Toronto-based digital mortgage lender Pine is moving closer to offering a complete homebuying experience, launching a home search platform, and streamlined pre-approvals and mortgages.

The firm has also just crossed a major mortgages-under-administration milestone, surpassing the $1-billion mark.

Founded in 2021 by CEO Justin Herlick and CTO Jonathan Shih, Pine offers a home ownership platform with mortgage lending and brokering and home valuation services. It is supported by Greylock Partners and Inovia Capital, with Wealthsimple as a partner.

Herlick is a graduate of Queen’s University who worked in Silicon Valley for companies like digital lending platform Blend Labs, Inc. Through Pine he is importing the digital mortgage model he experienced in the U.S. to Canada, which he believes will deliver savings on time and cost for homebuyers.

“Canadians are not getting the best mortgage experience that they could be getting,” he stated in an interview with RENX Homes.

Following its launch and now the rapid growth of the past 12 months, Herlick plans to further accelerate the process of homebuying and expand Pine’s scope.

Pine’s services

Operating as a direct lender, Pine's platform covers the buying, selling and financing of a home. It serves clients in every Canadian province except for Quebec.

With no middleman, the use of proprietary software to automate administrative duties of its advisors and underwriters, and artificial intelligence (AI), the company cuts costs in paper and input, as Herlick put it. Thus, it can offer comparatively lower rates and process applications rapidly.

Pine’s platform helps homebuyers save almost $3,200 on average compared to traditional lenders and close purchases 12 days earlier, the company states.

Herick is “very excited” by the implications of AI in homeownership because he believes it will ease some of the most arduous processes involved. “All these tools that are coming out should make people’s every-day life easier. Whether that’s finding a home or just having (a) more responsive mortgage system.”

Its digital-first business has grown rapidly by streamlining operations, Herlick said, on top of the effort the company made to get referrals from its customers.

Since the business was launched “seriously” in January 2023, Pine has surpassed $1 billion in mortgages under administration, with most of that coming in the last 12 months, he explained. The company is now doing $100 million in mortgages every month.

Overall, the company has approved $3 billion in mortgages since its 2021 launch and manages more than 2,500 active mortgages.

Branching out further

Pine is also unveiling three more products on its platform to further its reach beyond mortgages and create a full ecosystem of products for current and aspiring homebuyers.

The first is Pine Homes. A search portal for homes that is a rebranding of the service Properly offered (Pine acquired Properly in 2023), a user can ask an AI-powered program for a property that matches their desired features and a list of recommended listings.

To accelerate the pre-approvals stage for a mortgage, Pine will be incorporating AI tools such as call assistants that help its agents by summarizing phone calls and suggesting the next steps for a client. Pre-approval, Herlick said, could be gained within an hour, depending on the completeness of the information provided by the client.

Pine’s mortgage dealers will also be taking up a broader range of tasks including mortgage renewals and refinancings.

Herlick said there are two other services he is aiming to offer to further enhance Pine's service ecosystem: home equity lines of credit and home insurance.