May 16, 2017
By Arun Mohan
Buying a home is the biggest financial decision many of us will make in our lifetime. Unfortunately, it has also historically been one of the most confusing, so many people don’t bother to shop around for the best deal on their home loan. As many as half of all homeowners might benefit from refinancing their mortgage, yet many don’t because they’re unaware of how much they could save, and refinancing is a lengthy and complicated process.
Introducing Credit Karma Mortgage
This is why we’re excited to launch Credit Karma’s new mortgage refinance shopping experience, to help homeowners see if they can save on their home loans. When you enter a few pieces of information—such as the estimated value of your home, as well as your current home loan balance and interest rate—you’ll see in seconds how much you could stand to save by refinancing, all without a hard inquiry. Right now, the full shopping experience is available in seven states (AL, CO, IL, MS, OR, PA, WY) and Washington, D.C., and we have plans to expand nationwide in the upcoming months.
If you’re already a Credit Karma member and we think you should be paying less on your home loan, we have future plans to alert you when you log in and keep tabs on your loan in case the opportunity arises to save—there’s no need to keep checking. Credit Karma members collectively hold 20 percent—or $2.4 trillion—of the outstanding mortgage debt in the U.S. With that insight, combined with a view into the credit profiles of our over 60 million U.S. consumers, Credit Karma is uniquely positioned to help its members evaluate the loan they currently have.
What’s in store for mortgages at Credit Karma
The power of Credit Karma is all about relevance and personalization. We’ve helped millions of consumers take control of their credit and get qualified for better credit cards and loans. We do all of this by connecting your personal credit profile to the product that’s right for you.
In Mortgage, we have insight into not only your current mortgage, but also your credit history. In the future, that means alerting you to new opportunities for you to put money back in your pocket. For instance, we may suggest that you do a cash-out refinance to pay down the credit card debt we know you’re struggling to pay back. We won’t just reach out to you because you have a mortgage—we’ll reach out because we have a high degree of confidence that you’ll benefit from refinancing.
But we won’t stop at refinance. Currently, 74 percent of Credit Karma members with a mortgage visit the site to check their credit before buying a home. A logical next step is for us to help you prepare your credit and finances so you can be a well-informed home buyer and qualify for the best loan for you from the get-go.
We believe you should know whether or not you have the right loan. If we can help you see if you can save hundreds per month on your home or show you that you have the best option available already, we’ve done our job.
Credit Karma Mortgage, Inc. NMLS ID# 1588622 – NMLS Consumer Access
Arun Mohan is a Senior Product Manager