Doug Johnson serves as the chief financial officer of two hospitals in the Wisconsin-Minnesota border area but doesn’t consider himself to be especially tech-savvy.
Nevertheless, he was able to complete the entire mortgage-application process for an Arizona vacation home that he and his wife wanted to buy, entirely online. That included shopping for interest rates and terms, inputting personal information and uploading the required supporting documents, including copies of income-tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements and more.
“It went without a hitch,” said Johnson, 47, who admits he was initially concerned about online security. “If you have access to the Internet and a cheap scanner, that’s all you need.”
Johnson did the mortgage-application process through Guaranteed Rate, a national residential mortgage lender based in Chicago. The company’s software guides applicants through the loan-shopping exercise and lets them input personal data, see their credit scores, upload key documents through a private and secure system and receive online approval. Applicants going through the company’s all-digital route currently can qualify for a $250 credit on closing costs.
Guaranteed Rate claims it has the first all-digital mortgage, but many competitors also are going in the same direction, letting customers apply for mortgages, process much of the paperwork and do related tasks day or night, using a desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.
No longer such a slog
Applying for a mortgage and supplying supporting documents — traditionally one of the most time-consuming, paperwork-intensive and frustrating financial exercises around — increasingly is being automated. That means applicants will find the process easier, faster and, possibly, less expensive than before.
Americans already have embraced online interactions for other financial products and services. They pay bills online, check credit card transactions, buy and sell stocks, adjust 401(k) balances and pull up their credit reports. The vast majority of taxpayers file their tax returns online.
Five years from now, digital applications and document submission for home loans might be just as prevalent, though it isn’t quite there yet.
“It’s not as widespread as you might think,” said Rick Hill, vice president of industry technology for the Mortgage Bankers Association. Many people still prefer to meet face to face with a loan officer, especially first-time home buyers.
read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2015/08/14/digital-breakthroughs-improve-home-mortgage-process/31182619/
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