In the rapidly evolving landscape of modern lending, the integration of cutting-edge technology with exceptional customer service has emerged as a paramount strategy for success.

This was the core theme of our recent webinar—“100% Digital, 100% Delight: Prioritizing Customers in the Digital Age.” Hosted by industry experts, the event shed light on the transformative power of eClosing and its impact on the lending experience.

Missed our eClosing webinar? Here's the full recording.

In case you didn’t catch this conversation between Leah Sommerville (Enterprise Solutions Manager at DocMagic), Kurt Neeper (President of Superior Financial Solutions), and Megan Schroeder (Director of Mortgage Loan Operations at Superior), read on for a recap of the takeaways.

Delight In Digital: A Paradigm Shift For eClosing Support

Sommerville, the host of the webinar, opened by emphasizing the significance of blending technology and customer-centric approaches. The objective: providing customers with a seamless and efficient mortgage experience.

With customers expecting nothing less than streamlined processes, digital tools like eClosings have come to the forefront—with the added need for providing considerate eClosing support to all, especially new buyers.

The Pioneering Superior Credit Union

Neeper delved into Superior Credit Union’s history, highlighting their legacy of “firsts.” From starting community charters to owning a title company and real estate brokerage, Superior has consistently been an innovator. Their focus on being the first choice for various financial needs propelled them to set the bar high: they would achieve 100% paperless eClosings, and they would do it from the start.

Although hybrid eClosings and full eClosings are two choices among many lenders can make to fit their needs, Superior Credit Union fully embraced the concept of digital, said Neeper. This decision proved immensely effective in not only speeding up the closing process but also optimizing operational efficiency.

Paving The Way For Better Customer Service

Schroeder also described how Superior approached internal challenges to introducing eClosings. Resistance to change was expected, but as the process became normalized, loan officers and title agents with the organization quickly embraced the experience of using DocMagic’s end-to-end eClosing platform—Total eClose™. The convenience of eClosings was particularly evident in remote online notarization (RON) closings, which enable all parties to attend closings virtually.

Faster, Smoother, And More Convenient eClosings

Electronic closings provided Superior customers and partners with newfound convenience, said Schroeder. Both experts noted that eClosings contributed to several ongoing benefits at Superior:

• Customers can choose to close remotely from their preferred location or opt for an in-person experience, using iPads provided by Superior for a digital workflow either way. The process, regardless of the customer's choice, is significantly streamlined, often reducing the closing time by up to 66%.
• eClosings empower customers by giving them the option to review documents in advance. The customers receive a link to the documents, allowing them to familiarize themselves with the details before the closing day.
• eClosings have often prevented closing delays, with customers being able to participate remotely in unexpected situations, ensuring smoother transactions.
• eClosings have boosted operational efficiency, enabling loan officers to attend more closings from their desks and enhancing their availability.
• Real estate agents and referral partners have responded enthusiastically since they can now attend multiple closings simultaneously without logistical constraints. This real-time engagement with clients has strengthened relationships and solidified partnerships.

Championing eClosing For Faster, More Efficient Mortgage Lending

The webinar concluded with both experts emphasizing the significance of champions within organizations—individuals who spearhead the eClosing adoption process.

The mortgage industry’s transformation through eClosings is a testament to the power of embracing technology. The journey to fully digitized mortgage closings pays off in increased efficiency, cost savings and enhanced customer relationships.

As the mortgage landscape continues to evolve, eClosings will remain a cornerstone of innovation and progress. For more information, watch the full webinar recording here. 

Related Content:

• Compliant IRS transcript requests: Adapting to changes in form 4506-C (8/17/2023)
• DocMagic’s print fulfillment services continue to advance (8/07/2023)

• MPA honors Leah Sommerville of DocMagic with 2023 Elite Women Award (7/20/2023)

As the leader in fully-compliant loan document generation and comprehensive eMortgage services, today, we’re proud to announce the integration of our leading-edge Total eClose™ platform with Finastra's MortgagebotLOS solution, enabling an enhanced customer experience for mortgage borrowers.

Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic, said, "We've demonstrated the power of Total eClose through our integration with Finastra's MortgagebotLOS, creating an innovative automation tool for every eClosing originated through the solution. This collaboration not only saves time and effort, but also amplifies secondary market potential, eliminates laborious manual tasks, slashes cost per loan, and streamlines the closing process."

About Mortgagebot And Total eClose Together

Through this integration, Finastra MortgagebotLOS lenders gain access to DocMagic's comprehensive suite of eClosing tools for all loans. Powered by a robust, bi-directional document flow, the tracking in MortgagebotLOS can connect instantly to DocMagic’s Total eClose.

