Are Low Home Inventories Shaking Up the Conventional Mortgage Industry With an Increased Need for Speed?

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The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Outside of Boston in the desirable bedroom town of Melrose, Massachusetts, a 3-bedroom, 1.5-bath home was destroyed so severely in a fire that the real estate company said it needed either a complete renovation or to be torn down.  

The home was listed days later for $399,000. Within a week, the burned-out house was under contract for the asking price. While an extreme example, the demand for new and existing homes, along with a depleted inventory, continues to define the current real estate market.   

The lack of inventory, combined with historically low mortgage rates, can make buyers feel forced to bid more than the asking price and move extremely quickly if the offer is accepted. Unfortunately, this is the case for buyers if they want a home that’s been up for sale for even a few hours. This, coupled with getting all documents prepared for the complex mortgage process, can be daunting and can add to the burnout that some shoppers are experiencing. 

Unless you’re buying a home with cash, getting a mortgage can be a lengthy process. According to Ellie Mae Inc., the average closing time on a mortgage is 45 days. Many lenders, including traditional mortgage loan companies, are moving to more digital means to make their processes quicker because of increased demand by customers wanting the process sped up. Lenders realize they need to cut closing times drastically to be more competitive. 

Enter Rocket Mortgage, America’s largest mortgage lender based on Rocket Mortgage data in comparison to public data records and a part of Rocket Companies RKT. Rocket was the first company to move the entire mortgage experience online and, as the name suggests, with great speed. Rocket, which began in 1985 as Quicken Loans, rebranded to align its marketing image with its mission: to make it easier for people to get a mortgage with innovative technology and amazing team members. As an added bonus,“easier” for Rocket also means, in most cases, quicker. Rocket has been focused on constantly improving the mortgage process by using technology to remove friction for buyers so they can move through the process quickly and with peace of mind.

Rocket’s process is built on speed and is entirely digital, removing the need for in-person meetings and physical document delivery. In the real estate environment today where a quick mortgage turnaround is vital, Rocket’s online application process can take as little as 8 minutes for approval.  Customers can also set their own time and place for closing. 

In more than half of U.S. states, you can even have your closing documents notarized remotely via videoconference. Amrock, the title and closing services provider that is part of Rocket Companies, is the largest provider of electronic closings (eClosings) having finished the mortgage process digitally more than a million times.

Mortgage lending stayed relatively healthy in 2021, even with the pandemic, and may continue to prosper in 2022. However, successfully catering to changing needs of millennial customers, in particular, might require a digital transformation of the mortgage chain and a continued need for speed. 

For more information on Rocket Companies, go to www.rocketcompanies.com. 

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.