InHouse Inc., a provider of appraisal solutions for banks, lenders and other mortgage originators, announces that eTEC, a leading appraisal management company (AMC), has added a private-labeled version of InHouse’s Connexions technology to its product and service offerings. Connexions will be available through eTEC as “eTEC Powered by Connexions.” It is the first appraisal technology to combine analytics, data mining and workflow on one platform as well as the only appraisal management technology that allows users to manage any combination and number of appraisal vendors—AMCs, appraisal companies and individual appraisers—all from one central platform.
Offering eTEC Powered by Connexions not only expands eTEC’s business opportunities as an AMC, but also provides its lender customers with a time-tested tool for managing the entire appraisal workflow in addition to ensuring geographic competence and optimal appraiser selection according to the property.
The system gives lenders the freedom to run their appraisal process in the way that works best for them, while staying compliant with the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), FHA Appraiser Independence, and other guidelines. Lenders also have the ability to add AMCs and appraisers into the system in seconds, so they never have to be locked into any specific vendor.
“We now sell the technology as part of an appraisal package to lenders,” said Susan King, executive vice president and national sales director for eTEC. “We know that a lot of lenders prefer to do business with more than one AMC, and we saw that Connexions accomplished that objective with economic and compliance sense. Users are assured of the highest quality, most reasonable prices, and of course, compliance is always covered. We’re happy to be providing these opportunities to our customers.”
eTEC gained first-hand experience of InHouse Connexions via Charlotte, N.C.-based Dover Mortgage, a customer of both InHouse and eTEC. Dover Mortgage, which uses Connexions for all appraisals in its wholesale mortgage business, had added eTEC as the first AMC to its appraiser rotation during enhancement beta testing for a Connexions platform built for them by InHouse. In that rotation, eTEC was able to compete head-to-head with InHouse Solutions, InHouse, Inc.’s AMC arm, in a completely transparent environment—and recognized the value in re-marketing Connexions to its potential customers as a private label, eTEC Powered by Connexions. The system, which provides Dover Mortgage’s mortgage broker customers with a direct interface to the company’s website, also gives customers instant access to the status of appraisals, without having to call or email. The company plans to extend usage to its retail channel as well.
“This has been a huge help to our business—we do business with several AMCs and we rely on eTEC Powered by Connexions as our one system to rotate appraisers,” said Janice Minchenberg, operations manager for Dover Mortgage. “Service and quality are important to us. We can now look at appraisal reports in real-time and also compare turn times, appraisal quality and the number of conditions returned, literally in a few seconds.”
“We’re very pleased to be working with eTEC to provide their customers with an unparalleled level of the flexibility, control and quality in the appraisal process,” said Jennifer Creech, president of InHouse. “Like InHouse, eTEC is committed to raising the bar and exceeding the appraisal industry’s current standards for processes and quality.”
For more information, visit www.InHouseUSA.com.
