Before the internet came to be, people visited or called multiple banks in a day to find the best mortgage lender. They did this with no guarantee that they’d meet their best match. Suffice to say, they spent an unnecessary amount of time searching for a good lender. In today’s standards, that would be inefficient or even foolish.
Thanks to the internet and smartphones, we can now look up lenders anytime and anywhere. We can also use mortgage calculators to see how much of a loan we can afford. But these days, with AI and automation being the norms, even online mortgage calculators have become close to unreliable.
So how is technology further simplifying and streamlining the mortgage process?
Sophisticated Mortgage Calculators Yielded More Accurate Results
The mortgage calculators mentioned above were the generic type. It uses generic data and broad assumptions, so the results they yield are really nothing more than a guide. For that reason, experienced mortgage brokers offered sophisticated mortgage calculators that help determine the best home loan plan for a specific borrower.
Using AI technology, mortgage brokers were able to do their jobs easier. The technology-assisted them in comparing a borrower’s details against mortgage plans as many as 12,000. Daily market comparisons are performed so that the borrower can receive recommendations based on the latest market conditions.
Lender Technology Made Borrowing More Attractive
The convenience of getting a mortgage should be a two-way street. Both borrowers and lenders must benefit from technology. Hence, tech developers also focused on lender technology. They created user-friendly systems that are more likely to win favor from the public.
An example of such a system is Mortgage Momentum, which was launched by global fintech and payments company Fiserv. Mortgage Momentum was described as an “end-to-end system” that’s designed to improve the lending experience,
The system simplifies the overall process of lending, making borrowing easier for people, and thus generating more business for lenders. Mortgage Momentum also uses machine learning to study the market’s shifting dynamics. Based on the system’s insight, lenders can adjust and tailor their offerings to meet the latest economic and consumer demands.
Mortgage Apps Allowed Borrowers to Pay Off Their Balances Faster
A typical mortgage term is 15 to 30 years long. But people don’t normally live in the same house for such a long period. In fact, according to the United States Census Bureau, the average person in the U.S. moves 11.7 times in their life.
What if your mortgage isn’t fully paid yet when you move? That’s not usually a problem; people under a mortgage contract are still allowed to relocate and sell their homes. But if you’ve been paying off your mortgage for over 10 years already, it can be hard to keep track of your remaining balance.
But you don’t have to make guesses or compute manually to find out any more. Mortgage apps will help you determine how much more is your debt. The apps can also estimate how long it will take you to gain the amount of equity you’re aiming for. Home equity is another type of mortgage, also known as a second mortgage. It’s a mortgage plan that lets you borrow against your equity, which is the value of your home that you’ve already paid.
Apps that help you compute equity are useful when you have plans to sell your home soon. When you’ve already earned enough equity to get a second mortgage, you can use the cash for home improvements, and sell your abode for an increased price in turn. That way, you can pay off your remaining balance right away and transfer the ownership of your home to its buyer.
Some examples of mortgage apps are the following:
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U.S. Mortgage Calculator
This is a free app available for iOS and Android users. It allows you to input multiple payment scenarios and dollar amounts or percentage values. If you’re unsure of the exact amount you should input, the app shows average figures so that you can still get an estimate of your total costs.
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Loan Calculator Pro
This app costs 0.99¢ to download. It lets you calculate the long-term impact of variable extra payments on your loan. For example, if you received a windfall around your 12th monthly payment, you can use the app to predict how much you’d be paying if you can receive the same amount of windfall every year.
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Karl’s Mortgage Calculator
This is also a free app for iOS and Android users. It carries the same functions as Loan Calculator Pro, as well as the ability to reverse calculate your principal, interest rate, or loan length. It also shows you a summary of your loan and supports multiple currencies.
It is because of technology that we could still keep track of our loans during challenging times, such as the pandemic. Technology’s also the reason we could browse different mortgage plans from home. So if you haven’t checked out these apps and sites yet, see now if they’re the solution to your mortgage woes.
