The time requires to complete real estate transactions has increased significantly in recent years. According to the Ellie Mae Origination Report 2021, the average time to purchase a property increased to 54 days in December 2021 compared to 44 days in 2021. The average time for closings is getting longer due to capacity constraints and using the same old, lengthy, outdated workflow by notary professionals and signing agents.
So, if you are also struggling with the same issue, this blog will explain how notary software can help you tackle delayed closings. In addition, this article will also highlight the reasons behind the closing delays and the impact of closing delays on buyers and mortgage lenders.
This blog will help real estate professionals and notary agents to leverage technology to keep real estate closings on track. It will also address the benefits of notary software and signing automation to resolve the issues disrupting the closing timeline. Consider this blog worth reading to know the various impacts of technology on real estate closings.
Reasons Behind The Closing Delays:
A recent National Association of Retailers report revealed that around 22% of closings are delayed, and about 5% are terminated. In this digital era, 22% closing delay is a significant number, most of which are avoidable. Mortgage professionals and lenders must be ready for potential closing delays and find practical solutions to prevent the delays.
Before discussing how notary software can help you tackle closing delays, let’s look at the reasons behind the closing delays.
#1 Ineffective Lender & Partner Communication: In mortgage lending and the real estate world, a large amount of information and data is shared to make real estate closings successful. A good communication channel is required to share critical information effectively, and poor communication is one of the biggest reasons behind closing delays. Mortgage lenders and closing partners are primarily affected by closing delays.
#2 Inaccurate Documents Procurement & Missing Paperwork: Errors in the final paperwork and missing documents can disrupt the closing process in a big way. A large volume of paperwork often leads to documentation errors. On some occasions, over-stretched signing agents and notaries miss out on vital documents, resulting in closing delays.
#3 Mortgage Application Process Errors: Mortgage lending is complicated and time-consuming. Your mortgage application should be error-free to get a mortgage loan at the right time. Borrowers and lenders are the primary stakeholders of mortgage lending, and often a buyer’s financing may come to a complete halt due to the issues in the mortgage application process. Errors in the mortgage application process can lead to closing delays.
#4 Issues Relating To Home Appraisal: You need an affirmative home appraisal to sell your price at the right price. If your home appraisal is low, you and the buyer will need more time to negotiate a new fee for your house. It may delay the closing process.
#5 Issues During The Home Inspection: If your house needs urgent repair and has some critical issues discovered during the home inspection, you may experience imminent closing delays. You must agree with the buyers on fixing your house’s pressing problems to put a price on your property, leading to closing delays.
#6 Title Issues: A clear property title is one of the primary criteria for real estate closings. Signing agents and property professionals may sometimes discover title issues during the property title search. If you have clouds on the title, the closing process can only continue further once the title companies clear the title.
#7 Disturbing Weather: Unfavorable weather can result in closing delays. Extreme weather conditions and natural calamities such as earthquakes, stormy weather, blizzards, heavy snowfall, or excessive rainfall can prevent various stakeholders and parties from reaching the closing location on time. Extreme weather conditions can also disrupt internet and mobile communication.
#8 Delay Due To The Pandemic: In 2020, real estate closings were primarily affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. Due to the nationwide lockdown, travel restrictions, and widespread health issues, most parties could not close the deal on time. Technology can help parties close the deal on time.
Impact Of Delayed Closings On Borrowers
Buying a new home and living in it is a dream of each people. Many buyers consider closing on a home an important milestone. Although many closing delays are unavoidable on the part of lenders, unexpected closing delays can hurt the buyers’ sentiments.
In addition, they may face many other life events such as marriage, newborns, and retirement, which may create additional stress for the homeowners and influence them to achieve the closing deadlines on time. According to recent research, closing delays have impacted the customer experience of the buyers, and they are getting increasingly unhappy with the mortgage lending process.
Mortgage lenders who do not complete the closings on time have a minimum net promoter score, and lenders who close on time get higher NPS from the buyers. Researchers found that streamlining the document signing workflow and communication are the two most critical aspects of improving the NPS scores of lenders.
Parties must start communicating with each other to prevent common closing delays, and signing agents can incorporate strategies to streamline them. The following section will discuss how notary software can help you tackle delayed closings.
How Can Notary Software & Technology Integration Expedite The Closing Time?
Consistent data sharing throughout the closing process, effective communication between parties, and a streamlined document signing workflow are three critical criteria to meet closing deadlines. Fortunately, signing companies and notaries can meet all these three criteria through notary software and seamless technology integration.
Automated workflow can help signing companies achieve certain document signing milestones on time. In addition, notary software provides users with automated communication in the form of timely notifications and alerts. After communicating with the parties, notaries and signing companies can stay updated about the current status of their workflow.
