnOnTheLights and #IncludeAndEmpower.

Favorite things to do on his days off: Having home cooked food and play with kids.

Favorite places to travel: Hawaii

We are grateful to have been named one of HousingWire’s 2020 TECH100™  top mortgage companies who are revolutionizing the mortgage lending process, announced last week by HousingWire.

This year HousingWire decided on their winning list of mortgage companies by focusing its attention on companies that are currently launching the digital mortgage space to the next level. The list includes companies that focus on every aspect of the mortgage process from servicing and secondary marketing to online rate quoting. The goal of creating an end-to-end digital mortgage experience is top of mind for all winning companies.

With so much in the news regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac potentially ending the conservatorship, I wondered how long Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been around. To stimulate my curiosity, I did some quick digging to see how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac came to be.

To start let’s talk Fannie Mae, also known as the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA). Fannie Mae was founded in 1938 by the U.S. government. This was during the Great Depression and the creation of Fannie Mae was part of the New Deal program. With the funds Fannie Mae received from the government, the goal was to have Fannie Mae buy the mortgage loans from private companies and local banks who were struggling financially. With the private companies and banks having more capital and the ability to finance home loans again, the government hoped this would inspire more lending during the economic crisis. 

With 56% of buyers putting less than 20% down on their home mortgage, according to Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report 2019, providing low down payment programs to borrowers who are shopping online can help you get ahead in 2020. We are excited to announce that we are now offering HomeReady Conforming 15- and 30-Year Fixed products for online quoting across our Marketplace partners.

What is a HomeReady mortgage?

A HomeReady mortgage is a first mortgage, purchase, or limited cash-out refinance transaction that is specifically designed for creditworthy, low-income borrowers who are looking to put down as little as 3% on their home mortgage. They can be used for both first-time home buyers and repeat borrowers. These products also allow for co-borrowers on the mortgage and contributions made from others living in the home. This is a great benefit for millennials who are looking to buy a home with friends or family members and do not have enough money to fund the loan themselves.

This week on Meet Mortech we want to introduce you all to one of our new Customer Success Managers, Dustin Giddings! 

Favorite part of the job: The best part about working for Zillow is the culture and how they take care of their employees. Mortech is in the Midwest and has a lot of the Midwest values. My favorite part about the job is building the relationships with the customers we interact with on a daily basis.

Favorite things to do on his days off: My favorite thing to do is spending the day at our lake/cabin where the girls can swim all day long.

Favorite places to travel: Ireland