Ruoff Mortgage teams with Calque on ‘buy before you sell’ offering

Indiana-based lender Ruoff Mortgage is making a move designed to help more homeowners get into new homes with ease. 

Ruoff Mortgage is teaming up with fintech company Calque to offer two “buy before you sell“ programs to customers. The Trade-In Mortgage and the Contingency Buster will be available to Ruoff Mortgage borrowers via the company’s online platform and mobile app.

The Trade-In Mortgage — Calque’s most popular program — functions similar to a vehicle trade-in. Sellers can tap into their current home equity in a bid to buy another property without coming up with cash for a down payment. Buyers are not required to prepare their current home for sale until after they move into the new property. Calque also offers buyers a guaranteed offer on their current home to reduce risk. 

“It is quite common that our customers are faced with challenges around selling their current home before they can purchase a new home,” Ruoff Mortgage CEO Clint Morgan said in a statement. “We have partnered with Calque to provide better options to those customers, including the ability to close immediately on a new home before putting their current home on the market.”

Calque launched the Contingency Buster in August. The product uses a purchase price guarantee (PPG) to eliminate the need for a sales contingency — a real estate purchase agreement that makes the sale of a property contingent on the buyer’s ability to sell their current home. 

In other words, if a buyer can sell their home in a specific timeline, the contingency is pulled and the buyer can purchase the property. But the PPG serves as a backup contract that requires Calque to purchase the home at an agreed-upon price if they can’t sell it within 150 days. The process only takes 48 hours, after the buyer completes a virtual appraisal with Calque. 

“Ruoff Mortgage has been a trusted name in the industry for decades, and their dedication to client success aligns perfectly with our vision at Calque,” Calque CEO Michael Bremer said in a statement. “Together, we’re changing the way people think about home financing by offering solutions that work for real people in real markets.”

Calque launched in 2021 to provide lenders with solutions that simplify the home purchasing process for prospective homeowners. It is one of several companies — including Flyhomes, HomeLight and Knock — to offer buy-before-you-sell solutions as mortgage rates and home prices soar. 

Ruoff Mortgage is a regional lender with more than 650 employees and 60-plus offices across Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.