Capping off the UWM LIVE! event held this week at its Pontiac, Mich., campus, United Wholesale Mortgage showcased two new AI-driven tools, the first of which is a virtual loan officer assistant called “Mia” that’s designed to streamline client engagement, and then some.
The company also announced LE (Loan Estimate) Optimizer, or “LEO,” a tool that analyzes competitors' Loan Estimates — and aims to help brokers beat them. LEO is intended to “identify gaps and opportunities for a better deal for the borrower,” according to UWM.
The two new tools come on the heels of UWM’s announcement earlier this week of six AI-powered tools and enhancements aimed at streamlining and boosting broker workflows.
Mia
UWM, notably, made Mia on its own. Built by the lender’s in-house tech team, Mia does things like handle inbound calls, make outbound calls, ask and answer questions, take messages, schedule appointments, and collect/ deliver callback info to brokers via an email.
Mia can also automatically let borrowers know when it could be an opportune time to refinance their home loans, among other features.
“Mia never takes a day off or even a lunch break, ensuring brokers never have to worry about answering or missing a call,” the company explained in a release, noting the new AI assistant might even boost quality of life. Brokers can use the tool, after all, to focus on their other priorities, “whether that’s attending an open-house event, building relationships with new borrowers, or stepping away to spend time with family and friends.”
Go ahead and call “Mia” whatever you like: brokers can change Mia's name “to better fit their branding needs,” according to UWM — or perhaps because they find another name preferable.
Mia aims to allow brokers to scale their business “in ways they never could have imagined,” contended Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of UWM. “Consistent follow-up with past clients is one of the biggest challenges loan officers face, and Mia handles that for them — from thanking them for their business after a closing, to reaching out to them and regularly staying in touch, to calling them when their rate could be lowered and scheduling meetings.”
If they so choose, brokers can get a dedicated phone number they can use with all communications and marketing touchpoints for the AI assistant, UWM noted. Mia provides three types of outbound calls, including:
- A reminder for borrowers that their first payment is coming up, 20 days after the loan closes;
- A check-in with past borrowers 180 days after a loan closes, with potential follow ups every 90 days; and
- Notifications to past borrowers if interest rates drop in their favor, and they could be eligible to refinance.
There’s also a “bulk call” type of feature where brokers can specify a group of contacts for Mia to reach out to, setting dates and times. And when the time comes, “calls will go out instantly and brokers will receive an email summary within minutes, including a recap of how many calls were successful, unsuccessful, or resulted in a voicemail.”
LEO
UWM’s LEO, or Loan Estimate Optimizer, pulls exactly zero punches: it’s designed to help brokers “win every loan” with borrowers, Ishbia said.
The tool allows brokers to “drag and drop” a competitor’s loan estimate into the company’s ChatUWM platform, then analyzes the estimate line-by-line, according to UWM. Once that’s done, LEO presents “a summary of opportunities to beat the competitor's offer and [provides] an outline of talking points to help brokers initiate a conversation with the borrower.”
LEO also helps brokers utilize UWM’s suite of tools to enhance their offers, such as the company’s “Title Review and Closing” (TRAC) tool to reduce title fees, applying an appraisal credit, or adding available “Control Your Price” (CYP) basis points to give a better price.
“LEO is like having the most intelligent LO in America review an LE and tell you how to beat it,” Ishbia summed up the new tool. It “equips [brokers] with the tools and insights they need to succeed in a matter of seconds, giving them the competitive edge they need to win every loan,” he added.
- Lead Pipeline, which targets improvements in managing client relationships and gaining repeat business;
- Action IQ, which serves as a notification center for daily tasks;
- Easy Qualifier, which has been redesigned and aims to give brokers a more efficient way to price new loans and manage existing scenarios;
- Loan Pipeline, which now includes enhancements like a customizable pipeline;
- Contacts Pipeline, which helps brokers access and manage contact information for their past UWM clients; and
- ChatUWM Assist, which gives brokers AI-generated responses with information and details specific to the page they’re viewing.
