Responding to growing demand for equity-based downpayment assistance FirstREX has added two mortgage industry veterans to revamp its marketing and loan processing operations.
The firm hired Don Shewmaker as the new director of operations and Jim McGuire as sales director of the residential real estate equity finance company to support future growth.
These housing market veterans who have worked for some of the largest banks in the country, said
During the second quarter of this year the REX HomeBuyer pipeline grew by more than 50%, he said, and is expected to increase during the second half of this year and beyond.
Management team additions also are in line with growing lender interest for the product.
Lender demand is leading to strategic partnerships such as the recent FirstREX agreement with HomeStreet Bank, a full-service community bank based in Seattle. In addition Riccitelli told this publication the REX HomeBuyer program “will soon be launching with a large California-based regional lender and a real estate brokerage firm in the San Francisco Bay area,” without elaborating on the details.
More homebuyers are inquiring about the opportunity to share mortgage downpayment costs with FirstREX in exchange for a proportional share of home equity spreads, the profit or the loss, when the homeowner decides to sell, the firm said. Various research findings have shown that a downpayment is the biggest obstacle to homeownership for the average homebuyer.
FirstREX was founded in 2004 as a nonbank that provides two equity sharing financing
REX HomeBuyer offers borrowers residential mortgage downpayment funds matching up to half of a borrower’s contribution on a home purchase.
The funding is an equity investment, “not a loan or subsidy.” Hence, FirstREX does not charge the homeowner interest and does not require a direct payback. Instead, FirstREX earns a return on the downpayment share investment. The share amount is calculated based on the home value increase or decrease when the home is eventually sold, which can be up to 30 years in the future.
FirstREX is expanding efforts to introduce these products to homebuyers and homeowners.
Shewmaker—whose nearly three decades of experience includes management positions at Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, Deutsche Bank and Pacific Capital Bancorp—will oversee the day-to-day operations of the REX HomeBuyer.
McGuire will focus on introducing the REX HomeBuyer program into new markets based on mortgage banking experience as founder of the McGuire Mortgage Co., one of the largest home equity lenders in the Midwest, and 1-800-One-Loan and OneLoan.com, “two early pioneers in online mortgage originations,” he said.
