Digital Mortgage Trends for 2017

It’s been a little over a year since the term “Digital Mortgage” started making its rounds in the industry. It’s safe to say 2016 was the year lenders across the country started asking themselves what it would mean to have the ability to offer a completely digital loan process to customers.

With 2017 already here, let’s take a look at a handful of Digital Mortgage trends that we predict will take the spotlight. This helps to plan ahead appropriately when predicting how these trends will evolve in 2017.

Borrower Experience Will Reign

For decades, borrowers had to accept the fact that the loan process was complex. While other industries adapted digital capabilities earlier in their life cycle, the mortgage industry failed to adapt to the potential of these changes. But as we see 2017 as the next stop ahead in our journey, it’s important to realize that customer experience will determine who comes out on top.

Because potential customers have choices when it comes to choosing a lender (and the list of choices is growing), we predict 2017 to be the year of realization for borrowers. And our advice to lenders is to be ready for your customer with a loan process that adapts to their needs. It’s no longer a matter of “digital strategy” vs. “strategy.” Taking care of the customer experience is a process that moves between all channels. This is especially true when considering customers view the overall experience with you as a lender, no matter what device they’re on.

Mobile Experience

There’s no doubt that a seamless mobile experience is mandatory to stay competitive. According to the Consumer and Mobile Financial Services 2016 report, 87% of adults use mobile devices and nearly half of those adults use mobile to access banking services. 2017 will be the year that proves if you’re not taking mobile optimization into account, you’re going to get left behind.

Think about your experience with accessing content on a mobile device. How patient are you with a negative mobile experience today vs. a few years back? Chances are, you’ll click out and move on if the experience isn’t up to par. Offering essential loan documents such as the 1003 Form in a mobile environment will prove to be vital as an increasing number of consumers take advantage of the digital mortgage age.

Millennial Market

Millennials are further proof that your mobile experience needs to be seamless. Millennials have grown up in the digital age and expect lenders to engage with them in the digital world. Purchasing power for millennials is at an all time high. All this is to say that your digital game must be strong.

Millennials are less patient than past generations when it comes to a digital experience. If something doesn’t feel right, or they know a competitor can get it done easier, they’ll move on. We expect the entire industry to take a step back and look at their loan process through the eyes of a Millennial. Finding the pain points will be key when improving your loan process flow to fit the needs of this generation.

Cost Efficiency

In a highly competitive market such as this, cost efficiency plays a large role in lender and borrower decisions. Digital processes beat paper in every contest. Not only do these cost savings move through big players in the industry, they can ultimately end up in the hands of your customer.

There are also a number of risks avoided from implementing cost-saving technologies. For example, these technologies can ensure documents have been executed correctly and avoid the risk of repurchase. The money saved can also be invested in further improving your compliance, training, or quality control processes. In 2017, many lenders will open their eyes to the win-win situation here.

Larger Players Will Acquire Smaller Competitors

One trend that emerged in 2016 that will continue to evolve in 2017 is the rise of mergers and acquisitions. In 2016, some of the largest players such as Freedom Mortgage, Caliber Home Loans, and Guild Mortgage all acquired smaller competitors.

The reason for these mergers and acquisitions is the increased cost to originate. While the cost did decrease from Q1 to Q2 in 2016, the cost to originate has increased steadily year over year. While this may sound like scary times for small lenders, it’s really just further proof that they need to invest in cost efficient technologies to stay competitive. There’s still plenty of proof out there that relationships between smaller lenders and borrowers is a key component to beating out the big players.

Direct Data Integration

While automation has been on the forefront of most lenders’ minds, we’re currently at a place where many automation systems live separately from each other. This means that while many pieces work great on their own, the trouble comes when we try to have different pieces communicate.

What we’ll see in 2017 is a focus to offer tools to integrate all the points where customer data can be found. This means integrating with tools to make pulling required information easier for your customer and managing data easier for you. As a lender, it’s absolutely vital you have the ability to integrate with loan origination software, CRM software, and review sites.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a crystal ball we could look into? We could look into 2017 with complete certainty and confidence. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality we live in. While we can be certain the above trends will play some sort of role in 2017, we can also be certain that the ability to adapt to the changing industry will be just as important to stay competitive.

As we piece together the digital experience, let’s reflect on some of LHP’S 2016 featured introductions to the Mortgage Industry:

The launch of the version 2.0 of SmartApp1003  took the industry by storm.  Highly intuitive features with customization capabilities and seamless integration with top LOS providers, SmartApp 1003 is among the top online 1003 applications available on the market today!

In addition to our  SmartApp 1003,  we also introduced our Secure Document Management. A perfect marriage occurred when these two platforms communicated.  Now, not only can your borrower complete his/her 1003 online or through a mobile device, but additionally, they can securely upload each condition directly to your dashboard. Real time notifications keep your processes moving, saving you time, paper and unnecessary steps in your on-boarding process!

Anything you’d like to add to this list? Which trends will affect you the most? At LenderHomePage.com, we welcome the discussion of what 2017 will bring and why we’re ready to help you embrace the New Year.

2016 has launched us into a new phase of the digital mortgage revolution as a leader and solution provider to hundreds of large Banks and thousands of Mortgage and Real Estate Professionals. With so much traction in 2016, we are excited to welcome 2017 with continued efforts to improve, solve and make seamless the transition from paper-intensive to paperless mortgage transactions.

LenderHomePage.com is the proven and trusted Digital Mortgage Solution for the Industry.  Our well developed and highly sophisticated programming is based on years and years of testing setting us apart from the rest! We have mastered the layers, tested, perfected and released the most Robust, user-friendly platform for all your Mortgage Marketing needs!

Questions??  Call one of our specialists at: (888) 377-1265.