How has the internet helped mortgage lending?

The Internet provides unprecedented speed and access to information. Your loan closes in a matter of days, not weeks. Because of the Internet, ‘‘Google’’ is now a real word. Because of the Internet, it takes just a few seconds to get a question answered. Encyclopedia? Ha! Nothing is as fast and as handy as the World Wide Web, right? Doing things faster and with fewer people keeps costs down and helps to keep rates lower than they otherwise might be.


By providing speed and information to the process. Speed and access to information are the two key reasons mortgage lending is so much easier today than it was just a few short years ago. Consumers now log onto a lender’s Web site and apply online. This does a couple of important things. First, it allows customers to complete applications at their convenience rather than sitting at some loan officer’s desk filling out reams of paper. Honestly, aren’t there just a few things you’d rather be doing than going to a lender’s office and fill out loan applications? Second, by completing the online application you’re also easing the workload for the lender.

It used to be that a customer would complete the loan application, sign it, and pass it on to their lender who would then take that same handwritten application and input it into a computer program. Saving your lender time means they’re (hopefully) spending more time on customer service and less time on mundane paperwork. Lenders also use the Internet daily.

From my desk I can download your loan application from our Web site, review the data, and then use the Internet to submit your loan for approval. Within a few seconds, the approval arrives, and I can then order your credit report, your title report, and your appraisal. All online. Within a few days, your title report is delivered to me electronically, as well as your appraisal, which I can download, print, or forward to you. All this takes about five minutes. Before the Internet those procedures could take hours.