Insights Aug 5, 2021

Paperless Lending

📬Real estate lending technology has come a long way in the last couple of decades, and digital resources have been one of the most powerful change agents out of all of the developments. It enhances the lending process by making deal flows faster, increasing transparency, and ultimately helping the environment.

While some aspects of real estate lending still require certain levels of paper use, more and more parties are becoming comfortable with purely digital transactions, especially after the pandemic. 

RealAtom believes in technological growth and advancement to make the commercial real estate lending space more competitive and sustainable. Today we are going to discuss the benefits of paperless transactions and how each step of a transaction can benefit from digital resources.

đź“Ś Brief History

Although digital technology evolves continuously, the world produced more paper waste annually than any other time in history until the pandemic.

Once companies switched to a remote working schedule without in-office interaction, the average number of pages printed worldwide dropped by close to 14%  as digital resources were the safest and fastest method of transferring data and closing deals.

Many industries have realized that digitizing their original paper processes improves workflows, saves money, and ultimately enables them to scale their businesses faster and more efficiently than ever before.

According to Xerox, 65% of companies spend $5,000 or more on paper processes, and 46% of companies waste time on traditional paper processes that could be digitized.

🎉 Thankfully, most executives and leaders see the benefit of paperless data management. The real estate lending industry specifically has immense potential to shorten closings and save money on deal expenses. 

đź“Ś Lender Benefits

Digital processes help lenders save money because almost two-thirds of loan production expenses are incurred due to human processing time. 

Lenders have much to look forward to with paperless practices because sorting through paper applications to determine the best applicants can be tedious and time-consuming. 

Implementing automated systems to screen and deliver the most relevant applications can be a game-changing strategy because it saves time for the loan officers, especially because digital Lending softwares can also create digital contracts which can be signed and reviewed online without the need for in-person meetings. 

đź“Ś Borrower Benefits

Traditional lending practices cause substantial frustrations for many borrowers since the process is not always transparent, and there can be significant delays from the time a loan application is submitted to the time the debt closes.

Thanks to digitization, borrowers have more visibility than ever before into the loan process because especially on two-sided platforms where borrowers get their own dashboard to track the status of their loan application. 

Digital lending enables loans to be processed more efficiently in real-time because the traditional back and forth with physical paper documents will no longer be a bottleneck during the loan process.

Borrowers also save money because with digital lending lenders optimize and process loans faster and with more visibility into property and borrower which reduces operating cost and improves the cost of capital. 

đź“Ś Environmental Impact

⚖️ Paperless lending helps the environment because it dramatically cuts down on the amount of paper waste created by businesses.

 Here are some staggering facts about paper waste in business:

  • U.S. offices generate 12.1 trillion sheets of paper annually.
  • Paper accounts for 25% of landfill waste.
  •  50% of business waste is composed of paper.

đź’° Utilizing digital solutions helps businesses cut back on paper waste and increase margins simultaneously, which is a win-win for all parties.

đź“Ś Adopting Digital Documents

đź–Ą Platforms like RealAtom‘s help commercial real estate investors, developers, brokers, lenders embrace the power of digital lending by opening up a vast Marketplace where borrowers and lenders can process and close deals faster than ever before. 

While many Industries are adapting to digital solutions, the real estate industry must implement as many paperless and digital solutions as possible to remain competitive in a digital age.

âś…Final Thoughts

⚙️As a leader in the commercial real estate lending technology space, RealAtom thoroughly believes in utilizing digital resources and smart technology to transform the new lending experience for brokers, lenders, and borrowers to close deals and enhance the entire lending process. 

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