iMessage for mortgage brokers

A mortgage is the largest financial commitment most people ever make, conducted through a process they cannot observe, on a deadline set by someone else. The broker who communicates well is not just pleasanter to deal with — they close faster, because the document chase is the critical path.

The document chase is where deals stall

Underwriting stops the moment something is missing, and the client usually does not realise anything is waiting on them. A specific, single-item request gets acted on far faster than a list emailed a week ago.

export const docs = {
  // One item, one action. Lists get deferred; single asks get done.
  request: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.broker}: underwriting needs ${c.document} — that's the only ` +
    `thing holding it up. Upload here: ${c.link}. ` +
    `Takes two minutes and it unblocks everything.`,
 
  chase: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.broker}: still waiting on ${c.document}. ` +
    `Completion is ${c.completionDate}, so it's worth doing today.`,
 
  received: (c: Ctx) =>
    `Got it, thanks — that's gone back to underwriting. ` +
    `Next milestone is ${c.nextMilestone}, expected ${c.nextDate}.`,
};

Fill the silence between milestones

Weeks pass where nothing visible happens and the client assumes the worst. The fix is the same as solar or roofing: short updates at every stage, including the ones where nothing changed.

1. 01Application submitted — to whom, and the expected turnaround.
2. 02Valuation booked — the date, and whether the client needs to do anything.
3. 03Underwriting — the stage nobody understands. Say what it means and how long it usually takes.
4. 04Offer issued — the good news, sent the moment you have it.
5. 05Exchange and completion — dates, funds, and what happens on the day.
6. 06Rate change or delay — immediately, before they hear it elsewhere.

The rate-lock conversation is time-critical

Rate expiries and market moves are the one place where minutes genuinely matter, and where a client not answering the phone costs them real money. A text that says plainly what the decision is and by when gets a response when a voicemail does not.

And after completion, this is one of the strongest referral moments in any business — see the referral requests playbook.