Inman

Doorsteps launches lender tool

Screen shot of a sample Doorsteps buyer profile.

Doorsteps, an online tool that provides first-time homebuyers a detailed, step-by-step guide to the homebuying process and agents a way to reach them, has launched a new tool that allows lenders to engage users through the platform.

“We were finding that buyers were going to a lender to see what they could afford before they went to an agent,” said Michele Serro, founder of Doorsteps, which was acquired by Move Inc. in May.

Lenders, Serro said, were having trouble incubating leads after the pre-approval process and Doorsteps wanted to provide a tool to remedy that. When the prospective homebuyers got what they needed from the lender, many times they moved on, she said.

Now, for $25 per month for each loan officer (with enterprise-level rates available), lenders, like agents, can sign users up to Doorsteps and use the platform to maintain and cultivate relationships, helping them track and close with more clients.

The lender tool is a third “door” for a consumer into Doorsteps, Serro said. The two others include buyers signing up for themselves (which is free) and having an agent invite them into the system.

Editor’s note: Michele Serro says lenders were having trouble incubating leads after the pre-approval process in general, not specifically within the Doorsteps platform as a previous version of this article stated.