Ep. 57: Mortgage’s Future Is Analytical, But Still Human

If you’ve tried to buy a house in the past year (or just browsed a real estate marketplace for fun), you may have noticed that housing prices and the demand for real estate soared at a record-breaking pace. Hunter’s latest guest, Alex Leduc, founded Canadian-based proptech Perch with a goal of empowering people throughout the entire home buying process. 

Alex’s mission is to solve two distinct problems – housing affordability and building wealth over time through homeownership. He says that many people want to get into the housing market, but they don’t necessarily have clarity on where to start and how to leverage equity in the right way once they’ve purchased a home. To be involved throughout the real estate journey, Perch’s team and analytics platform simplifies the mortgage application process, prepares a path to owning the right home, and educates consumers on how to leverage their home equity. 

Although technology makes for a competitive and efficient market, Alex still views real estate as a relationship-based industry with an indispensable human element. The digital experience has certainly improved 60% of the typical consumer mortgage process, but people still need to be involved (and that probably won’t change for some time). Throughout the mortgage application and ownership process, people feel more secure knowing that there is a person on the other side of the screen with their best interest in mind.

Looking toward 2022 and beyond, Alex is excited to witness open banking legislation’s impact on increased innovation and options in the lending space. He is also interested in the shifting dynamic between financing and realtors as the importance of where realtors seek their financing continues to grow in the competitive marketplace.

Tune in to the latest episode of the podcast to hear more from Hunter and Alex on optimizing the path to mortgage and homeownership.

More About Alex

Alex Leduc is the CEO of Perch, an analytics-driven digital platform that helps people make more informed decisions about their real estate. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Perch serves to empower its users by providing in-depth, personalized insights throughout all aspects of homeownership, from buying, to mortgage renewals, refinancing and selling.

After seven years of working in the financial services industry, Alex was shocked at the disconnect he was seeing. He saw how clients were getting advice from the wrong “experts.” This was compounded by the fact not everyone had access to or the ability to correctly interpret financial information. Future buyers viewed home ownership as an unachievable goal. Retirees with insufficient liquid assets were relying too heavily on home equity to fund their retirement. After validating that no one else was addressing these issues holistically, Alex started Perch with the goal of helping people optimize their finances and build wealth through real estate, while being supported by industry professionals.

He is a graduate of Ivey Business School from Western University in Ontario, Canada and a CFA Charterholder. He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife and their high-maintenance cat.