She urges young brokers to stop the ‘microwave approval’ and follow her advice for building trust
With everyone having access to AI search engines wherever they go, applications like ChatGPT have become the go-to expert for a wide range of questions. Even though we know the answers aren’t always reliable, it often becomes the first resource for people.
This is also true for mortgage brokers. And while this can be useful if your brokerage has built out its own AI search that includes all of the company’s resource materials, if it is just a general web search by AI, that might lead you down the wrong road, according to one industry veteran.
Tanya Blanchard (pictured top) of Madison Chase Academy has spent over 20 years in the industry, serving as a broker and consultant. She is speaking at the upcoming Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) Fuse event in Nashville, where she looks to share her knowledge with brokers.
She has strong feelings about brokers who race to web-based AI search engines to find answers. Before discussing those feelings, she said the first thing brokers need to focus on before searching for answers is taking a thorough application.
“Take a good application,” Blanchard told Mortgage Professional America. “That's at the beginning, so just think of what could be avoided if that person took a full, thorough application. You could say to a client, ‘Did you have a foreclosure? And the client fills out the application. And then the next thing you know, they had a foreclosure.”
Not asking questions
Blanchard notes that many problems can be prevented by taking a thorough application. She said it’s more than just writing down what the borrower tells you. It is also verifying what they’re telling you.
“You took their word for it with their jobs, and then they find out they were on leave for six months,” Blanchard said. “They weren't there, and they just skewed their dates. You said you would get to it later. You had enough to pull credit, and you didn't go two years back to see that there was a gap.”
She said brokers must take it upon themselves to ensure the application is as accurate as possible. Coming back later and claiming that you didn’t know the information was wrong is not going to sit well with your underwriter.
“Here's the thing, you're the professional,” she said. “People trust you. You can't say, 'Oh my goodness, I didn't know,' but you took the application. You didn't dig deeper. You didn't ask the questions. You didn't look at the W2 to match. You didn't just say, ‘Oh, there’s 2023 and 2024 W2s.’ You didn't notice that ‘23 only had $23,000 in income, and ‘24 had $98,000.”
No ‘microwave’ approvals
Once a broker takes a good application, she said, the next area where brokers need to focus is on loan products and guidelines. Blanchard said it is crucial to thoroughly understand the guidelines for the specific loan product you are using.
“What's missing is people understanding guidelines,” she said. “Whether someone makes $90,000 a year, and part of that $90,000 is a bonus, and you didn't know that to count that bonus, they have to have been receiving it for two years. Guidelines are very important, and loan products are very important.
“I feel like when people come in, it's just FHA and conventional. But they don't give you all the caveats for FHA and conventional. Here’s one: look at your bank statement. People don't know that if you have more than two NSF, most likely your loan is going to get denied. People don't realize that.”
Blanchard is concerned that the first place new loan officers go to look for answers is web-based AI search programs. She said that is one of the biggest mistakes new originators can make.
“Do not use ChatGPT as your guideline,” she said. “A lot of companies have their own ChatGPT, but they put all their guidelines in it. I'm talking about Google. ChatGPT is not Fannie and Freddie. Know where to get the answer for your guidelines. That's not always a person. Be able to look at the HUD handbook yourself. If the underwriter says something about income, that you can't use it, and you know you could, go into the HUD handbook.”
Build a rock-solid mortgage team with consistency and “SWET”
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Irene Duford of Loan Team Training—veteran coach to top originators—breaks down her three-step hiring playbook at AIME Fuse.https://t.co/FafYiOJie1
All of those AI searches are in the name of finding an answer as quickly as possible, rather than ensuring the right answer is found. Finding that right answer might take a little longer, but Blanchard reminds originators that being right is what will build trust with your customers, not finding it the fastest.
“Let's stop the microwave approval,” Blanchard said. “Let’s put it on the gas stove. Because the more thorough you are in the beginning, and the more guidelines you know, the more powerful you're going to be, and the more production you're going to have. Most importantly, the more clients and families you can put in their homes. Home ownership is still the American Dream.”
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