Celebrating further mortgage success with Blend Close

Our commitment to improving the mortgage process is neverending. To date, we’ve moved from documents to data, aligned workflows across the process to create a true end-to-end experience, and delivered a digital solution that meets modern consumer and loan team demands.

Blend Mortgage has provided this solid foundation, but as we continue to reevaluate and refine our process, we don’t want to stop at the ground floor.

To better understand how each of our products impacts our customers, we engaged MarketWise Advisors to conduct a survey and found that through increased accuracy, efficiency, and automation customers who used both Blend Mortgage and Blend Close saved $962 per loan, while Home Equity customers saved $250 per loan.

Dive into the details below to see how Blend’s value for you and your customers is more than the sum of its parts.

A recap of Blend Mortgage ROI success

Our new results build on work started a year ago when our previous MarketWise survey revealed some compelling information. Survey respondents reported that their ROI with Blend Mortgage accounted for total potential savings of $827 per loan and that our technology helped financial institutions to reduce the cost of loan origination and significantly shorten loan times (thus minimizing hedge costs) by taking off an average of 7.3 days from the loan cycle. Plus, the survey found that, during the unprecedented refi boom in 2020, Blend customers were able to handle significantly higher loan volumes without increasing hiring rates — generating incremental revenue.

We believe that analysis is crucial to improving existing outcomes. Last year’s study discovered significant ROI with Blend Mortgage, but we wanted to see the effects of including Blend Close.

Refining precision from application to close

The various steps that are required to buy a home can be stressful on both sides of the desk. Time is of the essence: for both borrowers expecting a timely closing process and for lenders having to devote significant time and energy to processing each individual loan. Fewer errors equate to happier customers, and the data showed that lenders who used Blend for digital closings minimized common closing errors:

• 11% decrease in document errors
• 13% decrease in missing signatures
• 12% decrease in missing or lost notes

Efficient closings, effective savings

Although the closing day itself typically takes no longer than a few hours, the entire closing process can take upwards of 30 days. Being able to close faster is important to borrowers — especially in a seller’s market — and lenders who can make that happen can stay competitive. In addition to increased accuracy, MarketWise found that using Blend for digital closings made it possible to close more loans per day and increase time savings, which led to significant potential ROI:

• Closing times were shortened by two days
• Closing teams were able to close two additional loans per day
• Using Blend Close led to a total potential ROI of $135 per loan

Hybrid close: the best of both worlds

Customer experiences have become highly tailored and intuitive, and being able to offer borrowers modern convenience and the agency to choose a process that best suits their needs is critical. Unlike traditional closings, a hybrid loan process gives borrowers the option to sign most documents digitally before an in-person closing ceremony. Having that extra time to review paperwork allows borrowers to thoroughly read and understand the documents at their own pace before the big day.

There are significant time savings advantages for lenders, too. In total, the MarketWise survey revealed that lenders can save up to 61 minutes per loan by using hybrid close. Broken down, that means:

• Lenders can save 29 minutes per loan on borrower communication
• Lenders spend 32 minutes less per loan reviewing closing documents

The true cost of mortgage paperwork

Print and mail costs can add up, and Blend Close customers who responded to the MarketWise survey reported saving $10 per loan file in total print and mail costs. But that wasn’t all they saved. According to Green America, in addition to felling approximately 68 million trees every year to produce paper, we use 800 million pounds of paper daily, and paper products account for a quarter of all solid waste in US landfills.

Sustainable corporate practices benefit people, the planet, and businesses. Living in an increasingly digital world gives us an opportunity to reduce our reliance on paper, leading to meaningful environmental and financial savings.

Enduring customer relationships with Home Equity

The results are clear. Using Blend Mortgage and Close saves both time and money. But what if you could add even more value beyond closing?

The average person only buys a home a handful of times at best. Achieving customer retention is critical so that when it comes time to buy, refi, or look into home equity options, they’ll instinctively go back to the lender who has maintained a meaningful relationship.

MarketWise found that Blend Home Equity customers reported similar efficiency gains to using Blend Mortgage and Close. Lenders can save more time, process higher volumes, and see higher ROI. Here’s the breakdown:

• Blend customers reported saving 120 minutes per file by using Blend Home Equity. There was also the potential to take up to 4.7 days off the total loan cycle
• Blend Home Equity customers were able to produce 33% more volume without increasing staff (all other factors held constant)
• Home Equity customers also reported a potential total ROI of $249 per file

Make the most of your return on investment

The future of finance is digital. By leveraging several digital closing options to meet or exceed consumer expectations, lenders can access the keys that nurture meaningful relationships and unlock competitive rigor. Modern consumers want availability, convenience, and the choice to bank and transact money any way they want — no matter which life goal they are chasing.

Although Mortgage, Close, and Home Equity are designed to work independently and enable our customers to maximize their digital agility, combining them is a great opportunity to make the most of their synergy.

The bottom line? MarketWise survey participants who integrated Blend’s full mortgage suite into their workflows benefited from a more accurate and efficient loan origination process — opening up new opportunities to increase their revenue while finding new ways to serve their customers. With Blend, the intersection of technology and heightened customer experiences offers a solution that fits the way your business works.

Take a closer look at how the Blend Mortgage Suite can increase profits and efficiency.

• Explore our ROI study infographic