Why use marketing rates?
Build trust
Show borrowers real rates upfront, not estimates or ranges, building
confidence in your offerings.
Competitive positioning
Compare your rates against APOR to highlight your competitive advantage.
Lead generation
Attract qualified borrowers by showcasing competitive rates before they
apply.
Real-time accuracy
Rates update with market conditions, ensuring your displayed rates are
current and accurate.
Understanding APOR
The Average Prime Offer Rate (APOR) is a benchmark rate published by the Federal Reserve that represents the average rate offered to prime borrowers. By comparing your rates to APOR, you can:- Demonstrate competitive pricing
- Show value to creditworthy borrowers
- Build trust through transparency
- Differentiate from competitors
APOR is updated weekly by the Federal Reserve. Pylon’s marketing rates use
live, real-time rates that may be more competitive than APOR for qualified
borrowers.
Basic usage
The marketing rates endpoint is a public GraphQL query that doesn’t require authentication, making it perfect for public-facing rate displays:Required input fields
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
ltv | Float! | Loan-to-value ratio (e.g., 0.8 for 80% LTV) |
fipsCountyCode | String! | Five-digit FIPS county code for the property location |
loanAmount | NonNegativeInt! | Loan amount in dollars |
Optional input fields
| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
loanTermYears | Float! | 30 | Loan term in years |
qualifyingFicoScore | Int | null | FICO score for rate qualification |
rateLockDays | Float! | 30 | Number of days to lock the rate |
maxDiscountPointsTotal | Float | 0 | Maximum discount points (up to 3) |
Response
Product types
Marketing rates are available for multiple product types:Conforming loans
Standard conforming loans eligible for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:Jumbo loans
Jumbo loans that exceed conforming loan limits:FHA loans
FHA-insured loans:Custom products
Query rates for custom product configurations:Multiple scenarios
You can query rates for multiple scenarios in a single request:Polling frequency
Recommended polling strategy:- Minimum: Twice daily (morning and afternoon)
- Optimal: Every 2-4 hours during market hours (9 AM - 4 PM ET)
- Maximum: Every 15-30 minutes (for high-traffic sites)
While rates can change frequently, avoid polling more than once every 15
minutes to minimize API load. Cache results and update your display on a
reasonable schedule.
Complete example
Here’s a complete example of fetching and displaying marketing rates:Displaying rates with APOR
To demonstrate competitive advantage, fetch APOR data and compare it with your rates:Best practices
- Cache results: Store fetched rates in cache and update on a schedule (e.g., every 2-4 hours) rather than fetching on every page load.
- Handle errors gracefully: If the API is unavailable, show cached rates with a timestamp or a message indicating rates may be outdated.
- Show disclaimers: Include appropriate disclaimers that rates are estimates and actual rates may vary based on complete application.
- Display qualifications: Clearly indicate the credit score and other assumptions used (e.g., “Rates shown for 750 FICO score, 80% LTV”).
- Update during market hours: Prioritize rate updates during market hours (9 AM - 4 PM ET) when rates are most likely to change.
- Compare to APOR: When possible, show APOR alongside your rates to demonstrate competitive advantage.
- Use appropriate scenarios: Display rates for common scenarios (e.g., 20% down, 10% down) that match your target borrower profile.
Error handling
Common scenarios and how to handle them:| Scenario | Handling |
|---|---|
| No rate available | Show “Rate unavailable” or use cached rate with disclaimer |
| API timeout | Fall back to cached rates |
| Invalid county code | Validate FIPS codes before making requests |
| Rate not found for LTV | Adjust LTV or show message that rate unavailable for that scenario |
Related resources
- Pricing Scenarios - Get detailed pricing for specific borrower scenarios
- Prequalification - Determine maximum affordability
- FIPS County Codes - Look up county codes from the FCC