Another One Stop Shop | Could this be the Future?

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Remax announced the creation of Motto Mortgage as a franchise based mortgage lending operation to be offered to Remax Real Estate franchise owners. I wrote about this in my blog of January 18, 2017. (New Twist)

Now, here comes another Real Estate Brokerage offering their home buyers an end-to-end one-stop shopping experience. Seattle-based, Redfin, which services over 80 markets throughout the US from coast to coast, announced the creation of Redfin Mortgage.

Initially, Redfin Mortgage will offer mortgage financing to buyers of homes through Redfin’s Network of Real Estate offices.

This will be a full-blown, separate mortgage banking company with warehouse lines to fund its loans. Their plans are to sell the loans to correspondent lenders, with intentions for the direct sale and delivery to Fannie Mae somewhere down the road.

Redfin’s mission is to redefine the entire home buying and financing experience. Their intent is to control the transaction from sale of the home, through the loan application, approval and closing process.

To do so, they are also building their own proprietary loan origination platform. Their plan is to have this system integrate the home sale for the real estate division, the mortgage process for the new mortgage subsidiary, and the home and loan closing with their title subsidiary, Title Forward. This is designed to be a true, in-house, end-to-end, one-stop process for Redfin homebuyers.

Interestingly, Redfin hired Jason Bateman, (not the actor), a former BBVA EVP of mortgage operations to head up the new company. Interesting, because Jason is not an origination guy.

By doing so, it seems that Redfin will concentrate on operations and customer service, believing plenty of loans will come from the homes they sell.

According to Redfin, they have created a RESPA-compliant compensation structure between the Real Estate, Mortgage Banking and Title operations.

Bateman says that there will be no compensation paid for any of the subsidiaries referral of business to one another. Redfin agents are compensated partly based on the customer experience. If Redfin Mortgage doesn’t do a good job, they will not get the business.

So, with CFPB putting the clamps down on MSA’s, we might see more, large Real Estate firms venturing into mortgage lending. Many firms already have interests and/or affiliations with Title/Closing entities. So, this is all that is needed to offer their home buyers the complete one-stop shopping experience.

Maybe, national mortgage lenders should consider opening, or purchasing real estate franchises.

Now, that I think of it, I wondered what happened to Jason Bateman after that TeenWolf movie.

Editor’s Note: Jason Bateman (the actor) continues to appear on TV (Ozark-2017), Movies (Office Christmas Party-2016) and was nominated for a People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Animated Movie Voice” for Zootopia in 2017.

About the Author

Michael Vitali

Michael L. Vitali – Independent Consultant to the Mortgage Industry Mike Vitali is an independent consultant to the mortgage industry on matters concerning compliance and mortgage lending. He most recently served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer for LoanLogics, monitoring regulatory developments and their practical implications for the mortgage lending industry. His duties included research, interpretation, and analysis of existing and proposed legislation related to the industry in support of recommendations for policy and/or procedure changes to maintain continued quality and compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, investor requirements, and standard mortgage practices. In his more than 40 years in the mortgage industry, in senior level management, he has gained experience in all areas of mortgage lending, risk management, and compliance. Mike is a past President of the MBA of Greater Philadelphia, is a charter member and was the second Chairman of the MBA of Pennsylvania, and a past board member and Legislative Chair of both associations. He is a recipient of the 1998 Mortgage Banker of the Year Award from the MBA of Greater Philadelphia, and the 2003 Chairman's Award from the MBA of PA, and currently serves on several compliance related task forces for MBA.