Calculate Home Buyer Affordability, Strengthens Agent-Lender Relationships
WASHINGTON, DC–(Marketwired – May 10, 2016) – MLSListings, the premier multiple listing service to real estate professionals in Silicon Valley and the northern California region, is now making RatePlug’s new mortgage technology available to more than 15,000 real estate professionals and their clients. RatePlug helps home buyers better understand affordability issues at the beginning of the home searching process, and it strengthens the relationship between agents and their local lender online.
RatePlug, which made the announcement in Washington, D.C. today at the National Association of Realtors’ midyear meeting, has become the nation’s leading mortgage technology integrated into the MLS. RatePlug is now available to 60 percent of all real estate agents and brokers in the U.S. — that’s more than 705,000 Realtors® nationwide.
RatePlug delivers and displays real-time mortgage interest rates, full payment and loan programs within every property listing inside the MLS, customized for each listing. “When a home shopper searches for a home listed on the MLS and the listing features RatePlug, a local lender’s current interest rates and full payment for a variety of different mortgage loan programs are dynamically displayed,” said RatePlug CEO Brad Springer.
“MLSListings is the intersection between brokers, agents, buyers, and sellers; our transaction platform brings technical support to the real estate transaction process. We are now pleased to offer Rate Plug to support the process, as well. Rate Plug brings the financial tools necessary for successful buying and selling,” said James Harrison, President and CEO of MLSListings, Inc. “Rate Plug is literally plugged into our platform for seamless accessibility,” said Harrison.
Springer explains that the mortgage payment RatePlug displays is customized to that property’s listing price combined with the property’s current real estate taxes and insurance payment information. “This allows home shoppers to find their real affordability range because RatePlug is interactive, allowing consumers the ability to create multiple ‘what if’ scenarios across different loan types to find the right program that best fits their home buying needs,” he said.
Moreover, Springer notes that RatePlug’s compliance leadership among online mortgage technology providers has been a key driver for its growing popularity. “The regulatory environment within the real estate industry is ever changing and RatePlug delivers compliance: from the massive record-keeping requirement of the FTC MAP rules and RegZ to the latest rules surrounding TRID,” said Springer, noting that his core leadership team alone collectively has more than 100 years of mortgage origination experience.
RatePlug educates buyers about crucial mortgage information at the beginning of their home search and helps connect them to local agents and loan officers. According to RatePlug, homebuyers spend up to 6 minutes more viewing an MLS listing featuring RatePlug than one without. For loan officers, research from the National Association of Realtors? shows that 74% of homebuyers use the lender recommended to by their REALTOR. Most importantly, research also shows agents using RatePlug sell homes faster, experiencing 14% fewer Days on Market — from the list to contract date (study data here).
“Every MLS can help close the U.S. loan fallout gap by deploying RatePlug,” said Springer. MLSs, lenders, real estate brokerages and agents interested in RatePlug can learn more at www.RatePlug.com or call toll-free 1-877-710-0808.
About MLSListings
MLSListings Inc. is recognized as a premiere multiple listing service in the nation. Based in the heart of Silicon Valley and specializing in Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo counties, MLSListings enables real estate professionals to conduct business using leading technology solutions and services. Facilitating more than $70 billion in annual real estate transactions, the MLSListings database is the lifeblood of real estate in Silicon Valley, providing real estate professionals, as well as consumers, with data that is updated every five minutes.
About RatePlug
Founded in 2003, RatePlug has become the nation’s leading mortgage technology integrated into the MLS and is now available to 60 percent of all real estate agents and brokers in the U.S. — that’s more than 705,000 Realtors? nationwide. RatePlug educates buyers about affordability by providing crucial mortgage information at the beginning of their home search and helps connect them to local agents and loan officers. Homebuyers spend up to 6 minutes more viewing an MLS listing featuring RatePlug than one without. For loan officers, NAR research shows that 74% of homebuyers use the lender referred to by their REALTOR?. Most importantly, agents using RatePlug sell homes faster, experiencing 14% fewer Days on Market (from list to contract date) than agents who do not use RatePlug. Lenders, loan officers, real estate brokerages, agents and MLSs can learn more about Naperville, IL-based RatePlug at www.RatePlug.com.