Chimney Home FAQs page

Welcome to the Chimney Home FAQs page! If you have additional questions, feel free to reach out by emailing us at: home.support@chimney.io.

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Platform

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Q: Will my financial institution use Chimney Home data to make loan decisions?  

A: No, your financial institution uses its criteria for loan decisions. Chimney Home is solely for your informational use.

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Q: Will Chimney Home share my home data with my financial institution?  

A: Chimney Home shares your data with your financial institution only if you choose to do so.

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Q: How does Chimney Home keep my information secure?  

A: Chimney Home protects your data with bank-level encryption and security policies. Third-party security teams regularly audit it.

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Q: How do we send emails to our members? Are we sending them from our servers?  

A: You can either integrate your email domain with Chimney via DNS settings to control the sender's name or use a custom Chimney sender email like mycreditunion@chimney.io. All emails must pass through Chimney's email servers and can be fully customized to align with your brand.

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Features

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Q: What is Chimney Home?  

A: Chimney Home is a tool that lets you track your home value, see available equity, and receive personalized offers directly within your banking app. The information updates monthly, or you can refresh it daily.

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Q: What does Chimney Home offer?  

A: Chimney Home provides a comprehensive view of your home value and equity and personalized offers. It also includes a monthly email digest that keeps you updated on these aspects, even if your mortgage is with another lender.

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Q: How often are home values updated?  

A: Your home value and equity information are updated every 30 days. You can refresh this data daily within the app.

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Q: How does Chimney Home differ from other home value tracking tools?  

A: Chimney Home provides unique offers based on your property and integrates seamlessly into your banking app, unlike standalone tools like Zillow.

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Q: Where do you get property valuations?  

A: Our Chimney Estimate™ is purpose-built for Banks and Credit Unions to compete with Zillow. Our industry-leading home valuation model AVM is refreshed monthly to keep homeowners informed and highly engaged. We use an AVM (automated valuation model) that covers 95% of US residential homes from a core property data provider called ATTOM.

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Q: Where do the valuations come from?  

A: Chimney Home uses its proprietary AVM (Automated Valuation Model) to estimate home values, similar to Zillow's Zestimate. The data comes from sources such as MLS and CoreLogic. For equity, Chimney uses one of six valuation models based on your institution’s lending criteria.

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Q: What is the Chimney confidence score for the AVM model?  

A: Chimney's AVM Confidence Score reflects how closely the model's valuation aligns with actual market conditions. A higher score means greater accuracy, while a lower score suggests that the estimate may need to be more precise due to factors such as a lack of comparable data or changing market conditions.

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Q: How does Chimney Home help me financially?  

A: Chimney Home helps you stay informed about your home value, equity, and potential financial opportunities, allowing you to make better financial decisions.

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Q: What is my available equity?  

A: Your available equity is the estimated amount of home equity you can borrow against. It is calculated by subtracting the outstanding balance of existing home loans from the estimated market value of your home.

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Q: Is my available equity an approved loan amount?  

A: No, your available equity is not an approved loan amount. It is an estimated value indicating the potential equity you can access. You must go through the loan application process to determine the amount you are approved to borrow.

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Q: Where does Chimney obtain my mortgage and/or loan information?  

A: Chimney obtains much of your mortgage and loan information from public property records. Occasionally, Chimney may request that you connect your accounts to access the most accurate information.

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Q: Can homeowners use Chimney Home if the mortgage is held with a different lender?  

A: Yes, any homeowner can enroll regardless of whether they have their mortgage with your institution.

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Q: We use our own AVM or assessed values. Can you use that for underwriting?  

A: Yes, we offer Tax-Assessed Value and six AVM ranges from Chimney Estimate. Our team will work closely with you during onboarding to ensure the best match to your lending criteria.

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Q: When you auto-enroll a member into the experience would they automatically receive emails and can they be turned off? 

A: Yes they would be, but we can turn that off and send emails as you choose.

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Getting Started

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Q: Is there a fee for Chimney Home?  

A: No, Chimney Home is entirely free, with no credit card information required for registration.

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Q: What can we expect in terms of adoption and usage?  

A: Clients can expect between 20-40% adoption from homeowners.

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Q: We are paying for Savvy/Array; how is this different?  

A: While credit monitoring is crucial, Chimney focuses on helping homeowners unlock their home equity. It's the perfect complement to credit monitoring and amplifies financial wellness efforts by engaging homeowners in understanding their home as an asset.

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Q: Can users enroll properties located in other states within the solution?  

A: We can block any out-of-state properties that are not part of an initial rollout. However, users can enroll properties in other states as long as they are in the rollout area.

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Training & Resources

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Q: How do we send emails to our members? Are we sending them from our servers?  

A: You can either integrate your email domain with Chimney via DNS settings to control the sender's name or use a custom Chimney sender email like mycreditunion@chimney.io. All emails must pass through Chimney's email servers and can be fully customized to align with your brand.

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Q: Can I receive email alerts from Chimney Home?  

A: Yes, you can set up email notifications for updates on your home value, equity, and personalized offers. These settings can be managed within the app.

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Troubleshooting & Support

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Q: What if the home value provided by Chimney Home is inaccurate?  

A: If you notice discrepancies, compare the information with other sources or contact Chimney Home support for assistance.

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Q: When a member moves or relocates, what is the estimated timeframe for the Chimney widget to update/remove the initially enrolled address?  

A: Chimney checks the deed monthly to refresh ownership status. Property records generally take 2-3 months to update, at which point the member would be required to re-enroll. Members can also change their address manually if they move.

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Q: When a user moves out of one of the packages, how does Chimney know to discontinue sending monthly value and offer update emails?  

A: Our system automatically knows if users can no longer access the widget and treats them as opted-out, stopping communications.

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Q: If a member deletes their account because they no longer wish to use the service, are monthly update/offer emails discontinued?  

A: Yes, if a user deletes their account, Chimney stops sending updates and offers, as the account is no longer active. The user does not receive final communication but can opt back in if desired. ‍

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Summary

The Chimney Home FAQs page is designed to provide quick answers to common questions about the platform, covering a wide range of topics from how Chimney Home works, data security, and property valuations to member-specific features.

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