The industry-first equity release search engine comparison tool designed around consumers
EQUITY RELEASE SUPERMARKET ARE INNOVATING THE INDUSTRY WITH THEIR NEWLY LAUNCHED SMARTER PLATFORM, MAKING IT EASIER FOR CONSUMERS TO COMPARE PLANS AND UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THEY COULD BORROW IN REAL TIME TO FIND THE BEST SOLUTION
NAVIGATING a world of equity release among other stressful life necessities can feel endlessly laborious and often rather difficult.
Such a process is the last thing you need to be worrying about when trying to enjoy your spare time.
Searching later life options and trying to plan ahead can be a mind-numbingly frustrating task. Consumers haven’t been able to understand exactly how much they could borrow across the whole of the market in real time, or had the chance to filter their choices.
Equity Release Supermarket have changed the game with their industry-first solution, launching the smartER platform to revolutionise the equity release process.
Launched in September, smartER is the first and only later life lending search engine, and works by generating a shortlist of equity release plans following completion of a short questionnaire, making use of technology that has been fine-tuned over a three-year period.
With that shortlist comes real-time details about each plan, including rates and exactly how much could be borrowed, which can be stored if the user chooses to create an account, enabling them to revisit the results and amend at any time in the future if required.
By working closely with new fintech company Equitec and using the latest search engine technology, Equity Release Supermarket has helped develop a sophisticated mortgage sourcing platform.
Equitec’s aim is to help to knit the later life market together by working with lenders and brokers. The partnership with Equity Release Supermarket allows its users to see and compare the online, real-time results generated via smartER, and give consumers the confidence and knowledge when speaking to an adviser.
The new platform puts the ball back in the court of the consumer. SmartER equips consumers with a greater understanding of plans and what to look out for, not replacing the advice process, but instead giving them the confidence to speak to advisers with knowledge.
While smartER has proven revolutionary since its September 2021 release, now accounting for 30% of ERS’ ‘calculator’ related website page views, equity release is still a concept that is intimidating to some and alien to many. But it doesn’t have to be, and can instead be the ideal lease of life you need to make the most out of your hard earned equity.
WHAT IS EQUITY RELEASE?
Equity release is a way for home owners over the age of 55 to release some of the money they have accumulated from their home without having to sell or move out.
This means you can enjoy a lump sum of cash to use elsewhere, be it to enhance your retirement and book that trip around the world, or to help out your loved ones as they take their next steps.
Whatever you take out is then factored into what remains of your mortgage as to adjust it accordingly with what you have taken out of your house’s value for cash.
The process is of course not a straightforward one on the surface, and advice should be sought in order to ensure you have the solution that suits your needs when considering if equity release is right for you, but that’s where Equity Release Supermarket and their smartER platform comes in.
Mark Gregory, Founder and CEO of Equity Release Supermarket acknowledged the digital limitations of the industry, and said: “The equity release industry is still lagging behind in terms of the digital tools available to consumers.
“Until now consumers haven’t been able to gain information, details on plans, amount they can borrow or types of solutions available to them, which we know from our research is a huge frustration.
“We wanted to resolve this and have spent the last three years developing the technology to build a digital platform that gives consumers not only more control, but more in-depth information, a better understanding of the plans out there and greater insight to match their requirements.”
Equity Release Supermarket was founded by Mark in 2008, and in just a few years, has grown to become the UK’s number one independent equity release advisory service, having helped thousands of people to enjoy financial freedom.
Mark was previously an equity release adviser and has seen how the industry has taken shape, understanding both sides of the coin.
Equity Release provides home owners with a way to achieve greater financial freedom and enjoy their later life desires.
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH YOUR OWN EQUITY RELEASE
If you are aged over 55 and a home owner, you are eligible to pursue an equity release solution.
SmartER now offers you an easy and user-friendly way of getting the ball rolling, starting with a short questionnaire where you tap in your answers and suggest which kind of plan you’re looking for, with insight provided into each option.
Following completion of the questionnaire, smartER will narrow down plans in real-time and suggest tailored solutions, specific to your personal circumstances.
Details are plentiful and easy to digest, including rates, features and benefits of each plan, while also identifying exactly how much can be borrowed. If you wish to save these results and store them to come back to, you can then create an account where you can amend and revisit as you please.
Filling in the questionnaire and browsing through your options is the best way you can equip yourself before speaking to a qualified adviser.
You can get started with your own equity release assessment at www.equityreleasesupermarket.com/ smarter-equity-release-search
Insert letters to form the listed words, moving between adjacent cells horizontally, vertically or diagonally in any direction.
Insert all the remaining letters of the alphabet (except Z) in the grid so all the listed words are spelt out in this way.