How Do You Get a 3% Mortgage Rate? Startup Roam Has a Plan 

Across the U.S., the net effective mortgage rate among all mortgage holders is 3.60%, quite a contrast to the current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 7.32%. So, what if more homebuyers today could take advantage of those lower rates?

That's the premise for real estate portal Roam, launched in September this year, Fast Company reports. Roam's CEO Raunaq Singh plans to unlock housing affordability for more Americans by connecting buyers who are looking for a home with sellers who have home mortgages eligible to be “assumable,” enabling buyers to take over the existing mortgage, including what may be a much lower mortgage rate.

Currently, Roam’s listing website exclusively showcases homes for sale with assumable loans in five states, with plans to expand to more states in the near future.

“Most people are shocked by this but there are actually millions of [potentially] assumable loans. Meaning the buyer can take over the mortgage and transfer from the seller. All the government loans like VA and FHA are available,” Singh tells ResiClub. “As we started to look at the problem we realized there would be three key issues. The first was discovery, being able to help consumers find those homes. The second was the transparency throughout the process. And the third problem was coordination, nobody in the entire transaction experience had experience doing the assumption—if you’re the buyer and you want to assume the mortgage, you have to coordinate with your buyer’s agent, seller, seller’s agent, lender, title, escrow, and closing officer.”

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