Zillow Group has made another move in the mortgage space.
Mortech, a software provider for mortgage lenders that Zillow acquired for $12 million back in 2012, is partnering with Roostify, a separate company that makes a point-of-sale platform also used by lenders and their customers to speed-up home closings. The partnership is designed to deliver more accurate mortgage pricing to lenders and homebuyers.
Essentially, it will let lenders who use both platforms to plug Mortech’s real-time pricing capabilities into Roostify’s digital lending platform process, “seamlessly,” according to a Zillow spokesperson.
Integration of the two platforms will provide lenders who use Roostify with secure access to their portfolios of mortgage investors and customer pricing configurations for eligible mortgage products.
This is designed to increase the accuracy of their mortgage rate quotes for borrowers, as well as deliver new pricing structures to Roostify’s lender customers, according to Mortech.
“By integrating accurate mortgage quotes into the Roostify platform, lenders will deliver on consumer expectations and see higher engagement with faster loan closing timeframes,” said Mark McLaughlin, senior vice president of business development at Roostify, in a statement.
Doug Foral, general manager of Mortech, called the integration a “first step” in a partnership to provide lenders with tools to efficient rate data during the mortgage application process.
“We look forward to building additional robust integrations with Roostify that leverage both of our core technologies, and are excited to onboard our industry-leading mutual customers who will benefit from a more accurate digital borrower experience,” he said.
The partnership signals more maneuvering by Zillow in the mortgage industry.
Zillow’s listing portal has long served up a mortgage marketplace where lenders and mortgage brokers can advertise their loan products. Last year, consumers requested nearly 25 million loans through the marketplace, according to a Zillow spokesperson.
And in November 2018, it got into the lending business itself by acquiring Mortgage Lenders of America.
Zillow said that acquisition would allow it to streamline the homebuying process for consumers who purchase homes through Zillow Offers, its online cash homebuying, or “iBuyer” operation that launched in April 2018 and is active in eight markets across the U.S so far.
Owning Mortgage Lenders of America, which Zillow said it plans to rebrand this year, would also allow Zillow to build new tools and partnerships, including with real estate brokerages and mortgage lenders, Zillow has said.
However, a spokesperson clarified that the Mortgage Lenders of America and Zillow Offers integration were separate efforts and not related to the Mortech and Roostify partnership.
This story was updated after publication to include new information provided by a Zillow spokesperson.
