Freddie Mac Launches an ACE

In a buying climate that’s moving at an incredibly fast pace, Freddie Mac has announced a way to make things run even faster. Their automated appraisal alternative could possibly save homebuyers or homeowners looking to refinance up to $500 and cut as many as seven to 10 days off of closing. That is if Freddie Mac’s new technology determines them as not needing a traditional appraisal.

"By leveraging big data and advanced analytics, as well as 40+ years of historical data, we're cutting costs and speeding up the closing process for borrowers," said David Lowman, EVP of Freddie Mac's Single-Family Business. "At the same time, we're providing immediate collateral representation and warranty relief to lenders. This is just one example of how we are reimagining the mortgage process to create a better experience for consumers and lenders."

The automated collateral evaluation (ACE) establishes whether consumers must use a traditional appraisal or not by “leveraging proprietary models and using data from multiple listing services and public records as well as a wealth of historical home values to determine collateral risks”. In order to find out if a property is eligible, lenders must submit the loan data through Loan Product Advisor, Freddie Mac’s smart end-to-end technology solution that assesses credit, capacity, and collateral to help lenders validate the quality of loans they originate.

If the estimated value of the home provided by the lender is acceptable to ACE, the lender can receive immediate representation and warranty relief related to the value, condition, and marketability for the property upon delivery of the loan to Freddie Mac. It will be available for qualified home purchases on September 1, 2017, but has been available for qualified refinances since June 19, 2017.

"When we launched Loan Advisor Suite in July 2016, we set out to give our customers certainty, usability, reliability, and efficiency," said Andy Higginbotham, SVP of Strategic Delivery and Operations for Freddie Mac's Single-Family Business. "ACE is our most recent capability to deliver on that vision."

For more information on Loan Advisor Suite, click here.