RatePlug recently announced a new incorporation into Northern California’s MLSListings at the National Association of Realtors midyear meeting in Washington D.C., allowing agents and brokers to streamline the affordability process with buyers and create a positive rapport with lenders.
With this integration, Naperville, Illinois-based RatePlug is now available to more than 705,000 Realtors nationwide, or more than 60 percent of all real estate agents and brokers in the nation.
RatePlug helps home shoppers on the MLS determine multiple mortgage scenarios on a property based on current interest rates, individual property list price, real estate taxes and insurance payment information.
RatePlug CEO Brad Springer
“There was an opportunity to build technology to enable agents to send property reports that include and display real time payment information to homebuyers,” RatePlug CEO Brad Springer said. “You see consumer portals that have moved in that direction. The pieces that are a little bit different through the MLS in the fact that agents and brokers can decide what info is provided. When you look at the way the business works, the agents and brokers are the experts in the locality.”
Springer says agents and brokers can expect a narrowing of properties from the start and an earlier beginning to addressing key finance questions with buyers.
“Having affordability info at the start of the search triggers other questions: ‘Should I get pre-approved, or check my credit?’ — rather than waiting until the end,” he said. “One of the biggest factors at the contract is financing. The more that you can solve at the start of the search with an agent, the faster of the process.”
RatePlug says it sells homes faster, with 14 percent fewer days on the market from list to contract date, but that doesn’t stop homebuyers from spending an extra six minutes on an MLS listing with RatePlug.
“It’s a simple combination of for-sale data and lending data, and it’s available at the broker level,” President and CEO of MLSListings Jim Harrison said. “Buyers and agents don’t have to clue a bunch of information together. Matrix systems are all over the country, so it made sense for us.”
According to the National Association of Realtors, 74 percent of homebuyers use lenders recommended by a Realtor as opposed to an alternative.
Beyond the interactivity factor is RatePlug’s role as a compliance leader. The team has more than 100 years of combined experience in mortgage origination and is continuously making efforts to lead the industry in adhering to regulation.
“You are required to archive three to five years. We archived every display and marketing tool for 10 years,” Springer said in regards to the FTC MAP record-keeping requirements.
MLSListings is based in Silicon Valley and features listings in Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. It facilitates more than $70 billion in transactions in each year, with data updated every five minutes.
“It’s exciting to bring cutting-edge technology to a marketplace that might be the technology mecca of the United States,” Springer said.
