We’ve written in-depth about The Community Reinvestment Act or CRA, which mandates that financial institutions serve their community with equality. Unfortunately, discrimination is far too common in the home-buying market, as many real estate agents discourage home purchases in disinvested communities. Many times this practice leaves borrowers of color and/or those living in low-to-moderate (LMI) income neighborhoods without the ability or desire to purchase a home. (Read more here.)
“Charlotte is one of the largest financial hubs. And there’s many banks, credit unions, mortgage companies that are based out of there. Our goal is to get hooked up with some of the big national banks and take this nationally as quickly as possible.” CEO Mark Gorman says RevTech has a focus on fintech, and has the connections that he’s looking for. HomeTraq offers home buyers the ability to get an agent to open up a house they want to see without commitment or being automatically put on that agent’s call list. The St. Louis startup distributes its platform through banks, credit unions and mortgage companies to help them retain customers.
For lenders, the problem of mortgage retention has been a long-time tolerated issue, despite the gravity of lenders only capturing less than 0.5% of the mortgage opportunities from their own customer base each year. Solving this challenge efficiently and effectively has been seemingly impossible—until the founders of HomeTraq aligned with the top lenders in the country.
As you know, in the past year or so, another refinancing frenzy broke out due to low mortgage rates. Everyone is “fat and happy.” Even though the current rates are still low, the housing market remains turbulent, unemployment rates, and the possibility of inflation continue to be troublesome. Many lenders have tightened borrower requirements in order to mitigate their risk, given today’s economy.
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a federal law that was first passed in 1977. Its purpose was to assure that banks did not discriminate against individuals or businesses within their communities, including underserved markets such as low and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods. The Federal Reserve System (FRS), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) all evaluate how banks are fulfilling the CRA.
Since banks can get fined for not serving these areas of their community, we’ve put together a guide on what you need to know about the Community Reinvestment Act and how you can increase your minority and LMI lending.
Overview:
For today’s homebuyers, there are countless ways to browse potential homes: Zillow, realtor.com, Trulia… You could have a whole folder on your smartphone just for these home buying apps.
That means for mortgage lenders, there are countless sources to buy potential leads from. For real estate agents, about half of them that purchase online leads don’t actually see a return on their investment. And which sources of leads are profitable for mortgage lenders?
In this blog, we’ll reveal the truth about buying leads from Zillow and introduce you to a more profitable option.
HomeTraq just partnered with Beyond Housing, a community development organization. HomeTraq is a three-sided marketplace between home buyers, real estate buyers’ agents, and banks.
Overview
Advances in technology have no doubt changed the ways businesses operate, and the real estate industry is no exception. 98% of all homebuyers now use the internet to shop for their homes and last year, 80% of all Millenials and Gen Xers found their home with a mobile device. Today, homebuyers can take a virtual stroll through a neighborhood across the country, or search for new listings simply by downloading an app on their phone.
But what do these changes mean for mortgage lenders?
In this blog, we’ll go over everything you need to know about leveraging technology to secure more lending opportunities.
Originally Posted on St. Louis Business Journal
HomeTraq, a local startup that has developed an on-demand home showing app, is extending its reach beyond St. Louis. The startup has initiated the process of expanding its platform to the Kansas City market, recently hiring staff focused on signing up residential real estate brokerages and agents there.
There are many different paths to success if you are an entrepreneur. Many find success while they work from CIC, also known as the Cambridge Innovation Center. Some companies use the office space to meet other entrepreneurs and gain momentum. Many are looking for networking opportunities and are attracted to Venture Café gatherings as well as other educational programs.
