SoFi Blog

We recently hit the streets to ask people how they feel about their banks. The responses weren’t surprising:

“I don’t think my bank cares much about me.”

“I’ve never recommended my bank to anyone.”

“I don’t really trust banking institutions in general.”

Beating up on banks has become a national pastime. Yet what’s crazy is how long we’ve put up with it – the nickel-and-dime fees, the bad customer service, the being treated like a number. Most of us don’t even switch banks when we get fed up —it’s too much hassle, and aren’t they all the same anyway?  

When you’re buying your first home, it can be tempting to mentally skip ahead to the fun part where you’re picking out window treatments and hanging your favorite artwork.

However, as anyone with prior experience will tell you, the process of buying a home should begin long before you start planning your epic remodel. As a first-time homebuyer, checking a few boxes early on in the process can help ensure you’re prepared to act when the home you want goes on the market.

Want to know where to start? Here are six essential steps for setting up your home buying experience the right way.

There has been a growing regulatory interest in non-bank (marketplace) lenders, from the State of California to the Fed, the FDIC and the Treasury. And while some of this attention can be misguided, we should expect and welcome greater interest given the rapid growth of our industry. Foundation Capital suggests one trillion dollars of global marketplace loan origination by 2025. What is sometimes lost in discussions, however,is why this growth is occurring. Simply put, many non-bank lenders are taking an unorthodox approach to lending to meet consumer needs in a way that traditional financial services firms won’t (or can’t). And as a result, the impact is far greater and more inclusive than many realize.

These days, it seems the only thing more expensive than San Francisco rent is a San Francisco mortgage payment. Or is it the other way around?  It’s getting hard to keep track.

The Fed made headlines this week when it announced it will raise its key interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade. While the initial increase is a marginal 0.25 percent, the Fed’s plan to steadily increase rates over the next few years clearly has implications for the broad economy – not to mention individuals like you and me.

Homeowners and prospective homebuyers in particular may be wondering what this news means for mortgage loan rates. Let’s take a look at four different types of mortgage borrowers and how they could be affected.