This seamless integration combines comprehensive eClosing technology with data-driven origination workflow automation that generates compliant loan documents, facilitates borrower eSignatures, and enables remote online notarizations (RON). Additionally, Total eClose empowers Finastra users to effortlessly generate eNotes, establish direct connections with the MERS eRegistry, and securely store documents in a certified eVault.

Why integrate mortgage LOS systems with eClosing systems?

"The integration of Total eClose into MortgagebotLOS offers new tools to enhance the customer experience," said MaryKay Theriault, director of product management at Finastra. "We're thrilled to offer our clients the efficiencies and conveniences that this partnership brings. Together, we're setting new industry standards and making the mortgage closing process easier and more streamlined for borrowers across the United States."

Finastra’s MortgagebotLOS is a feature-rich, end-to-end, web-based mortgage lending platform that supports retail, wholesale, and correspondent business channels. Widely recognized for streamlining the origination process and reducing operating costs, MortgagebotLOS is trusted by over 1,400 clients nationwide to accelerate mortgage lending.

In addition, DocMagic's highly acclaimed Total eClose solution has evolved the mortgage closing process by providing a secure, streamlined, and fully paperless digital environment delivered as an all-in-one application. The system automates essential tasks, from document generation to eClosing and eNotarization, ensuring a superior user experience for borrowers and other participants.

For DocMagic and Finastra customers, these two revolutionary products are now stronger together. This integration is just one step toward our mission to revolutionize the mortgage industry through powerful digital products.

Related Content:

• MISMO seeks comments on VA form & David Garrett speaks on MISMO (6/22/2023)
• CEO Dominic Iannitti’s Best of Finance win spotlights the best mortgage and finance solutions (6/08/23)

• The competitive advantage of eNote technology (5/25/2023)

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO)—the forerunning body deciding on operational standards for the real estate industry—is in the midst of a public comment stage for a new standard to be released involving a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loan form. This stage is an essential part of MISMO’s goal to increase consensus within the mortgage industry.

Although following MISMO standards is voluntary, it has the potential to help lenders cut processing costs, increase transparency and pass savings to their borrowers. 

We’re familiar with MISMO’s deep involvement in the mortgage industry because of our working relationship with MISMO’s groups dedicated to standard development, also called “communities of practice” (CoP). In fact, DocMagic’s own Integration Services Manager, David Garrett, is currently a vice chair of the MISMO Origination CoP and regularly meets with other mortgage experts to develop clear standards for mortgage origination.

Overall, MISMO standards are essential to a functioning real estate economy, and their current call for public comment is a testament to the organization’s dedication to efficiency in homebuying.

How MISMO Mortgage Standards Are Developed And Used

To offer some background on MISMO standards and why they’re created, we spoke to David about the importance of these efforts and his role in a MISMO CoP.

1. What are MISMO mortgage standards?

First, a definition: MISMO mortgage standards are specifications that can be followed voluntarily by technology providers, lenders, and other mortgage organizations as they build technology and create their own data-sharing policies.

These specifications are essential for transferring accurate mortgage-related data between various trading partners, such as lenders, GSEs, document providers and servicers.

2. Why are MISMO standards created?

MISMO mortgage standards are created so that different vendors’ platforms work together and speak the same operational language. MISMO’s ultimate goal is interoperability: cohesion within the mortgage space; cohesion while transferring data between borrowers, lenders and GSEs; and cohesion between the vendors that support the industry.

David describes perfect MISMO standard adherence as a point at which everyone shares the same basic structures and data naming conventions. If one lender sends a "loan amount," another sends a "base loan amount," and yet another sends an "original loan amount," but they're really all the same thing, it would be less confusing for all parties to agree on calling the same data point a “loan amount.”

3. What are CoPs, and what do they do?

MISMO CoPs and committee members play a significant role in shaping new standards and offering recommended approaches for important initiatives. These initiatives could include origination technologies, remote online notarizations, digital mortgages, closing instructions, blockchain technology, and various other areas.

For example: the Origination CoP, of which David is a member, focuses specifically on the entire origination process and the main subcategories within it of underwriting, application, and closing.

4. How are standards used?

Adherence to these standards is, for the most part, voluntary. But lenders can take note of which vendors and partners are MISMO-compliant to ensure that the data from (or inside) one platform will always work with another (DocMagic’s Total eClose platform, for example, generates a MISMO Category 1 SMART Doc eNote that is 100% MISMO-compliant).

