Feedback: Mortgage Application Idea

[Chris Mason]

I (lender) recently switched firms to one that has a pretty nifty toolset that I did not previously have available to me.

One of them is a system to track paperwork submitted and loan progress. I can set milestones and mark when they are achieved, so the homebuyer knows what is going on as transparently as possible.

With the milestones, part of me went to video games. "Achievement Unlocked: Saved 1 Princess!" and "Achievement Unlocked: Killed 5 Bad Guys!" and that sort of thing.

Part of the toolset is the ability to name and set milestones Achievements. As one goes through the process of buying a home, one will get text and email notifications as they are reached. By default, there are like 4 of them.

I'm kind of thinking I want to do like 30, so the homebuyer gets some tangible recognition of each hurdle overcome. The current process is a bit of a pain with little reward until the end, I kind of think that it would be nice to recognize leaping some of the many hurdles we are currently required to set out.

This is a really rough draft, but as a bunch of people who have previously gotten mortgages I wanted the community's feedback on this set of proposed Achievements to Unlock while in the process of buying a property.

Imagine animated giant green check-boxes or thumbs up appearing as you complete each one:

Preapproval Process Started

Asset Package Submitted

Income Package Submitted

Credit Package Submitted

Investment Property Package Submitted

E-consent to e-Disclosures Submitted

LO Preapproval

Underwriter Preapproval

Contract Ratified

E-Disclosures Signed

Asset/Income/Credit Package Updated

Earnest Money Deposit Documented

Appraisal Ordered

Homeowner's Insurance Submitted

Loan Conditionally Approved

Approval Conditions Submitted

Satisfactory Appraisal Rec'd

Final Loan Estimate Signed

Closing Disclosure Signed

Cleared to Close

Docs in Title

Cash-to-Close Sent to Title

Funding Conditions Submitted

Loan Funded

American Dream Unlocked

I know that they aren't in the order that might be preferred by the consumer ("why can't I just do those first 10 all in a single setting?"), but deviation from what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau allows cannot be introduced. For example, I can't do the e-Consent until the Credit Package is back because I need the Credit Package to pull credit and get a loan number, and I can't get e-Consent without having assigned a loan number. 

Buyer's agents get updates as the Achievements are accomplished, but not any personal financial details at all. They will mostly just get notifications that amount to "the buyer is doing things to move forward" or "the buyer isn't really doing anything."

I have it intentionally front-loaded so that the homebuyer gets a lot of positive reinforcement early for little but important steps forward, and towards the end each one is a larger (and way more important) step. It's also intended to include a healthy dose of transparency. Even without the Achievements, paperwork can't get lost with this toolset, so it's already a huge step up from what many (most?) experience, but I figure why not add that huge dose of transparency and positive reinforcement as a bonus.

What are your thoughts, oh wise members of BP?