American Home Mortgage Holdings Reaches a Multi-year Agreement With Microsoft; Two Industry Leaders Team Up to Provide Special Offering to MSN Online Customers

Business Wire, Sept 18, 2001

Business & Real Estate Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 2001

American Home Mortgage Holdings, Inc. announced today that it has signed an exclusive, multi-year agreement with Microsoft Corp. in which American Home's MortgageSelect.com division will become the only integrated mortgage provider on the MSN(R) HomeAdvisor(TM) online home and real estate guide.

Ranked the top home-buying site four times in a row by Gomez Inc., MSN HomeAdvisor will feature MortgageSelect.com's loan products and tools for its millions of prospective home buyers each month.

The alliance brings together the award-winning MSN HomeAdvisor site and large audience base with MortgageSelect.com's extensive offering of mortgage-lending services. American Home Mortgage has created one of the nation's top online loan origination Web sites, MortgageSelect.com. MortgageSelect.com's online mortgage service offers consumers the industry's most competitive rates, the largest selection of loan products on the Internet, and personal loan consultants to assist users throughout the mortgage process.

"MortgageSelect.com brings a solid track record of providing customers with the guaranteed lowest rates and personalized service, and will provide our users with a seamless and stress-free mortgage experience," said Ian Morris, Product Unit Manager for MSN HomeAdvisor. "This alliance extends the offerings on HomeAdvisor to provide consumers with tools and guidance for navigating the mortgage process, and further solidifies our standing as the Web's leading home and real estate guide."

Through MortgageSelect.com's offering, users of MSN HomeAdvisor will be able to apply for a loan, use decision-making tools, check the status of a loan, save on products and services for the home, request a credit report, and track interest rates, among many other valuable time-saving tools. MSN customers are also guaranteed the lowest mortgage rates online, backed by MortgageSelect.com's $250 money-back guarantee. (See (http://www.mortgageselect.com/lowestrate.asp?referrer=162) for guarantee details. Some restrictions apply.)

"We are very excited about our partnership with MSN HomeAdvisor, and believe it is a perfect synergy with our corporate goals and consumer initiatives." said Donald Henig, Executive Vice President of new sales channels for MortgageSelect.com. "While the deal allows American Home Mortgage the benefit of working with a recognized market leader, gaining increased reach and access to homebuyers and homeowners, it also provides MSN HomeAdvisor users with the kind of superlative, personal, consultative service that's been the hallmark of our online business. It's a win-win for our company as well as the consumer."

About MSN HomeAdvisor

MSN HomeAdvisor is the Internet's most complete guide for finding everything about the home. With fully integrated content and services ranging from improving and maintaining to buying and financing a home, HomeAdvisor is one of the most trusted names in the online real estate category. Named Best Online Home-Buying Site on the Web by Gomez Inc. in its past four consecutive Internet Home-Buying Scorecards, HomeAdvisor was also named Best Overall Home-Buying Site by Yahoo! Internet Life, and is a PC Magazine Top 100 Web site and a Family PC Web Site of the Month. Part of the MSN network of Internet services, HomeAdvisor can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.homeadvisor.com/.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software -- any time, any place and on any device.

About MortgageSelect.com

MortgageSelect.com is the Internet division of American Home Mortgage Corp. Launched in 1999, MortgageSelect.com continues to lead the industry in online technology and service. MortgageSelect.com acquires customers on a variable cost model through private labeling, co-branding partnerships and over 3,000 affiliates. MortgageSelect.com supports three call centers located on both coasts and is currently ranked as one of the top Internet mortgage lenders by National Mortgage News.

About American Home Mortgage

American Home Mortgage Holdings (Nasdaq "AHMH") is a leading independent retail originator of residential mortgage loans both online and offline. Its online operation, MortgageSelect.com is a leader in online closed loan volume, and has outperformed its online competitors in terms of profitability. Offline, the Company has grown organically and by acquisition and now has 55 community loan offices across the country. For additional information please visit the Company's Website at www.mortgageselect.com.

Microsoft, MSN and HomeAdvisor are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.