Majority of respondents now prefer remote closings over in-person
Despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, borrowers have become well-adapted to e-signings and remote closing and were highly satisfied with their overall mortgage closing experience.
In a recent ClosingCorp survey, 95% of borrowers who had purchased or refinanced a home during the onset of COVID-19 said their closings were efficient, and 90% said that they were satisfied with their experience, even though most of the transactions involved e-signing and remote closings.
"Not only does the new survey align with what we've seen historically through STRATMOR and CFI Group's ongoing MortgageSAT borrower satisfaction survey program, it suggests that the more electronic—or 'e'—each step in the process becomes, the higher the satisfaction," said Jim Cameron, senior partner at STRATMOR.
Approximately 15% of the of 690 respondents in the survey were home buyers, 79% were refinance customers, and 6% were both. Among the homebuyers, 35% were first-time buyers.
The survey, conducted in early September, also showed that 89% of home buyers and 84% of refinancers e-signed either disclosure or closing documents or both.
More than half of the respondents (55%) reported that their closings were conducted remotely, and not in traditional locations such as a title company or lender's office.
Those who had previously applied for a mortgage (79% of all borrowers) believed technology played a more prominent role in the current transaction. Moving forward, 82% said they preferred e-signing documents before closing, and more than two-thirds said that they would choose remote closings over in-person in the future.
However, borrowers 55 years old and above tend to be less comfortable with remote closings.
"As we've seen throughout 2020, this crisis is accelerating adoption and acceptance of e-transactions, and when things return to normal, e-signing and e-closings will be the new normal and consumers will like it better," ClosingCorp CEO Bob Jennings said.
