Experts on how AI makes a difference in the mortgage process

Today’s HousingWire Daily features a roundtable discussion on “Humans versus really smart machines” and what the right mix looks like to gain efficiencies in the mortgage loan manufacturing process.

During this conversation, Chris Gassel, sales consultant at LBA Ware, and Joe Camerieri, executive vice president at Mortgage Cadence, also define what part of AI makes a difference in the mortgage process. Gassel and Camerieri go on to explain what companies should consider as they look to automate their processes.

Here’s a short preview of the discussion, lightly edited for concision and clarity:

Alcynna Lloyd: What does research show as far as where consumers want and need human touchpoints in the loan origination process?

Joe Camerieri: Yes, that’s a big question. You know, we’re probably the only lending segment that has very defined rules. Because of this, we use technology to manage data and processes around these set of rules. So arguably, today, the percentage of the market that is vanilla agency business is well into 70%, meaning there’s enough technology with great thought and workflow to really eliminate humans out of the entire process. However, you could also say, “oh, well, that’s a bold statement and the outcome is not happening,” and that’s because there are so many blockers. Number one, you need a consumer who is willing, after putting down USA Today and reading about the latest data breach, to log into a system based on a person they just met and put in their username and password to all of their bank accounts. That doesn’t happen often, right? You also need a loan officer who embraces all the tools. This is difficult as the average loan officer is 58 and a half years old, and the concept of “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is true, right? Lastly, lenders and financial institutions are always very slow and resistant to new tech because of all the due diligence. That being said, while mortgage bankers are far more engaged, they may resist as they question if they really want to invest in tech and eliminate staff, which is difficult because in good old fashioned mortgage banking, they operate like a family, and letting people go is not something they like or want to do. So, there’s the emotional resistance, there’s a consumer resistance, and there’s ageism, and all of this is creating blockers for technology.

HousingWire Daily examines the most compelling articles reported across HW Media. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsrooms that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd and Elissa Branch.