Lenders will have to know much more about who their borrowers are and what they're comfortable with if they are to succeed in today's mortgage environment, according to a report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers [1] (PwC).
Titled, "Beyond the Loan: Lessons from PwC’s 2019 Home Lending Experience Radar," the report shared findings from PwC's interviews with 1,500 recent and prospective homebuyers to help lenders "identify opportunities across all phases of mortgage lending and servicing."
According to the report, 58 percent of recent homebuyers said that they contacted their lender for help on planning and budgeting for the home purchase, giving an opportunity to lenders to position themselves as "the trusted advisor for the end-to-end homebuying process."
Another area that lenders could potentially improve on, according to the report, was relationship building to increase customer satisfaction. PwC found that 52 percent of the buyers who had received a check-in call from their lender after a loan closing were very likely to reuse their lender. On the other hand, only 23 percent of the buyers who had not received such a call after the loan closing were likely to reuse that lender's services.
It also found that tech companies were increasingly becoming potential competitors with 42 percent of recent and prospective homebuyers saying that they were "potential supporters of having technology companies as mortgage providers."
The report suggested that lenders could be ready for new competition by layering in predictive analytics to their offering to be ready with the perfect product at the right time, "even before the borrowers know that they are interested."
Additionally, it found that more than half the respondents in the 18-34 years age-group were open to using technology like voice assistants as part of the mortgage process. However, the openness to use these technologies diminished later in the loan process, where consumers preferred to use more traditional channels such as phone and in-person support.
The report also pointed out that lenders must invest in line with their strategic planning, which in turn should be made keeping in mind that mortgage lending firms must think beyond the loan for sustained success.
Click here [2] to read the full report.