Coming soon to a Walmart near you: Mortgages, FHA loans and more

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A member of the Lenders One Cooperative has opened the alliance’s first mortgage branch office inside a Walmart in New Jersey as part of a nationwide pilot program that will soon expand to Florida, California, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.

Walmart shoppers in Newton, New Jersey, can now pop in to Family First Funding and apply for a conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, jumbo, commercial or Non-QM, mortgage, or discuss their options for refinancing or a home equity line of credit with manager Edward MacDermid.

Based in Toms River, New Jersey, Family First Funding is licensed in 35 states, and will open another branch in a Walmart in Orlando, Florida, within the next 30 days, Lenders One said.

Another Lenders One member, Springfield, New Jersey-based MLB Residential Lending will open a Walmart-based branch in Boonton, New Jersey, within the same time frame, the company announced Friday.

Justin Demola

“Walmart has long been a trusted name for consumers, so seeing the branch in-store opportunity with Walmart come to fruition with Family First Funding and MLB Residential Lending is an exciting opportunity to connect lenders and borrowers at our first three locations in Florida and New Jersey,” said Lenders One President Justin Demola, in a statement. “The physical in-store presence at Walmart helps Lenders One members connect with and educate the local community about opportunities to achieve the American Dream of homeownership. If the consumer does not qualify for a mortgage at first, our members can provide them with homebuyer education and resources to help them become mortgage ready in the future.”

Established in 2000, the Lenders One Cooperative is a national alliance of more than 250 mortgage bankers who share access to a network of technology solutions and capital markets providers. Collectively, members of the Lenders One platform are the nation’s largest retail mortgage provider, originating more than $700 billion of mortgages during 2021, according to parent company Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A.

Announced in March, Lenders One says the partnership with Walmart will help its members diversify their business model by bringing in retail foot traffic “in geographical areas in which they may not normally have a presence. Walmart customers can enjoy the convenience of being able to apply for or inquire about borrowing options face-to-face with a personal touch, in the same place they do their regular shopping and receive other in-store services.”

Since announcing the partnership, plans for members to open branches in Walmart stores in March, Lenders One says it’s been scouting “strategic locations” across the country where its members can operate “store in store” branch locations inside a Walmart.

After launching in Florida and New Jersey, Lenders One says its members will open branch locations in Walmart stores in California, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.

An integrated service provider and marketplace for the real estate and mortgage industries, Lenders One’s parent company, Altisource, also operates the online real estate auction platform Hubzu, and Equator.com, a property search site that helps investors find, acquire, and manage single-family rental properties, foreclosures, and short sales.

In November, Altisource announced a deal to power investor marketplace SFRhub.com, which is geared at helping investors in single-family rental homes acquire and liquidate individual properties or entire portfolios. Altisource is helping SFRhub.com create a one-stop online marketplace, by integrating rental data from RentRange, asset valuation data from Springhouse, auction services from Hubzu, closing and title services from Premium Title, and inspection and construction services.

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Email Matt Carter