Commercial real estate lending has needed a makeover for many years, but the pandemic of 2020 really highlighted this issue and forces us to see where changes can be made.
While residential real estate lending has embraced digital tech and has progressed steadily, even amid the pandemic, commercial real estate lending has been the same for decades. In fact, in 2019, US banks still used COBOL, which is a programming language created before the internet existed. It’s largely incompatible with modern technology, which makes the business of lending cumbersome and difficult.
While 43% of residential borrowers now complete their entire application online, commercial borrowers and lenders are still reliant on manual processes. This results in lots of frustration, missed information, a waste of valuable time, and missed opportunities.
While outdated methods are the current reality, 99% of lenders believe that modern technology can help improve the commercial real estate lending process.
It’s time for commercial real estate to embrace the future.
Also published on Medium.
