Alexandria Realtors have started a first-of-its-kind real estate search tool that lets homebuyers, investors and agents find homes for sale with assumable mortgages.
AssumeList allows people to search for on-and-off-market properties with VA, FHA, or USDA assumable mortgages that have interest rates as low as 2%. The platform also allows users to view remaining loan balances and interest rates on these properties.
An assumable mortgage allow buyers to purchase a home by taking over the seller’s existing mortgage instead of taking out a new mortgage (usually at a much higher interest rate). In addition, since the buyer is not getting a new mortgage, there are fewer closing costs and fees.
AssumeList was started by Michael Lorino and Bethany Stalder, a husband-and-wife team, who run Fidelis Property Group, a top-ranked real estate team that’s certified to handle military relocation. Fidelis Property Group's office is in Alexandria.
“We were seeing so many people priced out of the market because of higher interest rates. Many were not aware of this enormous opportunity in assumable mortgages,” said Lorino, CEO of AssumeList. “For those who were, there was no easy way to search for them.”
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Lorino is a retired Marine Corps intelligence officer. Stalder, grew up in a military family and previously worked as a government civilian managing several multi-million-dollar Marine Corps acquisition programs.
The team started building AssumeList when interest rates on mortgages began to rise in 2022.
A client of Lorino’s recently assumed a $1.4 million mortgage with a 3% rate. Compared to current rates around 7 percent, the new owners are saving $3,500 a month and $1.2 million in total interest over the course of the remaining loan term.
“We built this platform to empower buyers, to buy an assumable home with an agent of their choice, and to equip agents with the tools to support them,” said Stalder. “And we wanted to make sure it was accessible and affordable to everyone.”
AssumeList provides assumable loan data for markets in Maryland, Delaware, Washington DC, northern and coastal Virginia, and parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, with plans to launch next in Florida and Southern California.
