Notarize and Guaranteed Rate partner on new product that allows homebuyers to complete the entire closing process online
Notarize, a startup that enables people to get documents notarized online, announced today that it has partnered with Guaranteed Rate, one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the U.S. Guaranteed Rate’s new product, called FlashClose, integrates Notarize’s real estate API and allows customers to close real estate transactions and execute mortgages online.
The service is available in all 50 states. Notarize’s products, including its consumer app, connect users to a notary public by video call to witness e-signatures and notarize documents. Its enterprise solutions include business and real estate APIs. Guaranteed Rate, which has had almost $25 billion in total loan volume this year, is now the largest lender that uses Notarize.
Notarize, which has raised $47 million in funding so far from investors including Polaris Partners, Lennar Corporation and Realogy Holdings, currently helps customers process real estate deals worth a total of about $1.5 billion online each month. Through partnerships like the one it has with Guaranteed Rate, it has added more than 50,000 realtors and title agents as users in the last three months.
Pat Kinsel, founder and CEO of Notarize, tells TechCrunch that 90% of people start searching for homes online and 60% apply for mortgages online, but many real estate and lending companies still require their customers to complete the closing process on paper. Allowing them to complete the entire process online can give companies like Guaranteed Rate a major advantage over competitors.
In a prepared statement, Guaranteed Rate COO Nikolaos Athanasiou said “We are thrilled to announce this integration with Notarize for FlashClose, which puts even more power in the hands of homebuyers—wherever and however they want to close.”
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