In last week’s episode of the LodeStar Lending Leaders podcast, CEO Nomi Smith, sat down with LodeStar CEO Jim Paolino to talk about the origins of PMI Rate Pro and the importance of transparency in the private mortgage insurance industry.

Smith shared how her journey as a mortgage loan officer led to the creation of a solution that revolutionized the process of obtaining private mortgage insurance (PMI).

“We would quote all of the PMI companies,” she explained. “It was very inefficient, and so I wanted to have a better way to shop private mortgage insurance.” This pain point served as the catalyst for the development of PMI Rate Pro, a platform designed to streamline and simplify PMI processes using cutting-edge technology.

The 20% down myth and the importance of options

During the podcast, Smith noted the significant role that private mortgage insurance plays, particularly for individuals who may not have the traditional 20% down payment.
“You’d be so surprised how many people think that they still need 20% down,” she said. Smith emphasized the importance of dispelling this misconception, advocating for the use of PMI as a tool to facilitate homeownership. She added, “I am a big proponent of utilizing private mortgage insurance to get into homes.”

She encouraged prospective buyers to think long-term, stating, “If you think about what home prices have done in terms of appreciation and you look at…in 10 years, what would my home appreciation look like then it makes it easier for borrowers to make the decision of okay, let’s get into a home now, with 3% down versus waiting five, six, seven years to save 20% down.”

Smith pointed out that without transparency borrowers may not feel adequately informed, prompting them to seek assistance from a different lender. Utilizing a technology solution, like PMI Rate Pro, creates transparency and empowers borrowers. PMI Rate Pro allows lenders to instantly pull Monthly, Single, Split and Lender Paid PMI Quotes from all 6 National PMI Providers.

To learn more about private mortgage insurance and PMI Rate Pro check out the full episode here.

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About PMI Rate Pro: PMI Rate Pro is a cutting-edge technology company hyper-focused on PMI. Our MI Pricing Engine delivers prices from all 6 MI providers across 5 standard insurance products, all with a single click of a button. The quotes can be displayed in order by best price, or in order based on our risk allocation algorithm. PMI Rate Pro has two products: MIQuote – Web application that quotes PMI and MIPrice- an API product that is a pricing engine.