HouseCanary

HouseCanary and dv01 partnership empowers MBS investors

February 20, 2020 by HouseCanary

Transparency and accurate information are critical to accurate, efficient analysis in lending markets. That’s why we’re so pleased to partner with dv01, the world’s first end-to-end data management, reporting and analytics platform.

As our Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Sicklick puts it, “Our mission is to make real estate valuations transparent and provide actionable insights into residential property, so partnering with dv01 is a natural fit for us. By integrating our HPI forecasts with dv01’s platform we are able to drive better decisions across the residential real estate ecosystem.”

Investors have been asking for greater transparency in the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market. Thanks to this partnership, MBS investors can access HouseCanary’s top-of-the-line real estate analytics through dv01. The dv01 platform will call on the HouseCanary dataset for loan-to-value (LTV) information, and provide our proprietary Home Price Index (HPI).

The HouseCanary dataset adds property-level data every day, ensuring that our LTV information is always fresh. We build our proprietary HPIs monthly based on the latest data, using AI-driven tools that calculate HPIs for sparsely-populated ZIP codes. We also derive localized HPIs down to the block level. In total, we generate HouseCanary HPIs for 375+ MSAs, 19,000+ ZIP codes, all 50 states, and the District of Columbia.

We anticipate that further collaboration with dv01 will result in deeper product integration in the future.

Interested in learning how a partnership with HouseCanary could further your mission?

Honored to announce $65M funding round for HouseCanary

February 6, 2020 by HouseCanary

Jeremy Sicklick @JeremySicklick
CEO & CO-FOUNDER | HouseCanary

In 2013, when I founded HouseCanary with my co-founder Chris Stroud, we had a simple vision: create a company that produced the most accurate and trusted home valuations in the industry. Our belief, which holds true today, is that aligning everyone — consumers, investors, lenders, capital markets — on a single trusted value is the key to streamlining every residential real estate transaction. From my experience during the downturn, I witnessed firsthand how a lack of trusted information on property values and market conditions wreaked havoc on the housing industry. I knew there had to be a better way to create transparency around an asset class that’s larger than our stock market.

Accurate home valuations were just the beginning. We knew that revolutionizing the housing finance industry would require building a more trusted and efficient real estate marketplace. A marketplace in which trusted property valuations paired with unparalleled customer experiences would help consumers and investors enjoy a frictionless, more delightful experience when buying, financing, and improving their homes.

Today we’re excited to announce that we have closed a $65 million growth funding round that will allow us to continue to build the most accurate valuations in the housing market, continue to build our world class team to accelerate development and adoption of HouseCanary, and invest in leading-edge technology that will enable a frictionless real estate transaction.

HouseCanary powers over $200 million in real estate transactions each month by working with institutional investors. Through our partnerships with leading financial institutions, HouseCanary will also help consumers drive more than $100 billion of real estate transactions this year.

Over the next few years, HouseCanary will be uniquely positioned to connect investors and consumers alike by combining our exceptional analytics on the $30.7 trillion residential real estate market — built on big data and refined through machine learning — with our nationwide real estate brokerage.

Today, seven of the top ten buyers of residential real estate loans, seven of the top ten bulge bracket investment banks, and four of the top five single family rental investor owner operators trust HouseCanary. We are fortunate to partner with all of our clients and look forward to the next chapter in our shared success.

Helping every US homeowner manage their largest investment

February 5, 2020 by HouseCanary

Michael Rodriguez
HEAD OF COMEHOME PRODUCTS | HouseCanary

When people invest in stocks, it’s easy for them to track their financials on a monthly basis. But the largest investment that most Americans will make is their home. How do they know if their home is growing or losing value over time? What is happening in their neighborhood market? What can homeowners do to unlock the value of their home? While 64% of homeowners see their homes as a financial investment, many will struggle with these questions.

We at HouseCanary realized we could empower every homeowner with the expertise to not only evaluate their options, but make better decisions than ever before. ComeHome by HouseCanary is a home buying experience built on the most accurate valuation data in the industry. What if we could use this data to equip every homeowner in the country with the tools to make better decisions about the home they own? Even better, what if our technology could also help homeowners secure financing to make their dreams a reality?

That’s why we built the ComeHome experience for homeowners. ComeHome for homeowners takes the industry’s best automated valuation model, which powers major Wall Street firms and institutional investors, and puts it in the hands of consumers with user-friendly interfaces and tools that empower every American to access in-depth information about their home.

