Buy Before You Sell fintech Knock has allocated $5 million of a $15 million financing round to individuals alongside its investors.
The company announced an equity crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder, a public investment platform, to allow individuals to invest before it goes public or gets acquired.
The funding round is co-led by Second Century Ventures, the venture capital arm of NAR, and Foundry Venture Capital.
The goal, according to Knock co-founders Sean Black and Jamie Glenn, is to create investment opportunities they were unable to prioritize when their company Trulia went public and was acquired by Zillion.
People who used the product were unable to invest until it was already valued in the billions of dollars.
“We founded Knock to…
Fannie Mae appointed a new EVP and Chief Operating Officer, Morgan Stanley exec Peter Akwaboah.
Akwaboah brings almost thirty years of experience in the financial services industry to the position. He will oversee Fannie Mae’s Chief Information Office, Enterprise Operations, Business Resiliency, and Enterprise Workplace and Security functions.
“Peter’s many years of experience and unique combination of technology and operations expertise will add to our deep leadership bench, and his wealth of experience and industry knowledge will bring great value to the company,” said Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar.
“We look forward to the talent and experience he’ll bring to our technology and operations as we continue to respond to the needs of the market, carefully balancing innovation, risk management,…
Subservicer LoanCare launched a new app geared towards simplifying how homeowners manage their mortgages.
My LoanCare Go is part of the company’s goal to push loan management into the modern age, with everything designed to be used on mobile.
“We are excited about the launch of the My LoanCare Go mobile app, as it is always LoanCare’s goal to provide our customers with a seamless user experience that offers robust features and personalized convenience,” said Dave Worrall, President of LoanCare.
Users can access all of their loan details in one place, and do everything from making secure payments to tracking loan finances. Tax, escrow, insurance, autopay, and statement information are all available.
The app uses biometric authentication with facial recognition…
Mortgage tech company Ardley rolled out an automatic underwriting engine that creates instant conditional loan approvals for qualified buyers.
The program, Autopilot, generates personalized loan offers through the Ardley platform instantaneously, giving lenders and servicers flexibility in the current volatile rate environment.
“Autopilot reflects our ongoing commitment to reducing the cost and complexity of originating mortgages while helping lenders and servicers unlock hidden deal opportunities,” Nate Den Herder, Ardley Founder and CEO, said in a press release.
“By leveraging a client’s pricing, fees, and credit policies, along with any resell guidelines, Autopilot delivers confidence that every offer presented to a customer with conditional approval is real. And by generating loan approvals instantly—not minutes, hours, or days later—our clients can be…
Having a team of motivated mortgage professionals has helped Agave Home Loans grow since it was founded at the beginning of 2020.
Co-owners Marshall Gottlieb and Douglas Wang conducted business that year from two bedrooms at Wang’s house during a time when the Covid pandemic disrupted the traditional work from an office model. They had a list for cold calls and if they connected with a potential client on the phone, they would have to sprint to a quiet place to talk to them.
Today, Agave has 70 team members and was listed as a 2023 top performing partner for wholesale and correspondent lending by Rocket Pro TPO.
Gottlieb recently sat down with Editor Kimberley Haas to talk about their…
Guild Mortgage is acquiring its friendly competitor Academy Mortgage Corporation, gaining 200 branches and more than 600 licensed mortgage originators in the process.
Utah-based Academy Mortgage will extend Guild’s market share across the nation, Guild said in a press release, thanks to the number of employees and size of the business to transition over. Both companies are licensed in 49 states and Washington, D.C.
Academy’s branches will transition to Guild branding and operate as a division within Guild.
Academy’s loan volume will bring in about a 25% increase in annual origination volume for Guild.
Academy Mortgage Chief Executive Adam Kessler will join Guild’s senior leadership team. Guild CEO Terry Schmidt called the acquisition “two like-minded organizations joining forces to continue…
Better launched a fully digital zero-down VA loan program designed to expedite and simplify the buying process for veterans.
Better Mortgage VA Loans offers home loans for up to 100% of the purchase price of a primary residence, with no down payment required. The company says they will be 40 bps cheaper than traditional VA loans.
It is available to eligible US Veterans, service members, and National Guard and Reserve members in all 50 states. In some cases, veterans’ spouses may also qualify.
“Better has brought the traditional mortgage into the digital era, launching our 1 Day Mortgage Product and funding over $100 billion of fully digital mortgages. With Better’s VA Loans, we are opening the door for even more…
The leader of an analytics business that provides technology for companies in the mortgage space says they are on a mission to set a new standard for data integrity and trusted automation.
According to Steve Smith, CEO and co-founder of BaseCap Analytics, there is a need industry-wide for clean, accurate records. By leveraging validation technology, companies can streamline internal processes and let their employees focus on activities that enhance productivity.
BaseCap Analytics can also help companies with regulatory reporting and compliance. The company recently announced a pilot with Cenlar FSB, the nation’s leading residential mortgage subservicer.
“We are pleased to pilot BaseCap’s solutions in an effort to strengthen our ability to comply with an increasingly complex web of mortgage servicing…
Joy Knoch has been promoted to Chief Strategy Officer at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., the company announced.
In this newly created role, Knoch will oversee origination and processing, training, and lending tech systems.
“Our goal is to use systems to streamline our loan manufacturing process and improve the loan experience for borrowers, loan officers, and realtors,” Knoch said. “We’ll do this by gathering input from producing L.O.s, operations managers, and our corporate team to create a more efficient roadmap.”
Knoch brings nearly three decades of mortgage industry experience to the position, having worked at Fairway since 2011 where she most recently served as senior vice president of loan processing and branch support. Prior to that role, she was the company’s…
Former Newrez exec James Hecht has been named the new CEO of OneTrust Home Loans, the company announced.
Hecht brings more than three decades of mortgage industry experience to the role, where he will oversee multiple mortgage lending divisions.
“I am honored to lead the lending and joint venture businesses within the OneTrust Family of Companies… The company has a strong, sophisticated foundation that is well beyond its current size and rivals some of the largest mortgage lenders in the country,” Hecht said.
He previously served as Head of Production and Executive Vice President for National Retail Lending at Newrez (formerly Caliber Home Loans.)
His other experience includes COO at Stearns Lending, and various leadership positions at Bank of America,…
