How is mortgage technology improving the landlord experience?
Written by Luke Stevenson
By Sophie Mitchell-Charman, Commercial Director
Learn more about our Buy-to-Let here.
As landlords know, a lot of the innovations from mortgage lenders happen for the benefit of their brokers.
Enhancements that help their communication with underwriters, help simplify the application process and speed up the decision-making process are designed around reducing broker admin.
But how is this changing technology landscape helping the landlord experience and why – especially after a frantic couple of years where a lot of landlords find themselves on unfavourable rates – should they look to technology-enabled lenders as they look to manage their future?
Revolutionising it step-by-step
If we’ve learned anything recently, it is the value of certainty in managing your Buy-to-Lets. A typical process between landlord and broker will be;
- Landlord has a property they want to purchase/refinance
- Broker will search sourcing systems for best headline rate for your requirements
- They’ll also look at specific criteria which can help with any specialist points, such as capital raising, minimum income, first-time landlords etc.
From there, depending on the broker and the lender, it can often feel from a landlord perspective that what happens next happens in the ether, outside of their control. But there are a lot of ways technology is enhancing that process and passing on benefits landlords can feel.
- Fast enquiries, instant decisions
Using a sourcing system for a headline rate is one thing, but brokers and their landlords need to know from the lender if the deal will work in its entirety. This is why tools that enable your broker to enquire with minimal information and get a credit-backed DIP, giving you assurances your lender can meet your needs, are essential developments for making quick decisions.
- Up to date application information
We know how frustrating a process can be when you’ve passed the application, paid a fee, and then things go quiet. Are people working on this? Where are we with underwriting and legals?
At this point, a broker can get caught in the middle between a landlord who deserves updates and a lender working through the complexity of the process. Live updates in one easily accessible portal which give a clear indication of where the lender is at, which a broker can communicate easily, helps calm the stress a landlord may feel.
- Simple Product Transfers
As many remortgaged or purchased in an unfavourable rate environment, the ease with which you can transition into a new product is of paramount importance, especially for those managing larger portfolios.
A system that pulls through data from your original deal, saves on fees and guarantees a quicker, light-touch underwrite will help brokers and landlords alike to think about sticking with their technology-enabled lender and moving on to the right deal for them.
What’s happening in the background
These are the most outward facing benefits to landlords of working with a technology-enabled lender, or at least one that is embracing it as part of its future journey, and plenty more happen on the underwriting end.
Automated searches, integrations with third parties that drive faster, more efficient decision-making, all of this technology is existing to make the landlord experience simple, without them even having to try.