How ComeHome helps homeowners and lenders

Track property value and neighborhood market

Our valuation models are built on block-level forecasts. That specificity helps consumers make targeted decisions about their homes. Other home valuation products vary too widely and don’t fully support reported values with deep dives or market activity. Lenders who partner with HouseCanary to provide ComeHome to their current customers can better align their loan officers and customers in common understanding.
Save Money

As we tested this product, it was clear homeowners’ #1 desire was to save money. Navigating mortgage lending is cumbersome, and sales pitches can seem aggressive. Our homeowner experience uses the most accurate data available from public record. That data powers tools that help homeowners explore money-saving scenarios with their current home and financial products. For example, they can use ComeHome’s interactive calculators to estimate their home equity and see how a loan refinance could impact their monthly payments and overall costs. Lenders who offer ComeHome can benefit with better-educated consumers and user analytics that support a deeper understanding of a customer’s behavior and intent.
Unlock money

When consumers access ComeHome through one of HouseCanary’s banking or lending partners, they can access their equity with direct paths to their existing lender’s HELOC or home equity loan products. Lenders can pair this experience with HouseCanary’s Agile suite of valuation products to enable instant transactions, delighting customers by unlocking funds at the push of a button.
Make home improvements

One of the toughest challenges homeowners face is identifying the value of home improvements. Many services will tell a homeowner what their home is worth and why, but fall short in explaining the key drivers of value, and opportunities to raise value. ComeHome’s built-in home improvement calculator estimates the cost of improvements and weighs those costs against the potential value an improvement could add to a home’s overall value. Even better, ComeHome enables homeowners to find contractors to do the work. Lenders will benefit when consumers are well-informed and ready to act on funding.

Tell us what you think

We are just getting started with ComeHome by HouseCanary, and excited to be working with our lending partners to grow from here. There’s more news to come.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about ComeHome. We always encourage user feedback at HouseCanary, because we take pride in the crafting products that serve the growing and changing needs of our clients and end-users. We’re adding exciting new functionalities to ComeHome all the time, and we can always develop custom modules for enterprise clients.

Step 1: Download ComeHome and claim your home to see our homeowner experience for yourself.

For Apple | For Android

Step 2: Let me know what you think. What else would you like to see in your own co-branded ComeHome experience?

Contact me

Changes in Property Explorer November 2019

November 13, 2019 by HouseCanary

We’re continuing to make incremental updates to Property Explorer based on user feedback. These updates should make it easier than ever to rapidly select the most appropriate comparable properties (comps) for any given subject property.

Subject property details header in comp selection view

We added a header on the comp selection view with property details and listing remarks for the subject property. Now it’s easy for you to reference the subject while selecting comps.

Easier navigation between adjustment and grid views

We moved the comp grid button next to the rest of the toggles in comparable selection view. You’ll save time by switching more quickly between adjustment and grid views.

Comp grid now includes transaction history

You may want to look at previous transaction information for comparable properties. To make it easier to see this information at a glance, we added a link to every comp’s transaction history right to the comp grid.

Loan Servicing with ComeHome’s Homeowner Experience

November 12, 2019 by HouseCanary

Customers don’t spend much time engaging positively with their loan servicers. Let’s change that. With ComeHome powered by HouseCanary, you can build your brand and generate customer loyalty with superior consumer-facing real estate tools and timely, immersive, and action-oriented email marketing. As a real estate brokerage with broad coverage and advanced analytical tools, HouseCanary can help you turn your mortgage servicing rights (MSR) portfolio from a collection of anonymous financial assets into a wellspring of high-value relationships with lifelong customers.

Be your servicing customers’ first call for new home financing

The homeowner experience in HouseCanary’s ComeHome platform helps servicers and depositories get the first opportunity for customers’ future loan needs, whether that’s their next refinance, home equity loan, or purchase. When you invite customers into HouseCanary’s co-branded home management dashboard via your servicing portal, they will keep coming back for opportunities to engage with the most important investments in their lives.

Empower homeowners with tools driven by our industry-leading AVM

Customers will explore for themselves how they can save money or release cash with a refinance. We’ll also show them live updated neighborhood real estate activity. Homeowners will be delighted to use enterprise-quality valuation tools, built on our automated valuation model (AVM), that calculate cost and return on investment of home improvements. Inspire your customers to plan their dream remodeling and finance it directly with your home equity product. We’ll also show your customers how to save money on property taxes and utility costs with tax, solar, and, where available, utility switch calculators.