Most importantly, this type of standard is essential for technology vendors, lenders and mortgage professionals to follow so they can provide the most accurate and efficient homebuying process to borrowers across the nation.

The Ongoing MISMO Request For Public Comment

The current public comment phase is a perfect time to see MISMO standardization in action. As of today, MISMO is in the midst of a call for public comment on a new dataset created for the information that goes in the VA Verification of Benefits form (Form 26-8937).

MISMO members worked with the VA to develop this valuable standard for relaying the information on this form so that borrowers involved with the VA can enjoy a convenient homebuying process.

Organizations that could have intellectual property tied to this form or this dataset are encouraged to contact MISMO. Interested parties have a 30-day period, ending on July 6, 2023, to provide comments and disclose any relevant patent rights using info@mismo.org.

About MISMO As An Organization

Many regulators, housing agencies and GSEs require organizations to abide by MISMO standards. This creates standardization and efficiency throughout the national mortgage industry.

MISMO fosters extensive collaboration within the industry to establish standards that effectively address the most challenging business problems in housing finance, leading to cost reductions, enhanced transparency and improved overall efficiency.

And best of all, MISMO welcomes all participants to become members, including lenders, banks, credit unions, servicers, third-party vendors, software companies and individuals. In the end, MISMO takes an open approach to sharing knowledge and standards so that the mortgage industry as a whole can benefit and grow.

Related Content:

• CEO Dominic Iannitti’s Best of Finance win spotlights the best mortgage and finance solutions (6/08/23)
• The competitive advantage of eNote technology (5/25/2023)
• Ask the eClosing Team: How do I get started with eClosing? (5/11/2023)

Welcome to Ask the eClosing Team, an ongoing series where DocMagic’s eClosing pros tackle real questions that we’re hearing from lenders. These responses are from the second half of a recent interview with eClosing Team member Leah Sommerville.

Recently, we reported that Leah Sommerville, DocMagic’s Sr. eServices Account Exec, sat down with American Business Media at the 2023 New England Mortgage Expo. You can still watch the full interview here.

Get Started With eClosing

Leah shared some crucial tips about how to get started with eClosing, for those lenders who are ready to adopt digital mortgage strategies but need additional guidance. Read more below.

What do lenders and Originators need to know to get started with eClosing?

eClosing isn’t one size fits all, it’s also not an “all or nothing” effort. With DocMagic, you have the flexibility to decide which version of eClosing will be provided on every loan. Lenders often choose to implement eClosing in phases. We can help you to go live with eClosings that include eSignatures and eNotarization within a couple of days.

When you’ve made the decision and are ready to implement eNotes (expediting funding by an average of 70%), we will help you set up our certified eVault and guide you through the MERS® eRegistry process (as required for eNotes). But our job doesn’t stop there—DocMagic’s dedicated team of eClose experts help to tailor your workflows specifically for successful adoption, agility, efficiency, cost savings and, ultimately, to close loans faster, offering an intuitive and modern experience for everyone involved.

Are all loans good candidates for eClosing?

It’s important to select the best version of eClosing for every loan and borrower. We’re making it as easy as possible by giving users a clear-cut and accurate determination of how “e” they can be on a specific loan. This e-Eligibility audit, provided by DocMagic’s eDecision™ tool, confirms if the loan can include an eNotarization (based on legislation in the property’s state and eRecording availability in the property’s recording jurisdiction) and an eNote.

Then our end-to-end eClose platform allows you to streamline entire closing workflows for completely digital eMortgages (eSign, eNote, eNotary), while also providing the flexibility to select on-demand digital solutions as required for Hybrid eClosings, which involve various combinations of eSigned and wet-signed closing documents.

In the interview, Leah was also asked what she sees as the next step in automating the process for originators. She says that currently, more lenders likely embrace hybrid eClosings, where they paper out the note or the mortgage along with any other documents that require notarization. So what’s next? 100% electronic eClosing, she replied.

Once lenders understand what’s possible, they will begin to transition more and more of their closings to a digital format. After all, Leah noted, eSigning is legal in all U.S. states and eNotarization is legal in most states. The vast majority of lenders—and the vast majority of borrowers—have nothing standing between them and fully digital eClosings.

Leah also mentioned that loan officers (LOs) have something to look forward to once their lenders transition fully. They’re still going to be processing loans, but the borrower gets to review documents right away and contact the LO with any questions. This is a key element of eClosings: the personal touch. LOs still get to develop a relationship with their borrowers, which is something that skeptical LOs had been worried about losing in the past.

