How Brrrr makes loan comparison faster - more flexibly with Rows

Torben Schulz, COO and Co-founder, Rows

In the competitive lending landscape, Brrrr.com is redefining how loans are compared and selected. Since its founding in August 2020, the company has expanded to a team of 20 and facilitated $300 million in loan volume by 2023. Led by Aaron, the founder and CEO, Brrrr.com is committed to streamlining the residential mortgage process for both lenders and borrowers.

The secondary mortgage market presents significant challenges, particularly in comparing loan options from multiple lenders. Mortgage brokers and lenders often juggle rate sheets from various banks, which are typically received in inconsistent formats such as emails, PDFs, or Excel files. This lack of standardization makes the comparison process laborious and error-prone.

“A lot of our time was spent manually organizing and comparing rate sheets,” explains Aaron. “This not only slowed us down but also increased the chances of making mistakes that could impact our clients.” And while OptimalBlue is a common tool in the industry, Brrrr.com needed a more customized solution to handle their specific requirements efficiently.

Enters Rows

BRRR built a loan calculator that communicates with the RowsAPI to calculate loan terms

To solve these challenges, Brrrr.com integrated Rows with their existing frontend tools, Noloco and Feathery. This integration enabled a seamless and automated loan comparison process.

Here’s how it works:

Data Collection: When loan buyers submit their rate sheets, Brrrr.com updates them in Rows. This centralized repository allows users to easily compare loan options from 20 different banks without dealing with disparate formats.
Scenario Calculation: Users interact with a form built on Feathery, which communicates with a Rows spreadsheet via its robust API. This setup enables real-time calculations to determine the best loan options. Additionally, when a user wants to save a loan scenarios, BRRR logs the calculations from the Rows API into Brrrr.com's Supabase database for future reference.
Visible Insights: Both brokers and the internal sales team have access to tailored loan comparisons through a customized calculator. This tool includes broker-specific margin calculations, ensuring that each user can view data relevant to their needs without altering their existing loan management systems.

The E2E flow that BRRR uses to calculate loan terms and save scenarios

The Results

The implementation of Rows has delivered substantial benefits for Brrrr.com:

Saved time: By automating the comparison process, the 12-member sales team saves dozens of hours each week. This increase in efficiency allows the team to focus more on client interactions and business growth.
Less errors: Automation minimizes human errors in rate comparisons, ensuring that both salespeople and brokers have access to reliable and consistent data.
More business: Brokers are now empowered to price deals independently, accelerating the decision-making process and improving deal closure rates. This capability has attracted significant new business from Brrrr.com's partners.

Looking ahead to 2025, Brrrr.com aims to triple its loan volume. A key part of this growth strategy involves strengthening broker relationships to complement their direct-to-consumer model. “We want to empower brokers with tools that are far superior to existing solutions,” Aaron emphasizes.

With Rows, Brrrr.com is not just improving loan comparisons—it’s set to transform the alternative lending space through its flexible and powerful approach. The company and the mortgage brokers they support are well-positioned for continued innovation and growth in the lending industry.

Who else can benefit?

Brrrr.com's solution is ideal for lenders and mortgage brokers seeking to streamline their loan comparison processes. It is particularly beneficial for smaller lenders who may lack the resources to invest in more complex systems offered by larger competitors like Loanpass, which charges higher fees for its services.

Read Rows help docs on turning your spreadsheet into an API, explore the Rows API compute endpoint, or email us for inquiries or access.