San Francisco-based startup RealKey launched its mortgage and real estate automation software today after two years of preparation, aiming to accelerate loan processing and drastically shorten property transaction closing times.
“Traditional mortgage applications are like a terrible game of tag, telephone calls, passing notes from borrower, to banker or originator, to processor, to underwriter, and back,” said RealKey founder and CEO Christopher Hussain, in a statement.
While these messy analog mortgage applications can take up to 30 days to complete, RealKey claims to cut this time by 66 percent, down to about 10 days, with its new “all-in-one” lending solution.
The basic gist of RealKey’s platform is that it allows the multiple parties involved in a mortgage application process to collaborate on a single application in realtime, while automation software assists by pointing out requirements and helping fill out tedious paperwork.
For lenders, the cost will be $99 annually per person and $70 per qualified transaction from December, though RealKey is offering a new subscriber discount for those who sign up in November: first month free, and just $35 per qualified transaction.
RealKey product promo image. Credit: RealKey
If brokers get an account on RealKey’s platform, for example, they can invite a client/borrower to the experience.
Hussain said the vision he developed with fellow RealKey co-founder/Chief Technology Officer Will Hanson, former CTO/GM of Intuit’s Innovation division, was a “universally accepted application for buying a home and getting a mortgage.” That is, a mortgage that will pass muster with any legitimate lender.
Hussain told Inman that RealKey plans to roll out more tools of use to real estate pros in Q1 of 2018, including integrations with ZipForm, zipLogix, DocuSign, Dotloop and MLSs.
RealKey has raised around $1 million so far and is still looking for investors to bring in a further $500,000 seed funding, said Hussain.
It’s true that the mortgage application process is cumbersome, and ripe for disruption. The real question is: is RealKey the one to provide a better solution?
The company is now taking requests for demos here.