As Leah’s expertise proves, when a lender chooses the type of eClosing that’s right for them, eClosings are not only faster and cheaper—they’re also more convenient for the buyer and can offer a better relationship-building experience for LOs.

To talk to Leah or any of our other experts about eClosing adoption, send them an email at eClosingTeam@docmagic.com.

Related Content:

• DocMagic introduces critical ADA-compliant loan documents (4/25/2023)
• Ask the eClosing Team: What are current trends in eClosing adoption? (4/11/2023)
• A key to eClosing: the developing case of the SECURE Act (3/23/2023)

Now borrowers can participate in an eClosing on the same device!

To join a typical eClosing event, each borrower receives a unique email invitation and is required to login and authenticate separately using separate systems.

But what if borrowers don’t have the option to utilize separate computers or what if there is only one computer in the household?

DocMagic's Total eClose solution now makes it possible for more than one borrower to join an eClosing using a single device or computer. This dramatically simplifies authentication and reduces the number of steps for your borrowers.

Now eClose using a tablet or other smart device!

With more borrowers using their mobile devices to participate in the mortgage process, we’re offering a more intuitive tablet-based experience. Now borrowers aren’t limited to eClosing only when they have access to a desktop or laptop computer. By giving borrowers the flexibility to eClose using any device, we've made the eClosing process, including Remote Online Notarization (RON), even simpler.

To learn how Total eClose™ can give your organization an advantage over your competition — and position you to handle revenue compression, just visit docmagic.com/total-eclose.

Related Content:

• Coastal Credit Union Chooses DocMagic’s Total eClose (12/20/2022)

• DocMagic unveils eSign 3.0, with new RON, eClosing capabilities (10/6/2021)

• DocMagic named to 2021 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies (8/26/2021)

We’re happy to announce that Coastal Credit Union has chosen DocMagic’s Total eClose solution for completely paperless electronic mortgage loan closings and completed their first eClosing ceremony using Remote Online Notarization (RON) in North Carolina. What’s more, we were able to implement fully digital eClosing with RON in only two weeks! 

“Every lender is progressing toward their own vision of digital mortgage lending, but few are bypassing the hybrid eClose and going directly to the completely electronic ceremony,” said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “Not only did Coastal Credit Union go from traditional closings directly to fully electronic loan closings with Total eClose, but they completed that journey in a very short period of time.”

Many lenders are still operating under the mistaken assumption that the work involved in going fully electronic -- investor relations, servicer coordination, MERS connections, etc. -- will take many months to complete. As a result, many opt to enjoy the benefits of a hybrid eClosing process as an intermediary step in their transformation to fully digital lending.

Coastal did not want its members to wait for the benefits eClosing offers and chose a different path. The credit union’s management took advantage of the industry downturn to focus their attention on future-proofing their organization by implementing Total eClose. Management was committed to the process, but no one guessed they would be ready to eClose so quickly.

Within just a few weeks of the management team’s decision to go with DocMagic’s Total eClose solution, the credit union closed a mortgage loan for a member who was purchasing a home in North Carolina but was unable to leave Colorado to attend a traditional closing. The solution operated flawlessly, and its built-in RON capabilities made it possible for the member to close at their convenience.

Coastal was under an emergency order during COVID that allowed the use of RON. Afterward, as the state of North Carolina completed its RON Authorization legislation, the company reverted to IPEN (in-person electronic notarization) using an eNotary agent. Coastal can now close electronically in either manner.

“For us, it’s all about the member experience,” said Wendy Dawson, Vice President of Mortgage Lending at Coastal Credit Union. “We’re always looking for better ways to provide our members with a service that is convenient and accessible, wherever they find themselves. Total eClose provides a transparent and streamlined process through which our members' questions are answered before the closing so they can focus on more important issues -- like how to get the keys to their new homes.”

Coastal Credit Union is a not-for-profit, member-owned, financial cooperative, offering a full range of financial products and services.

Related Content:

• DocMagic unveils eSign 3.0, with new RON, eClosing capabilities (10/6/2021)
• DocMagic named to 2021 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies (8/26/2021)
• 38 states allow remote notarization as RON, RIN and IPEN gain momentum (7/28/2021)

DocMagic announced the rollout of eDecision™, a solution that significantly expands the level of analysis applied to e-eligibility determination for eClosings. The result is a clear-cut, highly accurate decision that tells users exactly how far they can take a digital closing based on the unique attributes of the loan transaction—all the way down to county-level eRecording acceptance.

eDecision is powered by DocMagic’s sophisticated audit engine, which begins the decisioning process as soon as the first set of disclosures are generated and continuing with e-eligibility checks throughout the entire loan process. The solution accesses and compiles first-party data, leveraging an immense amount of information to improve the digital closing process.

