With demand for housing outstripping inventory supplies across the country, prospective homeowners know they have to be competitive. And being competitive translates into being pre-approved for a loan even before they begin searching for a house. Being competitive means being ready to jump as soon as they ask, “How high?”
Being pre-approved for a home loan is where loanDepot comes into the picture. Since its inception in 2010, loanDepot has fueled more than +125B in funding through its financial tech (fintech) legacy-free lending platform and its +1,800 licensed loan officers and +6,500 team members.
Now, loanDepot wants you, real estate agents, so this mortgage lender and connect you with their pre-approved borrowers.
Anthony Hseih, loanDepot’s founder and CEO, says that loanDepot will add real estate agents as contractors later this year to expand its” high-touch” customer services. Just as Uber and Lyft sign up drivers, loanDepot will sign up local real estate agents.
Hseih has said, “Customers want more services and products under one brand. They no longer want to think in different compartments. This (integration of people and technology) is just the very start in this direction (towards vertical integration.)”
loanDepot’s current fee/commission arrangements are as follows: High-touch loanDepot customer services provided by local real estate agents are to be free to consumers. Agents are to pay a reciprocal fee to loanDepot for its referral to their prospective, pre-approved homeowners once a transaction closes.
Hseih believes that local business “…has a way to complement digital experiences…digital disruption (on the financial side of the mortgage lending process) will not replace expert local coverage (on the real estate side of the process)…” By reaching out to agents as well as consumers, Hseih says that loanDepot is capitalizing on “ease of use” for customers.
As a former founder of two other highly successful mortgage companies and the former president of the now almost ubiquitous LendingTree.com, Hseih knows something about financial technology and offering people accountable, transparent services they need so they can act quickly on decisions they want to make…such as being able to act when they find their dream home.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence, loanDepot ranked 10th among US lender in Q3 2017. It is currently the 2nd largest nonbank consumer lender in the country as well as the country’s 5th largest retail mortgage originator.
Now could be the time for real estate agents become proactive towards loanDepot. It is soon to be reaching out to you.
