How Digital Tools Transformed My First Homebuying Experience: A Millennial Mortgage Pro’s Story

In true millennial fashion, it was time to buy our dogs a house. 

Like everyone in my peer group, I felt behind, overwhelmed, and terrified to buy my first house…and that’s with having four years of industry experience under my belt. Even when you “know” what the steps are – what you should be doing, that an extra couple thousand dollars down isn’t doing much to your monthly payment, and that you absolutely should not open a new line of credit – it’s still quite scary.

That fear turns into excitement pretty quickly - viewing houses with your Realtor, putting in your first offer, (finally) getting an offer accepted, all the way to receiving the keys to your new home. These were things that I wasn’t taught in high school or college. These were things that without my work experience, I’d quickly turn to social media to learn. 

It starts with getting pre-approved…

I took the right first step and got pre-approved. 

We, the mortgage industry, know the importance of getting pre-approved before starting the home search. The average consumer might only know from your website's 17 different “Get Pre-Approved!” messages. 

After a quick meeting with our LO, my husband and I were off to the races with a QuickQual in hand. In case you’re new here and haven’t heard of QuickQual yet… it’s a tool that allowed my husband and I, the borrowers, along with our Realtor, to run payment scenarios and ultimately generate a pre-approval to submit an offer. 

As someone who has spent the last four years talking about QuickQual with lenders across the country, I thought I knew the true value it provided for borrowers. It wasn’t until I was sitting on my couch determining which of the 500 saved properties we were serious about that I had that “ah-ha!” moment. I felt at ease and prepared when sending listings to our Realtor. I felt the power in our hands and the confidence we promise your borrowers will feel. 

Technology is crucial in today’s mortgage transactions

I’ve certainly emphasized the need for technology not only in a mortgage transaction but in so many other aspects of daily life. Technology is meant to enhance, not replace face-to-face interaction. Sending a text message doesn’t replace your real-life relationships with your friends and family, just like sending a borrower off with a QuickQual or sending automated milestone updates doesn’t replace the loan officer in the mortgage transaction. 

Technology – including point-of-sales, pre-approval tools, verification tools, etc. – all play an important role for today’s homebuyers, especially for the twenty-somethings that are used to online shopping, ApplePay, and UberEats. I can say with 100% certainty that if my lender didn’t have a digital mortgage process, they wouldn’t be my lender.

So lenders across the country, here are my takeaways as a 28-year-old mortgage technology vendor who just purchased my first house: 

1. Technology is so important! It saves time and headaches on all sides and caters to the next generations that inevitably will look for a lender who puts emphasis on a digital-forward experience.
2. Be a trusted source for your borrowers. Your borrowers, especially first-timers, are without a doubt nervous to make what might be the biggest purchase of their lives. Be clear, be patient, and be a resource.
3. If you’re not using social media as a lead source, you’re missing out. Part of the digital experience is being present on social media but that goes far beyond a “Happy Holidays!” post. Use social media to educate the next generation so that when the time comes, they’ll remember you.