“Our goal in developing eDecision was straightforward: to help clients execute flawless eClosings and bring a new level of automation to the overall process by providing lenders with an immediate determination of how “e” they can be,” stated Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “Simply put, eDecision equates to eSuccess for all parties involved in the closing process.” 

The eDecision solution does not force users to leave DocMagic’s platform and visit another website, use a third-party application, or access an ancillary database. Everything eDecision offers is available within DocMagic’s core process and is provided as an integral component of the eClosing workflow, ensuring a seamless and efficient eClosing process each and every time.

eDecision’s core capabilities:

• eClosing selection – eDecision automatically determines how “e” lenders can be with DocMagic’s Total eClose solution, which offers four distinct types of compliant eClosings. From the moment the first document package is generated, the highest level of hybrid available or a fully-paperless eClosing is instantly identified. 
• eNote certification – eDecision automatically confirms whether a lender is certified to originate eNotes, is registered with MERS, and has completed their MERS end-to-end testing.
• eRecording readiness – eDecision automatically validates whether the local recording jurisdiction is able to accept an electronically executed security instrument.
• Knowledge-based authentication (KBA) – eDecision automatically confirms whether KBA is required in the closing state where it occurs.
• eNotary acceptance – eDecision automatically identifies which type of notarization is accepted within the jurisdiction: remote online notarization (RON), in-person electronic notarization (IPEN), or traditional in-person notarization.
• Investor acceptance – eDecision will also soon provide a determination whether an investor will purchase an electronically closed loan, saving time for secondary marketing departments.

All analysis and results from eDecision are incorporated into DocMagic’s Loan Detail Report (LDR), which is automatically included with all document requests and is accepted by most investors as proof of regulatory compliance.

Iannitti concluded: "We strive to eliminate manual processes and improve the overall user experience. We don’t want our clients having to go elsewhere to research or rely on disparate third-party systems for what we believe should be fully-integrated analysis. eDecision gives lenders, settlement providers and notaries a completely integrated digital closing determination process — and the confidence they need to offer eClosings on a widespread scale.

AmeriSave, one of the country’s largest mortgage lenders — best known for pioneering the first truly digital mortgage experience for borrowers — has been utilizing DocMagic’s Total eClose and document generation solutions to drive digital mortgage efficiency.

"DocMagic has been a wonderful partner to work with throughout the pandemic and refi boom, proving to be a key technology partner that has helped rapidly scale AmeriSave," said Magesh Sarma, AmeriSave’s CIO. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with DocMagic to establish even more efficiencies for our customers and internal teams."

AmeriSave, which offers simple self-service options so that borrowers can directly engage in the loan process, has grown exponentially over the past several years, in part by leveraging DocMagic’s technology to establish system-wide interoperability, newfound business process efficiencies, compliance adherence, and more. DocMagic’s document preparation solution, eSigning and eClosing technology, which integrate tightly with AmeriSave’s proprietary loan origination system (LOS), has helped AmeriSave operate smoothly throughout a volume-intensive environment.

Many of DocMagic’s functions automatically occur at the appropriate time within the workflow of AmeriSave’s LOS — without any human intervention whatsoever. This maximizes employee productivity throughout the lending process, including with many of AmeriSave’s vendor partners.

“AmeriSave understands the importance of always ensuring that borrowers have as many options and tools as possible available at their fingertips to walk away with a good experience that ultimately creates repeat business,” said Dominic Iannitti, DocMagic’s president and CEO. “Everything we do at DocMagic places ease of use, simplification and elegant design as a top innovation priority, which is reflected by AmeriSave’s ongoing achievements. We are elated that AmeriSave is having such immense success with our technology.”

Moving forward, AmeriSave plans to implement DocMagic’s remote online notarization (RON) capability, eNotes and eVault technology to establish further lending efficiencies.

Related Content:

• Ask the eClosing Team: What steps should lenders take to get set up for eClosing? (6/2/2021)
• Atlantic Bay surpasses 10,000 eClosings using DocMagic's Total eClose (5/25/2021)
• DocMagic client Truliant transfers FHLBank Atlanta's first eNote (4/15/2021)

Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group has processed more than 10,000 eClosings — including thousands of eNotes — with the help of DocMagic’s Total eClose solution.

