Connecting Investors to the Future of SFR
by Carole VanSickle Ellis
When national mortgage technology and services provider ServiceLink was founded more than 55 years ago, the company dedicated itself to finding “technology-driven solutions” for lenders and, soon, mortgage servicers and real estate investors operating in different capacities within the space.
Those solutions initially included title insurance, appraisals, and home-equity lending, but ServiceLink soon branched out to become a comprehensive, single provider for lenders. Today, said Eva Tapia, senior vice president of auction at ServiceLink, the company continues to “prioritize investing in technology in order to protect our clients and consumers, deliver the best possible product and overall experience, and create a secured, seamless, and personalized connection from start to finish.”
“It is our goal to combine our industry-leading services with differentiating technology [so] we meet customers where they are and guide them to our industry’s future,” said Miriam Moore, ServiceLink’s president of default services.
Moore spearheads the overall management and performance of ServiceLink’s auction division along with Tapia in addition to the other services in ServiceLink’s suite of investor solutions. This facet of ServiceLink’s real estate service offerings is emerging as a leading area of interest for investors and homebuyers in 2026, and buyer interest in and acceptance of auctions as a viable route to homeownership has been growing for the past several years.
“The right technology platform and auction partner are critical to both servicers and buyers right now,” Tapia said, noting that in the 2025 ServiceLink “State of Homebuying Report” (SOHBR), half of all homebuyers surveyed said they would consider buying a home at auction. ServiceLink incorporates three primary elements into the auction experience in order to ensure servicers can quickly, easily, and optimally auction assets to a wide selection of buyers, Tapia explained. “Our asset marketing outreach matches buyers to properties and auction events; that experience is supported by technology that smooths workflows and portfolio management, and our team of experienced auction experts provide hands-on support,” she said.
Investing in the User Experience
Because ServiceLink believes truly successful auctions happen only when all parties involved in the transaction effectively address their needs for information and insights about the auction process and the properties available, the company has dedicated a great deal of time, resources, and capital to creating a comprehensive auction platform. Moore said she sees this investment paying off as an increasing number of consumers begin seriously considering acquiring a home via auction while, at the same time, servicers elect to follow an auction strategy when they wish to liquidate some portion of their assets.
“We expect buying homes at auction will become more mainstream as consumers look to buy quickly at competitive pricing,” Moore said. Tapia agreed, noting a successful auction experience can only occur when the platform offers solutions spanning the entire real estate lifecycle.
“We invested heavily in the user experience,” Tapia explained, noting ServiceLink’s auction platform offers free property reports so that both investors and consumers can easily and accurately complete and then analyze the results of their due diligence. “We know that buyers typically want to view a property’s occupancy status instantly before moving on to comparable sales data, information about local schools, walk and bike scores, and the availability of public transportation,” she said. “On the other hand, servicers tend to prioritize the availability of a portal for easy asset management, tailored solutions, and customized workflows so they can maximize efficiencies as assets move through the sales process.”
ServiceLink’s auction platform caters to both individual and institutional investors, so the company’s other services are also integrated into the auction platform.
“We want our users to be able to build their SFR portfolio with confidence as well as knowing they have made a sound investment by having a reliable inspection and availing themselves of ServiceLink’s inspection, landscape, and rehab services,” Tapia explained. “We offer a multitude of rehab and inspection products, including lock work, yard work, and repairs.”
The company also offers educational materials for users new to the auction space or the ServiceLink platform. “This is especially important right now as many potential buyers are just entering the pool,” Tapia said. She continued, “We have also debuted functions specifically designed to assist buyers, like real-time transaction tracking, AI-powered recommendations and chat, buyer profile and secure document management, and tailored, user-specific notifications.”
Tapia said servicers directly benefit from these functions also since a pool of educated buyers able to intuitively navigate the platform means quicker dispositions and shorter hold times for servicers.
Emphasizing the Teamwork Element
While much of ServiceLink’s auction platform relies on proprietary technology and innovative uses of that technology, the company knows no platform can truly perform optimally without teamwork, Tapia said.
“We have a highly dedicated and extremely qualified end-to-end support team starting with our customer service team and extending all the way through our client relations and buyer engagement teams,” she explained. “While our customer service team is dedicated to more of a novice buyer, our client relations division focuses on helping clients understand everything about the data-driven solutions available to them through working with ServiceLink.”
Because ServiceLink has long provided a vast array of mortgage services in addition to its other investing-related offerings, the company is well equipped to both educate and facilitate as clients prefer. “One thing that really sets us apart is understanding our clients,” Tapia said. “Not every client has the same challenges, pain points, or priorities, so we really operate as more of a boutique service focused on using every strategy at our disposal to fully understand what each client needs.”
She continued, noting ServiceLink’s tenured team utilizes data to inform their planning and assist clients in the best path forward for them and their unique goals. This level of transparency and communication ultimately helps avoid risk and provide tailored best-in-class service and solutions.
“In addition to customized auction services, clients of ServiceLink can take advantage of the holistic suite of services. Our end-to-end solutions are truly our success in this space,” Tapia concluded. “The complete integration between auction and title/close allows for tighter communication which translates to quicker turn times for closing.”
The company often describes itself as a “one-stop shop with all of the solutions investors need [to] save themselves from having to manage multiple vendors.”
“It goes beyond just the auction for us,” added Tapia. “We are focused on comprehensive solutions with an end goal of effectively and efficiently mitigating issues. Whether it’s leveraging our services for expedited closings, rehab services or a plan for potential eviction, we have the team and a network to provide a tailored experience.”
