- December 24, 2020
- Stanley Chow, Sr Product Marketing Manager
In a year where nearly every industry has suffered major setbacks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, one of the bright spots in the country has been the real estate industry. Record-low mortgage rates, strict stay-at-home orders, and prolonged remote work policies have contributed to a growing demand for bigger home spaces and in turn a boom in homebuying activity. And in a hotly contested market, it’s not just about the money, but also the time. The ability to quickly close a house sale can make a buyer’s offer more attractive. For sellers who are ready to move on, a quick sell is essential. In some cases where an anxious seller has two similarly priced offers on the table, the one with the faster closing time could prove to be a tiebreaker. Naturally, buyers expect their lenders to perform quickly on their home purchase to help them stay competitive in a fierce market.
One of the biggest bottlenecks in the closing process is the underwriting phase along with the sheer amount of client documentation that needs meticulous review and verification. A quick close requires tight cooperation between lenders and clients, but here are a few ways you can greatly accelerate a closing process.
Unify Your Documents
Having your borrower’s W-2s, paystubs, gift letters and numerous other fund-proving documents as soon as possible is one surefire way to speed up the closing process. But depending on your borrower’s situation (self-employed, non-standard income sources, etc.), you may be dealing with a ton of supporting documents. In this case, time can be wasted when you’re fumbling around with multiple files in various file formats during a review. Each file format, whether that’s doc, JPEG, or TIFF requires a specific program to make remarks on and share, leading to an inconsistent and slower review process for your team. Converting your borrower’s documents into a standardized format, such as PDF, gives you one consistent review experience, letting you easily add comments and share with mortgage processors and underwriters for quicker collaboration.
Consolidate and Organize
When dealing with a glut of documentation from your borrower, valuable time can be lost from juggling each file separately. Same goes when exchanging these files with teammates, such as accidently omitting a file. Rather than open and manage individual documents each time you review your borrower’s loan profile, you can save a great deal of time by combining all of them into one singular file for easy viewing and commenting. All documents – from single- to multi-page files – can be neatly organized into one portfolio, complete with bookmarks and notes, so that they’re all just one click away for you and your team.
Sign with eSignatures
When a buyer gets into a contract, it’s time for them to sign loan documents – a lot of them. From the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) to 1-page disclosures, everything requires a signature. But each loan document requiring your borrowers to print, sign, scan, and upload means precious hours, if not days lost waiting to receive a signature. Worse, if your borrower doesn’t have immediate access to a printer or a co-borrower is involved, you’ll be playing an even longer waiting game. This headache can be reduced by having the documents e-signed instead. With electronic signatures, the borrower’s (or co-borrower’s) signing experience amounts to opening a securing link from their desktop, tablet, or mobile and affixing their pre-defined signatures to specified areas of a document. When finished, the document automatically routes back to you to signify completion. Electronic signatures are valued for many reasons, but in this case, their speedy handling of documents allows your borrower to complete signing processes in mere minutes, saving you precious days to close quickly.
How Foxit Can Help
When buyers get into contract, you’re officially on the clock – every step matters. Facilitating the closing process of a home can be greatly sped up with the right digital tool. Foxit PhantomPDF is a user-friendly PDF editing solution to ensure that documents are handled with accuracy and speed. All document review and editing tools are at your fingertips. PhantomPDF can import most file formats and instantly convert them into PDFs, making them easy to edit, mark up, and shared between teams. Better yet, the solution can take all a borrower’s qualifying documents and combine them into a unified portfolio so that no single document ever gets lost in the auditing process. Finally, thanks to its deep integration with leading eSignature platform DocuSign, PhantomPDF allows document signings to be seamless, paperless, and automated, substantially cutting time to contract.
Buying a home is a major milestone in life, but the entire process can also be stress-inducing. As a lender, you have a grand opportunity to deliver excellent service for your hopeful clients. Foxit is dedicated to helping all lenders deliver excellent customer satisfaction with its robust set of solutions. You can find out more about Foxit solutions in lending and other financial services here.