Coordination between closing partners also plays an essential role in expediting the real estate closing process. Notary software provides users with crucial signing automation tools and features to facilitate closing efficiency and accuracy. Notary software increases workflow cohesion and provides better lender-title integrations. If you ask how notary software can help you tackle closing delays in simple words, the answer is it expedites time-to-close.
An effective technology integration solution like CloseWise allows parties and mortgage lenders to share documents seamlessly and securely. Notaries and signing agents primarily benefit from critical features such as scheduling, tracking, and organizing clients. These features also allow signing companies to manage their businesses by organizing their workflow.
Furthermore, CloseWise, a notary automation tool, allows signing companies and agents to keep track of their working schedules, appointments, and workflow status within moments. In addition, this notary automation software is equipped with the latest features like an intelligent dashboard, accounting, payment, invoicing, and closing file details option to provide users with all the payment, signer, and vendor information at their fingertips.
With the help of technology, signing companies can assign tasks optimally and keep their workforce stress free. Technology automation can reduce the time to close a real estate transaction and increase the NPS of mortgage lenders. Effective workflow management also improves the operational efficiency of the signing companies and helps them cater to more signing orders that lead to earning more profit.
The leading signing companies, title companies, and notaries are transitioning to electronic tools and automated workflow management software designed to increase efficiency, productivity, and accuracy. The digital transformation within the document signing industry and real estate sector has revolutionized how notaries do business.
As a notary professional, with the help of digital document management technology and digital signature tools, like CloseWise, you can organize, access, control, secure, store, share, retrieve, manage, and track e-documents and client files. You can see all the details of an order, including lender and client information, appointment details and locations, activity logs, status, expenses & income details, and special instructions from your clients.
In addition, the CloseWise notary software also allows you to create a centralized database that you can access from anywhere, anytime. You can efficiently extract critical data and information and print them all before visiting your clients.
Benefits Of Leveraging Technology To Prevent Closing Delays
There are many challenges a signing company may face during the initial phases of technological transition. However, there are multiple benefits of leveraging technology. A few of them are as follows:
- Technological innovations can enhance workflow collaboration and improve coordination between parties.
- Technology also helps signing companies to become paperless and provide their clients with mobile-friendly notary solutions.
- Notary automation tool also helps signing services secure their communication channel and get enhanced layers of security.
- Workflow automation also plays a critical role in improving the investors’ experience.
- It helps organizations adhere to e-document security and standardized corporate governance.
Bonus Tips For Closing/Signing Agents: 5 Ways To Create Outstanding Closing Experience
- Set Practical Expectations From Day 1: As a real estate closing agent, you must set realistic expectations for your signing business based on the market scenario and your operational requirements. A robust market analysis is required to determine the extent of the buyer’s and seller’s market and set closing deadlines accordingly. Setting out a reasonable time frame can help both you and your clients.
- Control The Closing Process Right From The Start: Your clients depend on you to perform high-end transactions. So, it’s your responsibility to control the transaction from the start and manage your workflow to earn your clients’ confidence. They may seek outside consultation if they don’t feel you are in charge of the closing process. Don’t let this happen.
- Prepare, Plan, & Learn: As a real estate closing agent, you must plan if you want to provide your clients with superior closing services. You must optimize your client counselling sessions within a specific time frame. For instance, you should spend additional time educating your clients regarding the various aspects of real estate transactions to personalize their experience.
- Start Working With A Well-Trained Closing Team: To deliver outstanding services to your clients, you should get in touch with the right people in the closing circle. Recommending the right people can increase your reputation and ensure excellence. From home inspectors to the title company, the right real estate closing professionals can ensure a smooth closing transaction for your clients.
- Use Top-Notch Notary Tools & Technology: From the beginning, you must acquire adequate knowledge, skills, and knowledge to manage intuitive and secure notary technology. It would be best if you started using a leading document signing software and invoice automation tool to facilitate rapid document signing service to your clients. To deliver a refined closing experience, you need to leverage the technology.
Bottom Line
Hopefully, this blog has helped you understand how notary software can help you tackle closing delays. Data is an essential and integral part of the document-signing process. Using the latest technological innovations can help signing companies save time and money by streamlining their workflow.
Accounting automation and payment processing features of notary software can assist notaries and signing agents manage their business finances better. In addition, notary automation can also help you generate invoices automatically and send them directly to your clients.
Most importantly, notary automation can help you keep track of your daily expenses and income and monitor your unpaid invoices. You can manage your organization, communication, and business growth all at the same time.
If you are thinking about improving your document signing workflow, Closewise notary management software can help you scale your business by optimizing the average closing time. Feel free to contact our experts to learn more about our services.