Bringing New Tech to Bear on Timeless Industry Challenges
One of the biggest challenges ServiceLink clients report facing as the real estate market shifts is making decisions about how to evaluate different strategies and making accurate predictions about how today’s decisions will affect tomorrow’s outcomes. This challenge is compounded, said Yvette Gilmore, senior vice president of servicing product strategy at ServiceLink, by a need for speed in the decision-making process. EXOS One Marketplace®, which functions as a separate but complementary platform with ServiceLink’s auction services, “provides visibility through the entirety of the servicing of each asset so clients can monitor exposures and, when necessary, take a different direction based on inputs they are receiving,” Gilmore explained. She continued, “EXOS One Marketplace enables our clients to interface with service providers right away.”
Gilmore also noted no other mortgage technology and services provider can offer technology on par with the EXOS One Marketplace due to the massive investment of capital developing the technology required and because such a system requires long-term, national reach and experience few providers outside of ServiceLink possess. “We are one of one,” Gilmore said proudly. “There is nothing like this in the ecosystem that combines access to real-time data and direct integration with so many different divisions while also having the ability to make decisions faster and have and review records of why they made those decisions.”
The company also offers access to a variety of AI-powered “decisioning” tools to help clients and buyers on its platform make educated decisions about disposition and acquisition of assets. “ServiceLink has incorporated AI technology and machine learning into our analytics processes for years, and new advances have enabled us to include AI-powered recommendations and even chat in our auction buyer portal,” Tapia said. These tools are intended to help both buyers and clients view potential decisions and outcomes from multiple angles, thus enabling them to make the best decisions when reviewing, prioritizing, selling, and buying properties in their portfolios.
“These enhancements are all about creating a secured, seamless, and personalized connection from start to finish,” Tapia said. “We are dedicated to providing a wide variety of strategies and solutions, and our recent system and website enhancements continue to focus on delivering the best possible product and overall experience.”
Suite of Real Estate Investment Services
ServiceLink’s comprehensive lending and real estate offerings to its clients include:
» Efficiency and cost-savings throughout real estate transactions
» The ability to make business-based title underwriting decisions, including services like: Nationwide title services, Title reviews, Title grading, Owner’s and lender’s policies, Collateral document preparation, Tech-enabled closings
» Use of cutting-edge technology to expedite the closing process
» Customized solutions for individual clients
» Access to industry-leading valuation products, including BPOs, PCRs, and appraisals
» An entire suite of products dedicated to portfolio risk management, including: Rental registrations, Inspections, Maintenance services, Rehab services and construction
» Nationwide coverage and investor market expertise
» Access to experienced vendors with proven SFR experience and active licenses
» Synergistic auction services to help clients scale or restructure portfolios, including: Foreclosure auctions, CWCOT 2nd Chance auctions (an FHA program allowing lenders to sell foreclosed properties directly to buyers rather than transferring them to HUD), REO auctions, Seller Assisted Sales (short sale) auctions
» Flood determinations and solutions using the most current FEMA data, advanced technology, and comprehensive, nationwide GIS coverage
» Backing by Fidelity National Financial
» Title and closing services for: Acquisition, Disposition, Refinance, Term/bridge/DSCR loans, Section 8 bulk strategy
Learn more about what ServiceLink offers at ServiceLink.com.
Why Auctions?
Most homebuyers and even many real estate investors automatically think of the early days of eBay when they think of the first iteration of online real estate auctions. Things have definitely changed since then. Today, half of homebuyers surveyed said they would consider buying a home at auction, and the buyer pool for auction properties is more diverse than ever before in history, according to ServiceLink’s 2025 State of Homebuying Report (SOHBR). “Interest in auction is strongest among Gen Z (62%), Millennials (58%), and Gen X (55%),” ServiceLink researchers reported.
“[Gen Z] is poised to make a mark on the housing industry this year, with 67% saying they plan to buy and 52% saying they find conditions to be favorable for buying,” SOHBR analysts continued. Furthermore, 73% of would-be homebuyers who were unsuccessful in a home purchase in the last 4 years say they will likely make another attempt, and these homebuyers are likely to be open to buying at auction.
For investors looking to expand rental portfolios, auctions are a reliable way to acquire properties for fix-and-flip strategies and rental strategies and for disposition. With housing affordability continuing to be a major stumbling block for potential buyers along with relatively high mortgage rates, a significant portion of homebuyers (43%) say they are considering “abandoning the homebuying process.” This will leave them naturally more open to considering auctions as a viable option for a home purchase.
Eva Tapia, senior vice president of auction at ServiceLink, added more individual and institutional investors than ever are considering auctions as a route to acquiring assets. ServiceLink’s auction platform puts education and routes to implement new strategies and insights into easy reach for potential buyers, Tapia observed. “What we are really trying to do is make really sure we have the right property for the right buyer, that we provide information about next steps to ensure we really qualify them and get them into contracts and closing, and that they have a seamless and really great experience to keep them coming back for more.”
She continued, noting that higher volumes of buyers are inherently good for ServiceLink’s investor clients as well. “The added competition is great news, as [servicers] receive a higher yield, and with properties selling faster, there is also less of a risk that property damage will occur as [an asset] sits on the market,” Tapia said. She concluded, “It is important to understand the state of the local market — down to the ZIP code — and stay up to date on changes underway to stay ahead of the current trends.
Learn more about ServiceLink’s auction services and access timely market reports and insights at ServiceLink.com.
View available properties and learn how to access real estate auctions at ServiceLinkAuction.com.
