Efficiency. Synergy. They’re business-world buzz words, but they mean a lot to lenders and real estate brokerages that create and maintain partnerships. The goal is a mutually beneficial relationship.
Compass and Rate, for example, launched lending company OriginPoint in 2021. Coldwell Banker Realty and Guaranteed Rate Affinity have a similar partnership, with shared ownership. Key Mortgage was founded in 1988 and is owned by Baird & Warner.
These brokerage-lender unions give each camp an opportunity to diversify revenue streams and source more clients. Buyers, of course, are free to choose their own lender and real estate agent, regardless of their affiliations. But a friendly referral here and there, from lender to agent and agent to lender, can be helpful for all involved.
For clients, there may be peace of mind in a referral from a trusted real estate professional, and working with partner companies can help speed up a transaction and improve communication.
Rate Founder and Chief Executive Officer Victor Ciardelli and Compass Founder, Chairman and CEO Robert Reffkin touched on those synergies when the OriginPoint partnership was announced.
“Partnering with Compass and Robert Reffkin to rapidly build a best-in-class, tech-focused mortgage company is really exciting,” Ciardelli said at the time. “With interest rates creeping up, limited housing supply and refis slowing down, right now couldn’t be a more perfect time to hire the best of the best of the top loan officers and sales leaders throughout the country.”
“Compass has been laser-focused on building a company that empowers top agents across the country, and with OriginPoint we’re creating a direct connection between these agents and the top loan officers in the industry,” Reffkin said in 2021. “Buying a home is the most emotionally and financially significant decision of most people’s lives, and the role of the agent is to make the process as stress-free as possible. OriginPoint brings together two digital-first companies to deliver a mortgage product that provides a seamless and transparent experience for agents and their clients, which ultimately leads to a simpler real estate transaction for everyone involved.”
@properties and Rate launched Proper Rate in 2020 with similar goals to expand market share and bring together all the key players in a real estate transaction to make the process more efficient.
“Proper Rate will allow us to more seamlessly integrate the entire real estate transaction, from brokerage to mortgage financing to title and closing services, resulting in a better experience for the consumer and increased value for the real estate agent and loan originator managing the transaction,” @properties Co-founder and Co-CEO Mike Golden said at the time.
The synergies seemingly never stop, though. Compass closed its acquisition of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate in January. That deal includes Proper Rate, which in late February changed its name to OriginPoint, joining the Compass and Rate collaboration.
Despite the name change, Proper Rate staff were told in February that their team would remain intact.