Artificial intelligence could dramatically change the economics of mortgage lending, making smaller loans more profitable and opening the door to borrowers who have traditionally been too costly or complicated for lenders to serve.
That was a central message from NMP's recent webinar, AI & Digital Assets Are Here: Is Your Mortgage Business Ready?, where leaders from Angel AI and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) explored how artificial intelligence, blockchain, and digital tokens could reshape mortgage origination.
Pavan Agarwal, CEO and creator of Angel AI and head of Sun West Mortgage Co., said his company has reduced core mortgage processing costs from approximately $5,000 per loan to $125 or less through AI and blockchain technology.
"When your cost is that high, and a low- and moderate-income family [is] doing a $150,000 loan, that's two, three points being spent just on manufacturing costs," Agarwal said. "So those borrowers get left behind. The rates get higher, or they just don't get marketed and approached."
The potential is considerable. Faster underwriting and lower processing expenses could make it easier to serve borrowers with smaller loan amounts, unconventional income, or complicated financial documentation.
Making Complex Loans Easier to Originate
Agarwal, who began his mortgage career serving lower-income communities around Los Angeles, said traditional underwriting costs have long created barriers for borrowers who don't fit standard lending profiles.
"If you have multiple K-1s and different things going on, different deductions and all that going on with your taxes and your income, but you're buying a $5 million house, most bankers are happy to put in the effort to look through that," he said.
"But if you're buying a $150,000 house, then it's like, oh my God, this is going to take multiple days of an underwriter's time to get through all this."
Angel AI's income analysis technology, he explained, can evaluate tax returns, K-1s, 1099s, and other financial documents in approximately five or six minutes. Agarwal said the company's underwriting assessments also carry a substantial financial warranty.
He cited an Angel AI analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data suggesting that an additional 1.1 million borrowers could have qualified for mortgages in 2025 if its underwriting technology had been used nationwide. The estimate is based on the company's modeling.
Jason Riveros, senior advisor to NAHREP's CEO, said those capabilities could be particularly valuable for first-time buyers, self-employed borrowers, and multigenerational households.
"We know that family dynamics are very important, where you have multigenerational households that maybe potentially are purchasing together, meaning multiple signers potentially that are involved," Riveros said.
He noted that entrepreneurs and borrowers with multiple income streams often face more complicated underwriting requirements.
"I think AI is one of those tools that I think is going to allow people to be able to eliminate the complexity of those files," he said.
Making Financed Offers Compete With Cash
The discussion also explored how blockchain technology could strengthen mortgage-backed purchase offers by bringing greater transparency and certainty to transactions.
Angel Sumlin, managing director of organizational development at Angel AI, pointed to the complicated chain of trust that underpins a typical real estate transaction.
"Most of the people in these transactions have never even seen each other's name before," Sumlin said.
She explained that buyers, sellers, agents, and lenders depend on documents and information passed between multiple parties, often without a reliable way to independently verify each step.
Agarwal described how an AI-generated mortgage approval could be recorded on a blockchain, allowing sellers to verify the lender's financing commitment. A blockchain-based smart contract could then track the purchase agreement, earnest money, and outstanding closing conditions.
"From the seller's perspective, the money is already there once that blockchain transaction happens," Agarwal said.
He believes the combination could eventually make financed offers more competitive with cash transactions.
"It basically makes every transaction, every real estate transaction, as powerful as a cash transaction," he said.
The approach would still account for traditional closing requirements, including title and appraisal conditions, but could make the process more transparent and predictable.
Agarwal said the technology could be particularly beneficial for FHA and VA borrowers, including buyers with lower credit scores who might otherwise struggle to compete against cash offers.
For LOs and their real estate partners, stronger financing commitments could become a valuable advantage in winning purchase business.
Making Blockchain Accessible to Originators
Sumlin also demonstrated Angel AI's digital wallet, showing how mortgage professionals can begin using blockchain-based tools without extensive technical knowledge.
"Everything you're doing in Angel AI is just a chat," Sumlin said.
Users can create an account, establish a digital wallet, and ask the platform questions throughout the process.
She said Angel AI's approach is designed to remove the technical barriers that have historically made blockchain wallets difficult for everyday users.
"It makes it easy and accessible to everyone," Sumlin said.
The platform also allows originators to earn points through everyday activities and potentially use those rewards to provide additional value to borrowers and referral partners.
"You're earning these points that then you can turn around and continue to add value to your clients, your referral partners by either sharing directly sharing the points, offsetting costs of the loan, like the credit pull, the appraisal, things like that," Sumlin explained.
Agarwal said the company's broader vision is to connect loan officers, real estate professionals, and consumers through a digital marketplace where AI handles increasingly complex tasks.
NAHREP Prepares Digital Token Initiative
NAHREP is also working with Angel AI on a digital token initiative designed to introduce its members to blockchain technology while creating additional professional benefits.
Riveros said the association plans to introduce its Avance token, which members could use to access educational resources, VIP event opportunities, and rewards from participating partners.
"Think of it more of like a frequent flyer club type of benefits," Riveros explained. "So not something that grows with value or from a dollar standpoint, but things that you can redeem within the organization in terms of benefits that we can provide."
The initiative is intended to introduce real estate professionals to digital wallets and tokenization through practical applications rather than cryptocurrency speculation.
Riveros said NAHREP expects to share additional details about the program in the coming weeks.
"We want our members to be familiar with what's happening in the marketplace in terms of tokenization, but also with wallets and digital wallets and their ability to use those," he said.
Keeping LOs at the center
The speakers emphasized that technology should strengthen mortgage professionals rather than replace them.
Riveros said NAHREP wants its members to use AI to become more efficient while preserving the relationships that drive their businesses.
"We are still very firm believers, whether you're an LO or real estate broker, that you need to be at the center of that transaction, and AI will be a facilitator of that," he said.
He added that consumers still value the ability to reach a real person, particularly when complications arise.
"The ability to have someone that you can connect with if something goes wrong is so very valuable," Riveros said.
Keep Learning With NMP
From AI-powered underwriting to blockchain and digital assets, National Mortgage Professional brings industry leaders together to discuss the technologies and strategies shaping the mortgage business.
Explore upcoming NMP webinars, Ignite sessions, and educational events designed to help loan originators and mortgage executives stay competitive, grow their businesses, and discover new opportunities.
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The webinar was presented by Sun West Mortgage and Angel AI.
