Even the job of explaining the mortgage process to the borrower could be automated, he insisted, giving short thrift to the argument that a client – consciously or otherwise – still wants to be ‘chaperoned’.
“A section of the public still wants to talk to somebody on the phone and they might want clarification, (maybe to discuss) a systematic system issue, but they can do the work at their pace and (not have) the pressure of a loan officer wanting to close the sale,” he said.
He cited fraud analysis – a field he has devoted his entire career towards – as another area that “can be completely automatable”. Using third-party data sources, mortgage companies can create a visual map of fraudsters’ transactions, obtaining crucial evidence to help apprehend criminals – more often than not straw borrowers who simultaneously apply for multiple mortgages.
Read more: Evolve VP Tim Anderson back with a vengeance: “I’m going to finish what I started”
One aspect that Sarkar was less sure about is the use of cryptocurrency in the home buying process. Wholesale lender UWM recently ditched its short-lived plan to accept Bitcoin as payment, but according to the latest Redfin survey, 12% of first-time homebuyers said selling cryptocurrencies helped them to save for a down payment, a figure that had increased from 5% in 2019.
