Network Data has been the lone pioneer of a proprietary software system, mortgageLink, which we provide free of charges to our ARs.
Other networks recommend that their members subscribe to third-party sourcing system such as Trigold, Mortgage Brain or Homebuyers. Some networks couldn’t care less what, if any, sourcing systems are used by their members. If you belong to the latter category, get out now while the going is good!
All the sourcing systems mentioned above are desk-top systems that, unfortunately, have reached the end of the road. There is nowhere for them to go. They cannot access lenders’ affordability calculations but continue, perforce, to use outdated income multipliers. Connectivity to a lender’s website – where it exists – can be very clunky.
Without a shadow of a doubt the next generation sourcing system will be web-based and bring a host of new benefits to intermediaries. Access to lenders’ affordability calculations in the sourcing process – producing accurate loan amounts - will be just one of these benefits.
This leaves the desk-top systems in a quandary. Do they have both the capital and the determination to reinvent themselves as web-based systems? I can speak authoritatively for Network Data’s mortgageLink system and the answer is No!
All the sourcing systems require an extensive redevelopment program to make the software “web-enabled”. I believe this scale of development is now the exclusive domain of the larger software/services companies, such as Vertex and Capita, that have the strength in depth and resources required for such a task.
Network Data’s strategy is to set up a joint venture with one of these service companies to redevelop mortgageLink as the leading web-based sourcing system, including compliance and back-office functions.
We will continue to provide the system free of charge to our members
