Rocket ramps up push for broker business with new program

Rocket Mortgage is continuing the push to grow its wholesale business and broker network with the release of a professional rewards program. 

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The megalender’s new platform, called Orbit, aims to provide its broker partners with advantages and perks that help them compete in a tough rate environment, ranging from more certainty on purchase loans to pricing flexibility when a deal needs help, Rocket Pro, the lender’s wholesale channel, announced Tuesday as part of the its October Power Play.

“What Orbit does is it takes all the things that great partners are already doing, which is clean, consistent loans that have very, very strong performance, and it turns that into real advantages that they can use to win and grow in this environment,” Austin Niemiec, chief revenue officer at Rocket, told National Mortgage News.

Other lenders, such as Newrez and United Wholesale Mortgage, offer similar programs, but most ask brokers to take additional steps to earn rewards, such as watching videos and attending events, while Rocket only cares about loan quality and production, Niemiec said. Orbit, which has been in development for the past six months, is also marketed toward smaller brokers, as output requirements scale based on brokerage size.

The move puts further pressure on competitors, like UWM, which Rocket targeted with a broker transition program last month. Rocket’s Moving Squad initiative helps brokers transition their business from competing wholesale lenders, particularly UWM and its All-In policy. Rocket also launched brokernearme.com, a broker portal for borrowers to find local originators, a year ago.

“We’ve done a ton of work over the last three years really redefining what it looks like to be a modern mortgage company in this new era,” Niemiec said. “We’ve always been very committed to the broker community, but we’re blessed with all the hard work we’ve done to have the resources and ability to just continue to invest.”

The new Rocket broker rewards include:

• Same-business-day conditional approval and 12-business-day clear to close on purchase loans
• Connecting newly licensed or transitioning loan officers with participating broker partners licensed in five or more states
• The ability to convert available rate lock extension days into basis point pricing credits at a 3:1 ratio to help solve eligible issues on an existing loan
• Access to more than 30,000 offers across travel, electronics and events
• An Orbit badge, which is recognition partners can use across digital and marketing channels 

Rocket also decided to extend the pricing credit its broker partners can receive by working with a Compass buyer’s agent through the end of the year and lower it to 20 basis points as part of this month’s power play.