Compass and the guaranteed rate launch the mortgage business

Compass is entering the business of creating digital mortgages.

Three months after its IPO, the brokerage on Tuesday launched OriginPoint, a partnership with the non-bank loan giant Guaranteed Rate.

In a company-wide email following the announcement, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said that by expanding into the mortgage, securities and escrow business, the company “almost doubles our total addressable market“. Reffkin had alluded to the move in May during his first earnings call after the April IPO.

In the email, Reffkin added that the partnership comes closer to “our vision of a truly end-to-end platform – from the first scoping research to the last electronic signature to the fence.”

It is entering an increasingly crowded area that includes Tomo, Blend, which streamlines mortgage applications; and Better.com, an online mortgage lender.

One of the nation’s largest non-bank residential lenders, Guaranteed Rate said it funded more than $ 73 billion in total mortgages last year and provided more than $ 60 billion in ready so far this year.

The CEO of the guaranteed rate, Victor Ciardelli, said the partnership would help the company quickly create a “technology-driven mortgage company.”

OriginPoint will operate in all Compass markets, which numbered 47 as of May. There were few details on the new business, but Guaranteed Rate’s digital mortgage platform will migrate to Compass’s platform and will be available to other brokerages as well. Compass did not immediately respond to a call for comment.

The Compass stock price, which has fallen since its debut on the stock market, jumped 26 cents in morning trading following today’s news to $ 13.84, before falling back to $ 13.40 at noon eastern time.