The power of home equity and how Figure landed 145+ partnerships

Figure’s explosive partnership growth isn’t by accident. In this exclusive interview, HousingWire President Diego Sanchez sits down with Anthony Stratis, VP of Lending Partnerships, to share how Figure has mastered what lenders need: speed, efficiency and proven ROI. In a margin-compressed world, they need solutions that deliver results — fast. 

The two discuss that while margin compression continues to squeeze the industry, operational efficiency is mission-critical. Figure’s technology can help. The technology is designed to reduce production cost, automate key processes and deliver faster results — giving lenders a ready-to-implement solution to tap into their home equity. 

The road to Figure

Anthony Stratis explains what brought him to Figure, what makes its tech fundamentally different and how the company delivers ROI and is continuing to grow. 

“There’s sort of a two-part answer to what brought me to Figure,” said Stratis. “Like many mortgage companies, the past four or five years have been pretty challenging. But I’ve always been eager to look at aspects of mortgage that could be improved — how to process loans faster, cheaper, better, how to improve margins.”

Stratis said he’d followed Figure founder Mike Cagney for years and saw an opportunity as home equity demand surged. “It was sort of the intersection of a fast-growing tech business that needed someone like me, and a fertile ground to grow a partnership business.”

Home equity and beyond

Figure’s focus on home equity remains strong, but the company is thinking bigger. “It’s certainly what we do best right now,” Stratis said. “What makes Figure special is we’ve found a way to originate these in a very friendly way for our partners. But we’ve also spent an equal amount of time thinking about how to apply that foundation to other products.”

Stratis acknowledged today’s rate environment is complex, but not necessarily a negative. “I think we’re operating within a range. Ideally things would quiet down a little bit — less market tantrums would help — but fundamentally, we feel pretty good about where we’re going.”

He added, “HELOCs are very attractive in today’s market. Consumers are locked into their 2%, 3%, 4% mortgages and don’t want to touch those. So they’re turning to home equity to build a bedroom, consolidate debt, or finance a home office.”

Pulling away from the pack

When asked how Figure compares to the many players in the home equity space, Stratis pointed to a superior end-to-end platform. “It’s not just originations. We hear a lot of positive feedback from partners about how easy our process is. We joke about it, but the return on effort for a loan officer doing a HELOC with Figure is astronomical — they can literally spend 15 seconds and have a loan manufactured.”

“But what really differentiates us is what we’ve bolted on,” he added. “Our Connect marketplace allows partners to sell directly to investors. For the more mature lenders, we allow aggregation and even participation in securitizations. And on the servicing side, I’d say we’re unparalleled.”

Figure’s flexibility is also a major asset. “Legally, you don’t need to integrate our platform. It is an LOS. It handles disclosures, reporting — everything. But we also make it easy to access our data for partners who do want to integrate with their CRM or LOS.”

This has also allowed Figure to scale quickly. “We’re north of 150 partnerships now,” Stratis said. “And our partners tend to grow faster than the industry average. I’m not saying they grow faster because they use us, but it does show that forward-looking lenders who offer more options tend to be the winners.”

“You can’t lose money with Figure,” Stratis said. “Even if a partner does five or ten loans, every loan is accretive to the bottom line. And you’re establishing a transaction that builds loyalty. That customer is eight times more likely to come back in three to five years.”

Looking ahead

Looking ahead, Figure is already eyeing expansion into DSCR and other non-QM asset classes. “We’re thinking about how we can take what we’ve built and apply it to additional products. DSCR is one example, but there are others. We’re getting approached by companies who say, ‘Can we use your tech and capital markets execution for other asset types?’”

With thousands of loan officers already using Figure’s ecosystem, Stratis sees the future clearly. “To the extent that we continue staying cutting-edge, we’ve got embedded growth,” Stratis said. “We already have the access. Now it’s about continuing to prove ourselves every day.”

“HELOCs are a great start,” he said. “But we’re just getting going.”