Residential sales growth spurs lender move in Texas Capital

Among its many other effects, the 2021 home buying frenzy in Austin highlighted the need for a wider range of real-estate-related services in the Texas capital.

That spurred the expansion of big-time real estate brokers such as Douglas Elliman and Compass to the city in recent years and generated a boom in residential building in the metro area. It also created a need for more lenders, especially those that specialize in financing individual homebuyers.

In anticipation of continued high demand for housing, higher interest rates notwithstanding, an Austin-based mortgage lender is in expansion mode. LendFriend will move to a new, 16,200-square-foot office in north Austin for its growing staff and customer base. The mortgage lender plans to add 15 to 20 new employees to work as loan officers and assistants, business development associates and in operations. LendFriend currently has 65 Austin employees.

The move follows a year of record growth for LendFriend, which is an affiliate of Houston’s AmCap Home Loans, according to that company’s website. In 2021, LendFriend surpassed $376 million in funded loan volume, opened a new office in Jacksonville, Florida, and increased the size of its staff. The new Austin office is at 11000 North Mopac Expressway.

LendFriend was founded by brothers Eric and Michael Bernstein in Austin in 2018 .

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