How has technology changed the way you do business? What possibilities do you see for the future?

Ali: It’s bringing the client up-to-date with the new technology and making it more user-friendly. Being able to efficiently communicate to the borrowers and have them familiarized with the technology allows us to have a more streamlined process. For example, we have something called Account Check. It’s basically a system where you go in and apply for a mortgage. The digital mortgage makes it much easier for my business to flow evenly.

Account Check is basically a website where they log in and put in their credentials like their banking information. It gives us the ability to see all the accesses so that we don’t have to ask the client to provide us with updated transaction histories and account statements.

I see us going into a virtual close. It requires a title representative. We’ve actually just initiated it at my firm. It gives the client the ability to not even be present at a closing table. They can be in their home and essentially closing on documents there and e-signing on everything with a camera that basically shows the title rep that it’s that person who is e-signing.

Brouwers: Every individual’s situation is an individual situation. There’s not a one-size-fits-all client, house or mortgage, so we always have to be learning and listening. We have to understand what truly matters most to the person on the other side of the transaction. Understanding what matters most lets us elevate things to the levels of importance where they need to be so that everything makes sense.

Flodin: In the last five or six years, we have really streamlined the mortgage process for our customers. With the use of new technology — computers, phones, mobile apps — we have an opportunity to provide better customer service. The beginning of the loan process is now paperless, and we have a mobile app that we can give to customers so they can always see the status on their loans anytime and they can upload documents through it also. If you’re not providing those capabilities to people, especially members of the younger generation, they are more likely to get frustrated with the entire process. Instead, we like to surprise our borrowers with how easy the process can be.

Ali: Another thing that’s going to change the business is the streamlining of the amount of supporting loan documentation. The clients no longer will be responsible for providing us with all of those documents. It’s all going to be a system where all of these third parties are going to exist that are going to be able to pull that information.

Brouwers: I think there is an ease of business with technology that has never been there before. I still have to understand what matters most to a client. That’s not going to come through them filling out information on a website unless those specific questions are there. Filling in the questions on a 1003 form and putting in a social security number and birth date doesn’t tell me what matters most to them. It’s still up to me to build that relationship. Ease of business is wonderful, but the challenge it brings is in making sure that we still have the human connection.

In a sense, the consumer drives where we go from here. I’ve been in this business for 27 years, and when I look back at where we were when I started and where we are today, it’s amazing what I’ve seen. The basic fundamentals remain the same. It still boils down to building good, long-standing relationships with people. I’m hoping that with the ease of technology, it’s possible for me to meet more clients, have more great conversations and meet more people’s needs.