SoFi further cemented its place in the mortgage market by announcing that Fannie Mae approved its wholly owned subsidiary SoFi Lending Corp. as a seller and servicer.
“While we launched our mortgage business focused on larger ‘jumbo’ loans, the certainty and efficiency offered by Fannie Mae will enable us to serve more members by expanding geographically and into smaller loan amounts,” said Michael Tannenbaum, vice presiden of Mortgage at SoFi.
“65% of SoFi’s purchase customers are first-time homeowners who have what we call a ‘millennial mindset,’” said Tannenbaum. “We’ve designed our mortgage products for them – they value convenience and speed, and they want a range of purchase-focused products that help them to be competitive in the attractive real estate markets in which they live. We’re excited do this through Fannie Mae.”
The lender only recently ventured into the mortgage industry, expanding past the world of student loans where it got its start. When it first launched, the market place lender’s target borrower was a millennial with a 780 FICO score and an $180,000 income.
SoFi launched an all-out campaign to grow its brand during the 2016 Super Bowl 50 and was one of only three in the mortgage finance space buying advertisement spots. The lender dished out 20% of its annual budget on the big game in the hopes of becoming a household name.
More on the lender’s growth digitally can be found in the May issue of Housingwire Magazine.