Even conventional loans, known for their relative smoothness, can sometimes get bogged down in the process. In reality, most of the friction in conventional lending comes down to a handful of habits rather than unclear guidelines.
To form a clearer picture of those habits, we caught up with several of our veteran Account Executives at a recent event at AD Mortgage HQ and asked them:
“What speeds up a Conventional loan?”
Six AEs, each with 25 to 30+ years in the business, answered with the same kind of practical advice they give our partners every day. These gems are summarized below, and you can check out a short video of the discussion at the bottom.
Submit a Complete File
The single biggest (and easiest to control) lever a broker has is file completeness.
“What brokers can do upfront to help the process fasten is submit a full package and get the right identity docs, the income docs,” says Ann Heinz, an Account Executive with 25+ years of Conventional lending experience. “Then it’ll speed through things to get a quick underwriting review.“
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Blake Bearden, another 25-year Conventional lending veteran, puts the same principle even more simply: “Make sure that you have everything in the file that’s asked for.” It may sound obvious, but incomplete files remain one of the most common causes of timeline delays.
Direct Access to Underwriters
Communication keeps the loan moving. Brokers who are starting to work with AD Mortgage are often surprised that we provide visibility into the underwriting team. That connection helps the broker-underwriting relationship work as efficiently as possible.
“Not only do we want them to talk to the underwriter, but we also give them the underwriter’s information,” explains Blake. “Other places, they kind of hide their underwriters. We give you their name, their phone number, and their email address.“
That access doesn’t replace the relationship with your AE though. Senior Account Executive Lori Welton, who also brings 25+ years of Conventional lending expertise, frames it as a broader habit worth building: “Brokers can do several things, I think, up front to make their conventional loans move faster. In part, knowing your lender, knowing their products and their process. That’s key. Also, talking to the account executive.”
Read the AUS Findings All the Way Through
Lori also recommends every broker build another habit – to read the AUS findings line by line instead of assuming the system, or the lender, will catch everything. “There’s some nuggets in there and some very important information that can lead them down a quicker path, whether it’s an appraisal waiver or potentially qualifying for HomeReady or Home Possible. This might get them a better interest rate, lower MI, things like that,” she says. “Potentially, even a higher LTV.“
Qualification Tools Brokers Don’t Always Use
Some of the biggest opportunities in Conventional lending come from qualification strategies brokers aren’t using at all.
“Sometimes I think there are more things that we can do with conventional loans, for example, asset utilization on conventional loans or other ways to actually create more income for borrowers,” says Jill Johnson, an Account Executive with 30+ years of experience. For a borrower who doesn’t hit the numbers on income alone, that structuring can still open the door to homeownership.
Jill also points to first-time homebuyer programs tied to Area Median Income (AMI) thresholds that most brokers don’t take advantage of. These can reduce or even eliminate certain loan-level pricing adjustments and make a borrower’s pricing meaningfully more competitive.
A Professional Underwriting Team
None of these strategies matter much if the underwriting team behind them isn’t equipped to execute.
“The conventional underwriting team here, at AD Mortgage, is a very seasoned one,” says VP TPO Account Executive David Kaznecki, who brings 25+ years of Conventional lending experience. “They’ve worked together and have been well trained. They understand the guidelines and will go out of their way to make sure that the deals get done.“
That experience shows up most clearly in how submissions are handled from the start. Rosie Stauber, a VP TPO Account Executive with 30+ years in the industry, points brokers toward where to begin: “When submitting conventional loans to us, go initially to our scenario desk if you have any questions.”
The Throughline
Speed in Conventional lending depends on how much a broker engages with the process around it. This implies asking questions and using every tool a lender makes available.
For brokers choosing a wholesale partner, that level of access is worth weighing carefully. A run through Quick Pricer can show how a scenario is priced in minutes. Also, a conversation with an AE can reveal potential options.
For other tips and hints on speeding up the Conventional loan process, watch the complete video interview. Or, connect with AD Mortgage to start a scenario with an Account Executive today.
