RE Agents, Mort Brokers REPLACED by APPs w/I few yrs?

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Chris Mason · Answer

For that 10% of borrowers that are 100% vanilla and have zero questions, yes that is feasible.  Easily half of what I do is hand holding and explaining things.

Account Closed · Answer

@Chris Mason lol . Obviously you've been at lending for a while and are understating what a broker does. I get it (what you are saying), but most won't.  When I was a loan officer, I don't think a single person could have done it through an app. It is detailed, stressful, befuddling and frustrating to most people.

Most people couldn't care less about VOMs, VOEs, flood certs, title, escrow, underwriting, FICO scores, basis points, 1003s, appraisals, closing, income statements, bank statements, tax returns, end of month, comps, duplicates and triplicates and re-verifications before closing, VA, FHA, Conventional, points, locks, interest rates,   liens, judgments, DTI ratios, font end, back end, clearing title, HUD statements, wire transfers and all the rest. They have no clue and they don't want to know about it.

Mortgage brokers are here to stay until they start giving the money away.

Steve Vaughan · Answer

A good mortgage broker is worth their weight in gold. I'm working with one now. No way an app  could package me up right the way she does.

A good agent would be worth their weight in gold, too, I'd imagine. Will let you know if I ever meet one. (face to face, not talking about my awesome agent colleagues here on BP:)

If people were a little more informed of just a few things, they could transact RE with an app.  I'm selling a house FSBO right now (the one I sold on MLS earlier this year was a freaking nightmare) and the buyer was amazed how easy it actually is. I sent her a PSA, pointed out the inspection and financing deadlines and gave her the seller disclosure form.  Bam!

Yep- if I was a mediocre agent, I'd be nervous about this app stuff.

Mike Dymski · Answer

People are emotional creatures.  Combine that with poor influencing, sales, and communication skills (not to mention, poor financial skills) and that is a tough combination for overcoming many of the challenges of getting transactions done.  Technology will have a tough time filling that roll/need.  Will it be a disruptor...sure, to some extent.

Christopher Brainard · Answer

Zillow is basically worthless if you're serious about buying or investing. It was a great idea in the beginning, but the implementation of what they do is pretty laughable. Getting an accurate Zestimate has the same odds as winning the lottery. They keep inventory online for months after it was already sold/leased. They don't pay any of the agents enough to provide any sort of informed decision. Their new instant offer program is just....well...shit.

Can apps replace agents? Sure, but they need to come a long further than they have in the last five years. I don't think any good agents are concerned, as most non-educated buyers need help of an experienced agent.

-Christopher

Chris Mason · Answer

If it becomes 2006 again, I'll just go to law school. :)

Seth Hayes · Answer

An app can work for a specific lender, but then you'd be subject to that lenders requirements. Everyone in Real Estate Investing knows that no two deals will work the same way, so a cookie cutter app will eliminate a lot of good deals because they don't know how to work with the investor. You'd also have to download an app from each lender and fill out all the pertinent information/documentation for each one. Mortgage Brokers have established relationships with multiple lending sources to include banks, hedge funds and private money lenders. Brokers will also help you structure your deals in such a manner to maximize your borrowing options with their stable of lenders. No app is going to be able to do that. It'll simply give you a thumbs up or thumbs down and let you figure it out on your own.

RE Agents, Mort Brokers REPLACED by APPs w/I few yrs?

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