First-time homebuyer platform Morty raises $8.5m
Online mortgage brokerage start-up, Morty, has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding to help first-time buyers secure their mortgages.
The funding was led by New York-based investor, Prudence Holdings, along with participation from Lerer Hippeau and Thrive Capital.
Morty’s business objective is to save time for people who can’t step away from their job by offering online services such as a ‘Home Financing Score’ and real-time loan pricing.
“What we have found is that as long as you are communicating transparency and education to all of the necessary parties — the home-buyer, the realtor, the title agent, everybody — it works,” says Morty co-founder Nora Aspel.
She adds: “It’s the lack of transparency, and it’s the lack of communication that I think has frustrated this industry for so long.”
Morty gives future home-owners more buying power by visually breaking down the factors which can lead to approval or rejection of a mortgage application.
The online platform can also automate steps such as instant verification for pre-approvals, cutting down the closing to process time to just two weeks – a third of the industry average.
Aspel thinks buyers should get a choice, instead of being stuck with one direct lender, so the company offer a directory of 20 lenders.
While the startup focuses on first-time home-buyers, Aspel’s fellow co-founder Brian Faux says there is nothing preventing the company from expanding to repeat home sales too.
“Once you build trust, and once you show them who you truly are, unbiased and just looking out for their well-being, they’ll come back to you,” says Faux.
Currently, Morty offers its services in 34 states as well as Washington, D.C.
