Refi Boom Spurs Growth of Online Mortgage Software

With mortgage interest rates hitting historic lows, the refinance ""boom"" has put pressure on an industry that is already struggling from slashed jobs, plummeting real estate values, and fewer people buying new homes, forcing mortgage companies to do more with less. An increased workload plus greater scrutiny of borrowers’ financial security have almost all mortgage officers worrying about the extra hours, days, and weeks required to close loans.
In today's economy, mortgage companies have found themselves in a very precarious position because to cut expenses, some companies have had to layoff processing staff. Due to the current increase in refinances, lenders now find themselves with higher mortgage volume, and fewer processors to efficiently manage workflow.
In this current real estate environment , Knoxville, Tennessee-based ""Sthenia Solutions"":http://www.sthenia.com says it has seen rapid and widespread interest and adoption of its ""LoanMarq"":http://www.loanmarq.com software, unveiled in December of 2008. The company explained that this Web 2.0 framework is designed for service-oriented collaboration, workflow, productivity, and process management, bringing together borrowers, lenders, loan officers, appraisers, agents, and title and escrow officers in a simple web-based community.
Sthenia Solutions explained that nationwide users of its LoanMarq software have found that they can close more loans and refinancings in less time, and decrease the expense involved in facilitating the transaction, as well as let borrowers have full insight into the progress of their loan in real time. According to Sthenia, LoanMarq’s unique approach enables greater organization and less follow up within a transaction, allowing for more time with the consumer and less time chasing down documents and deadlines.
Marvin Peek, president of Mortgage Solutions in Knoxville, says he is seeing more loan applications come through his office than ever before. ""In an environment like this everything has to happen perfectly, and using LoanMarq, it did,"" Peek said. ""It tracked all of the documents, milestones, and events so we could close multiple loans with fewer resources than we are used to, and our borrowers were able to track the progress along the way.""
Sthenia Solutions CEO ""Paul Piers"":http://www.loanmarq.com/benchmarq/, added, ""The ways loan officers are using new technology to enhance client service, speed up closings, and help educate the consumer is game-changing for mortgage pros. We are seeing a ‘perfect storm’ of technical advances in software and web-based services, plus a time when the mortgage industry has never been more in need of improving their productivity and efficiency.""