Redfin Veteran Launches Startup To Unlock Thousands In Monthly Savings Saying The Goal Is 'To Make Assumable Loans Just Another Financing Type'
A former Redfin (NASDAQ:RDFN) management lead and founder of a Credit Karma-acquired startup has launched RetroRate, a California-based proptech company aiming to bring assumable mortgages into the mainstream. On June 9, RetroRate announced both its official launch and a $2.2 million seed round led by Swift Ventures, with additional backing from Eniac, Cooley Ventures, Keshif Ventures, Interlock Capital, Launch Factory, and Arkus Nexus.
Andy Taylor, who previously led product at Redfin and founded the mortgage startup Approved before its 2018 acquisition by Credit Karma, told Real Estate News that RetroRate was inspired by mortgage trend data he analyzed while overseeing rate tables during his time at Credit Karma.
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Real Estate News says that while analyzing rate data in 2020 and 2021, Taylor discovered assumable loans, an option that allows buyers to take over a seller's mortgage rate and balance, which he had never encountered despite working in the industry since 2009.
“I’ve been in the business since 2009, and I had never heard about assumable loans,” Taylor told Real Estate News. “It was almost shocking.”
Up To 25% Of Listings Hold Assumable Mortgages, But The Market Is Unaware
Assumable mortgages are typically linked to government-backed loans such as the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture programs and can save buyers hundreds or thousands of dollars monthly compared to new loans at current interest rates, Real Estate News says.
According to Taylor, RetroRate's analysis of multiple listing service and property data suggests that between 20% and 25% of homes listed for sale today may have an assumable mortgage attached. Despite the prevalence, Real Estate News says that buyers and agents rarely pursue these deals due to outdated, paper-based processes and the lack of centralized digital tools.
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RetroRate provides a proprietary, searchable database of homes with assumable mortgages, both on and off market, and ranks them by financial appeal. Buyers pay a 1% fee at closing to access the service, which Taylor described as a "supercharged rate buy-down" with a much shorter payback period.
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