AUSTIN, Texas—Credit unions should make sure that the property report is not slowing down the lending process, causing loans to be lost to other financial institutions, says FirstClose.
Tim Smith, co-founder and president of FirstClose, insists that the property report is long overdue for an upgrade.
“Credit union lenders, like everyone in today’s world, want immediate results,” said Smith. “They want property information delivered to them instantly in order to get money into the borrower’s hands as fast as possible. In turn, the borrower wants to know immediately when they’re approved, when they can close and when they will be receiving their money.”
As many credit unions know, there is a direct correlation between the time it takes the borrower to receive their money and the chance the lender has to close the loan, said Smith.
“The longer the money is sitting, the higher the probability that the borrower will choose to go through another lender,” he said. “In short, credit unions must invest in instant property report technology in order to shorten the turn time in fulfilling loans and keep their happy borrowers coming back.”
Definition of Report
An instant property report refers to a method of using instantaneous data to determine key information that credit union lenders need in order to make a loan. Traditionally, lenders are expected to consider all information surrounding the property before making a loan, including value, flood zone status, owners, and whether or not there was any current interest on it, explained Smith.
“They would typically pay a third party to complete research on each property, including appraisal of the property, reading county records and obtaining deed history,” explained Smith. “Instead of that approach, which obviously requires a considerable amount of money and can take over a week to complete, credit unions should implement software that takes care of this entire process on their behalf, and provides all the information they need through one source.”
‘Consider Upgrading’
An instant property report provides property value, ownership information, liens, tax status, judgements and more in real time. It instantly collects data from various sources and provides the information to the lender in a comprehensive package, allowing them to get the money to the borrower much faster, said Smith.
“Implementing software that enables instant property reporting ensures that credit union lenders remain competitive, satisfy their borrowers and save valuable time, money and resources,” said Smith. “As credit unions look for the best areas in which to invest, they should consider upgrading their mortgage processes with instant property reports.”