Earn your place as preferred lender for customers’ next home purchases

When your customers are ready to search for their next homes, ComeHome’s experience for home buyers provides them with unmatched home search tools to explore listings, market data, and analytics from HouseCanary. Stay with your customers through every step of their home buying process, and be the clear choice of mortgage provider when it’s time to close — with instant mortgage on preapproved homes.

Build customer relationships with emails they’ll be eager to read

When your customers sign up for co-branded ComeHome updates from HouseCanary, we’ll send timely market and property news that keeps them engaged with their equity and your brand. Our catchy email content will keep customers coming back to your site, while also pushing events to your CRM system to track engagement. In partnership with ComeHome, you can turn MSRs into loyal customers. Transform financial assets worth hundreds of dollars in volatile cash flows into human relationships worth tens of thousands of dollars of stable lifetime value.

Provide instant certainty with actionable valuations from HouseCanary

HouseCanary’s highly accurate, data-driven home value reports are uniquely suited to powering transactions directly off of the servicing book. Given the recent update of the de minimis threshold for evaluations from $250,000 to $400,000 and Fitch Ratings’ report supporting use of a HouseCanary AVM for origination of home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and other second lien products for securitization, customers can transact instantly based on the value they track in our ComeHome web experience.

Partner with us and lead the industry with next-generation loan servicing

Only HouseCanary combines the property technology DNA of an industry-leading valuation-focused brokerage with the beautifully designed, fast rendering, and mobile-optimized user experience built with a consumer-first mindset. By incorporating ComeHome into your digital ecosystem, you can provide the best-in-class experience that keeps customers engaged with your brand.

Interested in learning more about ComeHome?

Learn More

HouseCanary Invites Mortgage Lenders to ComeHome

October 23, 2019 by HouseCanary

HouseCanary Inc. today launched ComeHome, a proprietary platform built for mortgage lenders to attract, retain and convert customers into their suite of loan products. ComeHome creates a seamless experience that puts lenders directly in front of prospective buyers at the beginning of their home search and establishes a productive, ongoing relationship with homeowner customers around their largest asset.

ComeHome is a co-branded mobile and desktop experience that offers an integrated digital home shopping and homeowner experience embedded into mortgage lenders’ existing digital properties – both websites and native mobile apps.

“Lenders are seeking deeper relationships with their customers,” said Jeremy Sicklick, HouseCanary’s founder and CEO. “ComeHome allows lenders to quickly and easily offer powerful online home-search and homeowner capabilities in their own environment. There is no need for the lender’s customer to visit multiple websites; they never leave your environment, you retain them all the way through the process.”

For home buyers, ComeHome integrates fully featured property search tools straight into the lender’s existing digital products by coupling property search with loan products for an integrated experience from search through loan transaction. The lender is joining the customer in their home buying journey at the very beginning of the home search process, instead of buying their way in at the end when it could be too late, too competitive, and too expensive.

ComeHome for homeowners opens up more opportunities for lenders to engage more frequently with their existing customers. It allows current customers, both mortgage and depository, to understand and responsibly manage their most valuable asset – their home – and take advantage of any offers around first mortgage, refinance, and home equity line of credit (HELOC) opportunities, right in the lender’s ecosystem.

Crucially, the value that drives ComeHome’s search, home equity, and home improvement functionality ties to the same algorithms that drive its cutting-edge qualified evaluations. For a growing subset of loans, customers will have near-instant closing certainty for purchases, refinances, and home equity products.

Tying the experience together is ComeHome’s messaging and alerting API, which allows the lender to stay in contact with their customers around property-specific alerts and market changes on an ongoing basis via email and mobile push alerts.

In preparation for the launch, HouseCanary subjected the ComeHome platform to numerous third-party onboarding and security audits, which passed the rigorous testing required by systemically important financial institutions. HouseCanary is Soc 2 Type I and Type II certified, and all customer-facing experiences are ADA accessibility-compliant.

To see more, please visit: https://www.housecanary.com/comehome.

For more information, contact [email protected].

About HouseCanary:

Founded in 2013, HouseCanary is a real estate technology company providing the most accurate home valuations to drive smarter decisions across the real estate ecosystem. Clients include leading institutional investors and lenders who trust HouseCanary’s products to fuel acquisition, portfolio management, underwriting, and other processes. HouseCanary can be found at www.housecanary.com

Contacts:

Denise Dunckel
VP Communications, HouseCanary
[email protected]