A long-time DocMagic client, Atlantic Bay processed its first hybrid eClosing in 2018 and executed its first eNote in January 2020; by year’s end, the lender had registered more than 7,000 eNotes. As of May 2021, Atlantic Bay has surpassed 10,000 eClosings, representing more than 20% of all loans originated as paperless closings.

“More than anything, our success has been predicated on being early adopters of RON (remote online notarization) and eNotes, helping settlement agents become comfortable with DocMagic’s software, working closely with our warehouse lenders and investors to accept eNotes, and having a ‘just do it’ attitude toward eClosings with eNotes,” said Christina Brown, Atlantic Bay’s Chief Operations Officer. “All of the legwork that we performed before and in the early days of the pandemic helped us gain a lot of experience and we were able to execute thousands of eClosings. It’s now become a competitive advantage for us.”

This recent success makes Atlantic Bay a leader in the lending space.

“Atlantic Bay exemplifies an incredibly efficient lender that has made all the right moves to fully embrace digital lending and completely remove paper from the closing process with our Total eClose platform,” said Dominic Iannitti, DocMagic’s president and CEO. “When you put the necessary pillars in place like Atlantic Bay has, it paves the way to more scalable operations with paper-free eClosings at the heart of the workflow. … We’re excited to showcase them as a client that’s perfected the eClosing process.”

Total eClose allows lenders to implement every type of hybrid eClosing — including eNote and eNotarization options — as well as a 100% full eClosing. It offers an end-to-end paperless workflow that seamlessly connects every component of the closing process.

Brown said eNotes have been a boon for her company.

“From origination through closing, warehouse lending and onto secondary marketing, we’ve seen a tremendous upside to producing eNotes that has benefited us as a company, our staff and our customers,” she said.

Atlantic Bay has already been conducting eClosings with RON, but plans to increase its volume of RON closings. The lender reports that it has experienced increased accuracy; quicker turn times; strict compliance adherence; better secondary marketing sell-side efficiencies; more warehouse line liquidity; and a straightforward, speedy and pleasant closing experience for borrowers.

Related Content:

• DocMagic client Truliant transfers FHLBank Atlanta's first eNote (4/15/2021)
• DocMagic, Secure Insight partner to create national eNotary training program (3/18/2021)
• Community State Bank now offering paperless eClosings via Total eClose (11/23/2020)

Millennials are much more likely than other generations to say they would be comfortable buying a home online — and their younger Gen Z counterparts aren’t far behind, according to a new Zillow survey.

When asked how comfortable they would be buying a home online, 39% of millennials (ages 27-41) and 36% of Gen Z, aka “Zoomers” (ages 18-26), answered affirmatively, compared with just 19% of Gen X (ages 42-56) and 7% of Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation (ages 57 and older). Across all groups, 23% of respondents responded positively, the survey found.

“It’s clear that strong demand from the next generation of buyers will keep real estate technology in place long after the pandemic is over,” Zillow Senior Vice President of Product Matt Daimler said in a statement. “Digital tools rapidly adopted during the pandemic not only make home shopping safer, they make it faster and easier. … Many transactions can now close remotely, too, saving time and hassle."

Numbers were even higher when respondents were asked how confident they’d be making an offer on a home after touring it virtually, without having stepped foot in it. A majority of Gen Z (58%) and millennials (59%) said they were “somewhat/very/extremely confident,” while 39% of Gen X and 23% of the Baby Boomer/Silent Generation respondents said the same.

Millennials, the largest generational group in the country, have made up the largest share of homebuyers since 2014. They continue that streak at 37%, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2021 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report, which also found that 82% of younger millennials and 48% of older millennials were first-time homebuyers — more than any other age group.

With a huge number of millennials hitting their mid-to-late 30s (the typical age of a first-time homebuyer is 34), Zillow estimates there will be 6.4 million more households formed by 2025, driving housing demand for years to come.

The data clearly shows millennials both dominating the homebuying market and eager to use online tools for the home search and buying process, including virtual tours and interactive floor plans that allow them to shop from their couch.

These current and future customers will no doubt also expect a digital mortgage experience, including the ability to track their loans on mobile apps and a 100% remote closing process. Lenders should prepare for this incoming wave now.

Related Content:

• Magazine survey shows overwhelming demand for eClosings (2/24/2021)
• Relive some key mortgage industry milestones in 2020 (12/29/2020)
• Survey: Homebuyers adapt to eSignings, remote closings during pandemic (10/29/2020)