Hitch Equity

This week, IMN is hosting the HEI & Home Equity Capital Markets Conference in Austin, Texas. With over 400 executives from originators, banks, rating agencies, and vendors expected to attend, this event marks a significant milestone as the first of its kind in the home equity industry. The home equity sector is evolving at a rapid pace. Recently, Unlock Technologies announced a $30 million Series B, and rated securitizations of Home Equity Agreements (HEAs) are being executed at an accelerated rate. In honor of this pivotal conference, I’ll be sharing a series of posts covering key topics in the sector: What are HEAs and HEIs? Home Equity Agreements (HEAs) are a new and innovative way for homeowners to access the value of their property. Traditionally, products like HELOCs and cash-out refinances have dominated the space, but HEAs introduce a completely different model—one that isn’t a loan but a contract for future home price appreciation. Initially, the HEA market relied on private capital, but over the past year, it has matured into a rated, securitized product, opening the door for institutional investors. This development means a much larger pool of capital is now available to meet rising consumer demand. Historically, consumer demand has far outpaced what originators could supply. With the regular issuance of rated HEA deals and the growing standardization of criteria for evaluating and pricing home equity contracts, we’re seeing the creation of a more competitive and stable secondary market. In September 2023 alone, over $1 billion in HEA deals were issued, highlighting the surging demand for flexible, payment-free equity release options. As this market continues to mature, HEAs are set to become an integral part of the lending landscape, benefiting both homeowners and investors alike. Stay tuned for more insights as I cover this rapidly growing sector. Are you at this years conference? I'll be in the lobby all week. Reach out if you would like to learn more about some of the new opportunities Hitch Equity is developing for the sector. Send me a text: 7073289722 #HEA #HomeEquity #RealEstateLending #CapitalMarkets #Securitization

Thank you HousingWire! Fintech startup Hitch Equity rolls out white-label HELOC product ?? New York-based fintech startup?Hitch Equity?announced the launch of its Hitch Home Equity White Label program in partnership with?United Mortgage Corp.. This iteration signals Hitch’s smooth transition from the direct-to-consumer market to a collaborative effort with independent mortgage lenders. United Mortgage Corp., a midsized lender based in the state of New York, originated more than $2 billion in purchase and refinance loans last year. The new white-label platform includes a loan origination system, a point-of-sale interface and direct access to capital markets. It empowers lenders to originate?home equity lines of credit?(HELOCs) under their brand without redirecting borrowers to external platforms. It will also help borrowers gain access to additional lines of credit faster. Most HELOC programs offered by big banks took an average of 41 days from application to close in 2022, according to a?study?by the?Mortgage Bankers Association. Meanwhile, Hitch can process applications in a few minutes and deliver the funds within seven days, according to William Schoeffler, founder and president of Hitch. “There is no question that the depository banks can’t keep up with the independent mortgage bankers,“ David Wind, CEO of Hitch, told HousingWire. “And the independent mortgage bankers can’t keep up with the companies that exclusively do HELOCs. Through this partnership, we are allowing independent mortgage bankers to become competitive with firms that are just doing HELOCs. In that way, they have every advantage.” “That automation allows a loan officer to submit home equity lines applications through Hitch directly, and be mostly hands off after that point,” said Jason Morano, vice president of sales at United Mortgage Corp. “This allows?loan officers?to do two things: first, do more home equity lines, and second, retain the customers and their future business. If your client wants a HELOC and you can’t offer it to them, the first thing they are going to do is go to another bank, and we don’t want that.” Loan officers will have access to a dedicated portal through which they will be able to engage with their clients. Borrowers will be able to complete their applications and receive decisions within a matter of minutes. Hitch addresses a critical gap for small to midsized lenders, as they have traditionally been constrained by rigid systems that make it challenging to profitably offer smaller loans. Looking ahead, Hitch aims to expand its product portfolio for lenders, including offerings such as home equity investment solutions and a “buy before you sell” product.

Excited to announce: The Hitch Home Equity White Label program. We are rolling out with our first partner, United Mortgage Corp.! After talking with them, we realized the tech we built out for Hitch could help them offer a hot in demand product they haven't offered their clients or loan officers before - a HELOC. So we built them a portal and showed it to a few loan officers, next thing you know we were getting a flood of new applications from them and we have yet to fully roll out the product across the company. United Mortgage is a mid-sized lender in New York that originated over 1.5 billion dollars worth of purchase and refinance loans last year. Before us they didn't promote a HELOC program - now they offer one of the most in demand, competitive products on the market. For many small to mid-sized lenders, rigid systems have hurt these lenders ability to profitability offer these smaller loan sizes. With Hitch, we have a full-stack offering (LOS, POS and capital markets) platform for alternative home equity products. This gives them a lower unit cost and empowers them to move this product quickly with the power of automation that reducing manual processing to require the lightest touch from their fulfillment team. We're already in discussions with our next batch of lenders to offer this product. Reach out if you'd like to learn more about the Hitch Home Equity White Label. [email protected] David Wind