We are excited to add another platform to our growing list of industry leading online marketplaces. Lantern by SoFi - owned and operated by digital personal-finance company SoFi - is a solution designed to make financing easier for their members who are in need of a financial solution ranging from personal loans, student loan refinance loans, credit cards, small and medium business (SMB) loans and most recently have added mortgage loans to their list of products. With this new integration, the two solutions want to assist their mutual lending partners in broadening their market reach and growing their business by advertising their live mortgage offers online, where most home buyers are shopping.

On November 24^th, 2020 the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the new adjusted 2021 loan limits. A majority of the U.S. counties will see an increase, while 18 counties will remain unchanged. Loan limits did not decrease anywhere in the U.S. or its territories.

We are excited to announce that Mortech’s online mortgage rate quoting platform is now integrated with Roofstock, a real estate investment marketplace that assists those looking to purchase and own residential investment properties. With this new integration, the two solutions are looking to seamlessly connect those looking to invest in a rental property with industry leading lenders by providing them with a vibrant and cost-effective marketplace where they can interact with one another. 

In March of this year, FHFA published a news release granting flexibilities for appraisals on purchase and rate term refinance loans. This decision is designed to help borrowers and lenders during the COVID-19 pandemic. FHFA has extended the loan flexibilities numerous times since. It has now been extended once again until November 30, 2020, according to the latest news release from FHFA on October 19, 2020.

We are excited to announce that Mortech is now integrated with Own Up, a mortgage marketplace with a goal to bring clarity and ease to digital borrowers beginning their journey in the outdated mortgage industry. With this new integration, the two solutions are looking to provide every aspect of the digital mortgage experience to home buyers in one easy-to-use platform. 

This week on Meet Mortech we want to introduce you all to our newest Customer Success Manager, Tyler Lemkau! 

Favorite part of the job: My favorite part of the job is the CSM team that I was able to join. Onboarding is exciting as a new hire, but doing so in the middle of a pandemic has its challenges. The CSM team has been beyond helpful, energetic and patient with all of my questions. I look forward to the day when we can all meet in person, including the remainder of the Mortech team. I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with awesome people. 

Favorite things to do on his days off: I enjoy playing golf, not great at it, but I enjoy being outside and hanging with friends on the course. If I'm not there, I'm usually with my family doing some type of activity with my active kiddos.

Favorite places to travel: I really like the Pacific Northwest and visiting my family in Texas. A few trips to Cancun have been pretty memorable as well.

On September 14, 2020, USDA released a bulletin stating that the funding for USDA’s Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program will be temporarily unavailable for approximately two weeks beginning on October 1, 2020. At the beginning of each fiscal year the funding is not available for a short period of time and the USDA anticipates this brief lapse to continue for Fiscal Year 2021.

During the temporory lapse, the Rural Housing Development will issue Conditional Commitments “subject to the availability of commitment authority” for purchase and refinance transactions. In order for purchase transactions to be eligible, lenders will be required to provide the Conditional Commitments Form RD 3555-15/18E.

Even with economic uncertainty, consumers are still looking to buy or sell homes, which means as we enter the fall season it’s important to be more intentional with your purchase lead acquisition spend to help you stay ahead of the market shift. Traffic to Zillow Group mobile apps and websites reached a record 218 million average monthly unique users, an increase of 12% year-over-year last quarter.*

Why are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac looking to increase refinance rates by 0.5% when refinance loans have been surging for mortgage companies? Interest rates have been at record lows, and lenders have applied stricter qualifying requirements to lower risks due to the uncertainty of the market, yet the agencies are looking to increase the price of Limited cash-out refinance and Cash-out refinance loans up 50 basis points starting December 1.

Letters were distributed to lenders from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on August 12 stating the increase was due to the uncertainty of the market and economic risk due to COVID-19.

At Mortech we pride ourselves in the great partnerships we have with various companies in the mortgage space. Whether it be an integration with a point of sale platform, loan origination system or mortgage offer marketplace - our ultimate goal with these partnerships is to bring simplicity and automation to our lender’s workflow so they can spend more time growing their business and creating lasting relationships with their customers.

This past month, Partner Relationship Manager, Mike Russell, got to speak with Brett Siegal, Founder and CEO of the home buying management platform, Ruuster. New to the industry, Ruuster has created a space that educates and empowers thoughtful and ambitious home buyers throughout their entire home buying journey. By targeting home buyers at the earliest stages of their journey, Ruuster is looking to not only be an education resource, but also the solution home buyers use to conquer every step of the process.